Paper And Pens For 2023

Organizing for the new year is a great opportunity to search out the best tools in your collection and put together a satisfying setup that makes you happy every time you look at it. It should also encourage you to pursue your goals whatever they may be. 

Note that most of the product links are to Amazon where the items were purchased. If you buy from these links, Inkophile might earn a tiny commission that helps keep this blog going.

Five fountain pens, one mechanical pencil, and one gel pen are more than enough for me.

Blue Marble Delike New Moon 2 Fude with Diamine Eau de Nil

Green Marble Delike New Moon 2 Fude with Diamine Dark Brown

Burgundy Marble Delike New Moon 2 Extra-Fine with Diamine Earl Grey

Platinum #3776 Century Medium with J Herbin Poussiere de Lune

Lamy Studio Fine with Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses

Uni Alpha-Gel Shaker Mechanical Pencil – Black/Soft Grip 0.5mm

Faber-Castel Fast Gel Z 0.5 Black

Seven notebooks might seem like a lot, but that number allows subjects to be separated. An undated Traveler’s planner has been my choice for years. A Traveler’s Notebook Refill 013, Lightweight Blank Paper, 128 Page is all I need for a journal. Blank Traveler’s notebooks suit collages though I have found an economical substitute that has slightly heavier paper and is perfect with fountain pen ink. The A6 and A5 notebooks are for work and project notes. Attractive dividers and good paper make these a perfect fit. The two cuties are the bottom hold 6 x 8 cm paper that is surprisingly good with fountain pen ink though they are primarily used for collages. The covers are ones I made that can easily be swapped for extra variety at my desk.

A few other tools are consistently on my desk including scissors, tweezers, clips and a stylus. All except the stylus were new in 2022 and have proven to be indispensable, especially the tweezers for delicate tasks.

Also on my desk are a craft knife, a six inch metal ruler or a very small tin of six watercolor pans. Not in the tool category but ever-present is a mood-setting Wick candle with a wooden wick that crackles as it burns. 

Still to acquire is an A5 clipboard for times when an open notebook would take up too much space. This one caught my eye but Santa might have a different idea.

Ta-da. That’s my plan for 2023. We shall see how long it lasts. What will be on your desk to start the new year?

 

 

When Just A Few Pens Will Do

Recently, I cleaned all of my inked fountain pens. Yep, not a single filled pen on my desk. Can you imagine that? A Platinum #3776 Century Nice from Luxury Brands is patiently waiting for a fill but which color? It will be the only pen on my desk for the next few weeks so it wouldn’t seem right to call it a rotation unless a mechanical pencil and a uni-ball Signo 307 count.

Well, that didn’t last. I ran across some swatches and resistance was futile.

Two pens qualify as a rotation, right? So it will be the Platinum with Kyo No Oto Kokeiro and a stainless Lamy Studio with Diamine Eau De Nil.

As for the inks, Eau de Nil has average flow from the Lamy and dries fairly fast. Kokeiro flows a bit too freely from the Platinum pooling enough to dry slowly depending on the paper. No feathering with either one. All fine but the colors are why I selected them. In this case, the blue plays well against the yellow green creating a nice pair for a minimal rotation.

That will do for now. I’m already considering inks for an autumn rotation despite the current heat wave. Stipula Calamo Verde Muschiato and Iroshizuku Yu Yake look promising. They could even be added to my summer inks for a four pen rotation. Wouldn’t that be neat and simple.

Shopping List:

• Kyo No Oto Kokeiro No. 03
• Diamine Eau De Nil
• Platinum #3776 Century Nice
• Lamy Studio

Tuesday Tidbits: Fountain Pens, Platinum Nibs And A Retrospective

If you need a little pencouragement to acquire something new…

• USAPad.com: The Best Pens for Note Taking
• Crónicas Estilográficas: Pelikan 1600 (What an amazing nib!)
• The Pen Addict: Franklin-Christoph Steel Flex Nib Review
• Pen Chalet: Platinum Curidas Fountain Pen
• The Well-Appointed Desk: Eye Candy: Retro 51 Retrospective and Retro 51 Pens
• Penquisition: AmazonBasics Fountain Pen Review
• This Belgian Malinois Is Up a Tree
• Anderson Pens Blog: When To Clean Your Pens

These are two of my favorite nibs sported by the pens that got me hooked on demonstrators. Hard to believe I have used them for over five years and have never tired of how they look or write. Seeing colorful ink through the clear barrel is always delightful.

Platinum #3776 Century Nice Pen Nibs from Luxury Brands USA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Autumn Ink Palette Inspired By Van Gogh

My favorite season has returned though where I live, you wouldn’t know it was autumn. One way to compensate for that deficiency is to let my ink and pen selection represent the color variety that the local flora does not. Could my current maximum rotation of five pens do the season justice? After extensive perusing of ink swatches, I was not satisfied with any combination and put aside the project for another day.

Then I noticed a book of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings, a gift from family earlier this year. Why not consult a master? Eventually, I settled on his painting, Rocks with Oak Tree, and found a few inks in my collection that approximate the colors.

• Herbin Ambre de Birmaine
• Iroshizuku yu-yake
• Iroshizuku ina-ho
• Herbin Lie de Thé
• Noodler’s Dostoyevsky
• Waterman Florida Blue

The two pens already on my desk were filled with Sailor Tokiwa-Matsu and Diamine Violet so adding six more would be too many. Three inks were returned to the shelf, leaving a manageable number.

This group will do nicely for visual variety and writing pleasure.

• Iroshizuku yu-yake
• Herbin Lie de Thé
• Noodler’s Dostoyevsky
• Diamine Violet
• Sailor Tokiwa-Matsu

 

These inks may not reflect the season so much as Van Gogh’s color choices, but that’s fine since they will provide sufficient variety to meet my current writing needs. As the holidays approach, yu-yake and Violet will be replaced by Diamine Emerald and a bright burgundy to carry me into the new year. At least that is the current plan. I am quite fickle when it comes to ink, so don’t hold me to it. I am after all an inkophile. Aren’t you?

These items are available at Amazon.com. For qualified purchases, Inkophile receives a small commission at no additional cost to you.

• Van Gogh His Life and Works in 500 Images by Michael Howard
• Herbin Ambre de Birmaine
• Iroshizuku yu-yake
• Iroshizuku ina-ho
• Herbin Lie de Thé
• Noodler’s Dostoyevsky
• Waterman Serenity Blue (formerly Florida Blue)
• Diamine Violet
• Sailor Tokiwa-Matsu

 

What Prompts You To Journal?

What prompts you to write in your journal? Many of us start a new one in January which makes this a good month to examine and strengthen what works.

Fountain pen people may do it just for the joy of using a favorite pen or a pretty new ink. Sometimes it’s the luxurious feel of a perfectly tuned nib sliding across velvety paper. A touch of the hedonist may drive us to such pursuits, but it is good, clean fun.

It doesn’t have to be just words that make it on paper. A doodler can use a glyph or squiggle to fill lines and spaces. Watercolor may come into play, but glued on bits of ephemera count as well. Stickers, tickets and postage stamps can inspire lengthy entries or at least make the pages look satisfyingly full.

But what prompts the writer, the serious writer, to put pen to paper? What inspires that flow of words? An experience of the day, something in the news, an errant thought? Do you have a book of prompts or a theme to explore? Really, how do you do it and what do you do it with?

Writing in my journal can bring out the minimalist in me. I like using a light to medium weight pen with an ink to match the subject or something very neutral that won’t detract. Recently, four pens have graced my long sessions: two Pilot Metropolitan Mediums, a Lamy Studio Fine, and a Platinum Nice Medium. The Lamy is a little heavy for more than four or five pages, but the others are good for miles of adventure. Current inks are Iroshizuku ama-iro, Pilot Blue-Black, J. Herbin Terre de Feu and Sailor Tokiwa-matsu in the second Pilot Metro.

Today my journals include one from Paper for Fountain Pens with Tomoe River Paper, Staples Arc, a new Muji notebook and a (Midori) Traveler’s Notebook, most often a #013.

Any of these tools can prompt me to journal. Four pens, inks and journals would seem like enough variety for an inkophile. Or maybe not. The Stillman & Birn Epsilon, Stipula Verde Muschiato, and the lovely, lovely Platinum #3776 music nib are ready to go. Oh, look at that. Ku-jaku just waved at me with a charming, beauty-queen-riding-in-a-parade gesture. So much for my minimalist rotation. Is this a hopeless addiction or what!

 

Platinum Nibs, Diamine And Leuchtturm1917

Last night two Platinum Century pens shouted for attention following weeks of being on the back bench. How could I refuse?

The good news is that the nibs wrote beautifully from the first stroke despite a lack of recent exercise. The Century certainly can go a long time without attention. Both are smooth, but there is a slight difference between the medium and the soft medium. The latter has a cushioned feel to it which reduces feedback. The line width of the soft medium might be a tad more narrow, but that could be attributed to the ink. Both nibs are in the workhorse category. Use them for anything.

Next to Noodler’s and J. Herbin, Diamine is the brand of ink that got the most time in my pens last year. Wild Strawberry and Merlot were gifts from Beth Treadway and have proven good additions to my regular rotation. Merlot dries more slowly, but for the saturated color, I can be patient.

The Leuchtturm1917 remains one of my favorite journals though it could be better. If you look closely, the inks found threads to follow and produced more bleed-through than I would like. The previous night I used a Platinum #3776 music nib with J. Herbin Cafe des Iles that produced neither feathering nor bleeding. Pelikan Violet, Waterman Florida Blue, and Noodler’s Apache Sunset performed better on the paper than any ink except Noodler’s Black.

Does this mean Diamine inks have a problem or is the Leuchtturm paper inconsistent? Either way it’s a reminder that testing ink is valuable. The last page in a notebook is a convenient place to write the names of pens and inks for future reference. My sample page produced mixed results, but I now know which duos would be best to grab for a long day of note taking.

The Platinum Century M and SM are delightful to use and I love the soft Leuchtturm paper even with its imperfections so I want to pair the paper with inks that will not feather or bleed. Noodler’s Black and Lexington Gray might just do the trick. Not colorful, but oh so reliable. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Handwriting Day And Five Good Pens

It’s National Handwriting Day! What better way to celebrate the occasion than by using a few very enjoyable pens. My short list turned out to be varied in nib size as well as price. The inks were randomly selected for paper tests except WFB in the Pelikan. Those two have been dating for years.

• Pelikan M400 Fine with Waterman Florida Blue
• Platinum #3776 Music Nib with J. Herbin Terre de Feu
• Platinum Century Nice Medium with Diamine Wild Strawberry
• TWSBI Diamond 580 1.1mm with Diamine Violet
• Conklin Duragraph 1.1mm with Noodler’s Apache Sunset

Which duo did you choose today?