Are you a Levenger True Writer fountain pen fan? Well, are you in for a treat with the two newest color jolts. Both are demos (see-through) models and the colors are called True Teal and Shiraz. There is even a small price discount to get you started.
Maybe one of these days I’ll have one of my own for pics but for now you’ll have to make do with a couple from the Levenger site.
Levenger True Writer Demo Fountain Pen in True Teal
Levenger True Writer Demo Fountain Pen in Shiraz
Not THAT kind of spicy but the sort that makes picking up one of the pens on my desk produce a wee jolt of anticipation if not inspiration. But sometimes I have to work at getting things under control. So over the weekend I bathed fountain pens…lots of them. Below is what remains in my rotation after cleaning every pen that did not have a good quantity of ink in it.
Fountain pens on my desk now
Fountain pens waiting in the wings
Inks looking for a mate
Obviously my tastes are all over the place especially when you take into account all the other writing implements close to hand like four mechanical pencils, five fiber tips from Pentel Sharpies to Pitt Artist Pens and two Levenger True Writer Rollerballs with fiber tip refills. Oh, there are two Pilot Pocket Brush Pens in a case, one with Pilot black ink and the other refilled with J. Herbin Lie de The. Then there are a number of dip pens at the ready just in case only a few words in a color are needed or I am so impatient with a new ink that a quick dip is necessary to assuage my curiosity.
Whew! Now, after all that I have a question. I do test a lot of inks so that justifies some of that excess but do any of you feel the need for such variety on your desk at one time? If so, do tell. What is on your desk today?
Fountain pens remain my first choice for writing and often for drawing but sometimes they just won’t do. On my desk are some gorgeous journals with paper that isn’t fond of fountain pen ink. So to give them a chance and possibly even make them useful, it seemed only fair to look beyond fountain pens for something suitable. With lots of help from my Inkophile friends, I found just the thing.
The comments to my original post on the subject, When A Fountain Pen Just Won’t Do, started my research. Eventually I settled on a fiber tip or fineliner as the second best writing instrument for my personal preferences as well as to test paper.
Thanks to the generous Inkophile reader Peggy Love who saw my When A Fountain Pen Won’t Do, Part 2 post, I now have three Levenger True Writer Rollerballs loaded with Levenger Fiber Tip refills. The pen colors are Water Lilies, Mosaic, and Starry Night. From past experience with True Writer Fountain Pens, I knew I would like the size but that was just the beginning.
Levenger True Writer Rollerball
Water Lilies is a true standout next to my simple black pens. With its variety of blues and dabs of green and lilac, this pen invites playful interaction. Starry Night is far more subtle as well as much darker than the other two. The amount of light striking the barrel can turn it from blue-black to a melange of blues and violets. It lacks the swirls of mineral green and the yellow stars of the Van Gogh painting but it is still handsome on its own. Mosaic is a violet affair with a mix of swirls and hatch strokes. In terms of ink colors, it has hits of Diamine Violet and J. Herbin Violette Pensee but J. Herbin Poussiére de Lune is the predominant shade.
It didn’t take long to discover that just like a fountain pen, the Levenger fiber tip takes a light touch. It isn’t as smooth as a True Writer nib but the ink flow is very consistent. That steady flow of ink did produce some ghosting on the back of absorbent paper but just with the broad tip. The extra-fine had less trouble. In fact that nice chunky broad line will make me reach for the TW instead of a Sharpie when I’m out and about. The line isn’t as wide as a Sharpie but the pen looks far more more upscale and professional. The black ink resists water if imperfectly. However, it is odorless unlike the Sharpie. That alone makes it a winner!
The downside is the limited range of ink colors for the fiber tip refills. Black and blue are just too ordinary for someone accustomed to a range of fountain pen inks. Levenger could add a blue-black and red at least but other colors would be welcome, too. The True Writer comes in such a variety of colors that it is a pity the ink can’t keep up with the promise of the pens.
The fiber tips are available in extra-fine, medium, and broad so that’s a bit more interesting. According to the package, they measure 0.8 mm, 1.0 mm, and 2.0 mm. The broad tip doesn’t really produce a line that wide unless you bear down hard and that would spoil the tip. Still it is considerably wider than the extra-fine so if you like a bold line, go for the broad size.
Bored at your board meeting? Doodle away with that fiber tip or take notes in two sizes to keep things interesting. You can do this with a single pen by varying the angle. Unlike a fountain pen nib, the medium and broad fiber tips have a huge sweet spot. A 90° angle to the paper yields the tips finest line. A 45° angle produces a much wider line. An even lower angle will make a line three times the width of the finest line. Writing isn’t workable at that angle but it’s great for bold underlining or a stout moustache on that caricature of your boss.
Now that I’ve seen how pretty it is, I really want the Water Lilies fountain pen plus a second one for my daughter. My pen wish list is getting long, very, very long. But you already knew that.
Thank you for all the great suggestions. First off I tried a couple of ballpoints and rollerballs. The former seem inconsistent at best though the PaperMate Silk-Writer 1.6mm B puts down a decently wide line. The rollerballs were more consistent but less forgiving of my tendency to hold a pen at a low angle. Ink blobs didn’t thrill me with gel pens so I moved on to the fiber tips.
Considering my fondness for doodling and need for a variety of angles, the fiber tip wins. The Pentel Sign Pen that I received as a gift from Pentel reminded me how well the old Flair used to work for me. Next I want to acquire the Pentel Tradio and the Levenger True Writer Rollerball with the fiber tip refill. Both look good enough to travel with a classy journal so they meet that requirement, too.
Not sure if it is lucky or unfortunate that the Tradio is available at JetPens.com. The longer I peruse the site, the more extensive my order. This could take a while.
The True Writer might take even longer while I look for a discontinued color to match one of my fountain pens. One will turn up eventually and just might earn a review especially with some of those “I’m so pretty but not so great with a fountain pen” journals.
You guys are great and I really appreciate all the help. Hopefully, others benefited from your suggestions, too.
The holidays still seem distant so my December rotation may look understated for this time of year. No bright reds or greens though Diamine Monaco Red may yet get a call to join in, dressed in a red marble Levenger True Writer to fit the season. They are mates from last year and already known to be quite happy with each other.
December 2009 Ink Rotation
Besides the possible Monaco/TW hookup, the line up is set with ten colors from six ink makers. Six pen companies are represented. Pilot/Namiki, Levenger, and J. Herbin got the most nods which would probably hold true in any month though usually a Sailor pen would be in the mix as well.
December 2009 Pen Rotation
Do you plan ahead with your rotation? Seasonally adjusted line ups suit many fountain pen aficionados. Monthly rotations are less common but October, November, and December are so commercial in the U.S. that it’s easy to think of them as dominated by specific holiday colors. Of course, some people are “contrarians” and use peach in December but maybe south of the equator, that would be the perfect color for the month.
So what works for you? Are you swayed by the month and its holidays or do you prefer a seasonal palette? Are you a free-spirited inkophile who prefers an “anything goes” rotation?
Oh, I just realized there is an even better choice. All of the above!
Note: The images in this post are not great matches for the true colors. The worst of the lot are the Eclat de Saphir sample and the Mink True Writer at the center of the pen photo. The former should have more red to it and the latter got a really bad job of editing in GIMP just to be roughly the correct color. It will have to do for now.
There are a lot of Levenger True Writer fountain pens on my desk but this is the first time I’ve had a nib in the Kyoto that makes writing even more interesting than looking at the many-hued barrel. Note that this gorgeous model is on sale today so, if you like the look, don’t hesitate with the price this low. I took my time about ordering the Starry Night when the price dropped and wound up never getting my hands on one.
Anyway, I’m still trying to figure out how a free-flowing broad nib can skip. None of my six True Writer fine and medium nibs do. This is only Day 2 for the big guy so we are just getting acquainted. There are no glaring nib flaws under 30x magnification so I am suspicious it is the piston converter rather than the nib. It just doesn’t want to suck up ink and needs frequent “burping” to release air that is trapped between the nib and the ink. My very free-flowing Levenger Verona is similarly impaired as are a couple of Lamy Safaris that really ought to know better.
There are other possible causes for the skipping and, strange as it may seem, some nibs just need breaking in to reach peak performance. The nib may need some tweaking, too. It will work out eventually and I have a second ‘B’ on its way for a comparison test. My bet’s on the converter as the culprit but we shall see…
Finally got my hands on a broad nib for that promised test with J. Herbin Bleu Nuit. What a difference a wet ‘B’ nib can make! Not sure yet if it’s true love or a sweet fling but it’s going to be fun figuring it out.
J. Herbin Bleu Nuit
More about this subject at Fountain Pen Network.
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