The pen! The ink is Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai, because I love that ink. Yes, the pen glitters.
I decided to buy an Esterbrook Camden in Manitoba Blue, because I couldn’t resist that the nib matched the pen. (Yes, I am that easy to sway.). It turns out that the pen is a pleasure to write with, and is extremely smooth. I’m keeping a journal with it now, and the way it glides over Clairefontaine paper is just magical.
Did I need another pen? No. Am I glad I got it? Yes. Will I use it? Oh, goodness yes – with eight active European pen friends AND so many members of my family suffering from arthritis, I’m on a spree.
Finally out of the box: my first TWSBI fountain pen; its stub nib; a writing sample in Diamine’s Glacier ink. (It is too full of sparkles – I had to clean out the pen afterward, when it started to clog.)
My writing hand is in a mood to write, so I unpacked my TWSBI Diamond 580AL Fountain Pen in Iceberg Blue to start a new volume of my journals.
It’s lovely! It feels well made, is comfortable to hold, and the angle makes sense. I am switching to another Diamine ink (with fewer sparkles, so it will flow more evenly) for the rest of today’s writing.
Yes, every autumn I do gush about autumn. Yes, there are pages listing all the foods I love to eat. No, I don’t have to hold back – I’m writing for my own satisfaction, and there’s no such thing as too much gushy enthusiasm in a private journal.
I anticipate this pen will go into heavy rotation for letter writing, when I need a large pen I can hold comfortably for long letters.
The letter (in German) is about ordinary moments of joy: laughing with friends, enjoying the quiet of a Sunday morning, drinking fancy espresso drinks with my commute girlfriends…
I note that I enjoy such ordinary moments while I travel also, and that a favorite moment from a trip to Japan was appreciating a lovingly drawn carrot with luxuriant greens. Someone spent real time on drawing and painting it in their sketchbook (not as a final wall painting to impress others, but just a lightly colored sketch in their own sketchbook for themselves). It was made with such affectionate attention that I remain moved by the memory of it to this day. Anyone who chooses to invest hours in drawing the little lateral dimples and soft irregular greens of a fresh carrot is living life deeply in the present moment, and I can learn from that.
I like this ink, and if I let the pen sit for a bit, I can also achieve ombre effects over a page, as my writing gradually turns from black to silver. That’s nice.
A slightly shaky page from a letter to a pen pal about my fondness for San Francisco’s local version of autumn, and fondly remembering the gingko trees near my temporary apartment on Mission Creek; the pearly metallic black ink that came with the pen; the stub nib I chose; the ink in the bottle; the pen in its box.
I’ve been waiting to enjoy this special pen for a day when my writing arm isn’t sore. That day hasn’t come, so I decided to stop waiting and write anyway, with soothing ice pack breaks relieving my arm of its internal swelling.
My writing sample isn’t the best here – I’ve waited weeks to hold a real pen again – but this Monteverde “Innova Formula M Fountain Pen – Lightning (Limited Edition)” pen provides a smooth, pleasant writing experience. The ink’s silvery sheen is pleasant. It has some special wetting agents that made it feather on my usual papers (and I thought nothing could feather on Tomoe River!), but works well on ordinary paper. I like the softness of this black. It makes me think of my well-washed, favorite black denim jeans, but more metallic. (This gives me ideas of special effects I might like in my denim if this didn’t make them less soft...)
As the writing sample notes, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year, especially for food reasons, but also because of the delivery of dramatic skies. Oh, how I love them – they make mornings so moody, and sunsets so colorful…
I look forward to using this pen-ink combination on other papers for long writing sessions.
My very red Pilot Metropolitan. The ink is likely Diamine Syrah.
This Pilot Metropolitan (yes, another) is another satisfying, well-designed, reasonably priced pen. It writes smoothly and looks great. It has spent many hours in my hand, and that time has been pleasant.
My Monteverde Prima fountain pen; its nib; a writing sample about the our golden summers, and how strange it is that other places have green summers. Who knew? The muted green ink is Herbin’s ‘Vert Empire.’
The view out my east facing dining room window is of the deep green of a holly tree, and the brighter green of a juniper, which inspired me to fill my greenest pen and write about the color.
This Monteverde Prima is one of my earliest fountain pen purchases. I initially thought it was stingy with ink, but just happened to be using a drier flowing ink. I tried others and improved my paper choices, which help me appreciate this pen’s smooth writing and pleasant proportions. It is comfortable to hold, is reliable (doesn’t clog or dry out), and the way it catches the light is attractive. The nib is firm, and I am amused that Monteverde is so proud of it that they engraved their long name on it TWICE.
The ink is Herbin’s ‘Vert Empire,’ the color of a dusty green velvet, or leafy desert plants that must protect themselves from the sun by being a bit gray. The pen isn’t an exact match for any of my five or so shades of green ink, though it comes quite close to Herbin’s ‘Lierre Sauvage‘ (which the Herbin website associates with anarchy. Ah, leafy green anarchy…). A medium bright green with silver sparkle could also come close, though that might be difficult to read if too shiny. (If you are a fan of Herbin’s “Vert Atlantide,” you probably beat me to this.)
Yes, my personal true color of California in summer is the yellow-gold of sun-dried grass on our rolling hills, but our extensive agricultural regions offer many shades of green, from the yellow-greens of grape leaves through the pale, silver-greens of artichoke leaves.
Essie in Sea Glass with an informal writing sample written with Takeda Jimuki Kyo No Oto Hisoku, my favorite celadon-colored ink.
Earlier this spring, I had a work anniversary, and bought myself an Esterbrook Essie fountain pen in sea glass with a stub nib.
It’s lovely. It’s a good size, and is easy to hold. It writes well – not that you’d know from this casually / hastily written page of notes, but it is a smooth writer. I’ve only tested one ink in it so far, and found that it got a little dry after a long writing session, so I’m making minor adjustments to ensure that it will put down consistent amounts of ink, even when I change writing speeds.
And yes, as the text notes, I’ve started to dream up scenes from science fiction stories I want to write, so we’ll see if I can get enough rest to do that.
Noodler’s Neponset fountain pen in blue and white pearl (which may have been named Ghostly Lapis?), with a Goulet stub nib. Writing sample in shimmering red and blue Diamine Polar Glow ink. Text about exploring my neighborhood after a long absence.
I’ve written about how much I love stub nibs, and the nib on this enormous Noodler’s Neponset pen is no exception. This is the first nib replacement that has required multiple adjustments. When it is aligned correctly it works well and wetly, as you can see, but sometimes I somehow lose contact between the feed and the nib – it just isn’t seated properly in the pen – and it just won’t write! I never had this problem with this pen before, so it is clearly my doing, and all about how I insert the nib and feed after cleaning it.
(There was a similar acrylic Neponset with peach and pearl coloring, and I resisted it for too long – it sold out. If I knew how comfortable the pen is to hold, I might not have resisted! I understand the limited editions that pens are released in better now…)
The gorgeous blue ink with a red sheen is Diamine’s Polar Glow. I love it beyond reason, and it flows well, but is demanding. The red sheeing particles never seem to settle in the bottle, but definitely settle in the pen, which is entirely fair for such a lovely special effect. (But it interrupts the flow of my thoughts when I am eager to write!)
Content-wise, the sample writing notes that I’m settling back into my neighborhood. I am happy to be back, even though it is not as new or fashionable as the area I moved to during construction. My normal neighborhood was built in the 1920s, whereas my apartment was from 2008-ish, so everything feels and looks 90 years newer – because it is! There are no power lines visible in that newer neighborhood, the sidewalks are smooth and even, the trees are well maintained, the paint on all of the buildings is in great shape… It makes me want my own neighborhood to be better maintained, and there is nothing wrong with that.
I hope the images of the ink tempt you to consider special effects in your writing, and wider nibs to show the inks off!
Views of my new red and violet Noodlers Ink fountain pen in “Forbidden City” design atop handwriting in Noodler’s Burgundy ink
I am continuing to love Goulet’s stub nibs in various pens – the nib lays down so much ink! The verticals are so thick! The nib is smooth, and makes for a pleasant writing experience.
The topic of my writing when I made this first collage was more private than I could show in full, so I’ve waited for muted daylight to photograph a less sensitive writing sample. (Note that it remains very difficult to use an iPhone to show off ink colors unless you get far away: the phone increases contrast automatically, and so most of my close up images appear to be black.)
Noodler’s Burgundy ink collage of three images in muted lighting on a cloudy day. iPhones increase contrast, making the ink appear darker in close ups. The lower right image writing sample displays the ink color most accurately.
I’ve historically found Noodler’s inks to be too wet for my pens (it drips!), but this one flows so nicely from their own pen on Rhodia paper that I may change my mind.
This is an Edison Collier fountain pen (made in Ohio!) in the color Persimmon Swirl; a Goulet 1.1mm stub nib assembly; a writing sample in Pelikan Edelstein ink in “Mandarin” orange on Rhodia cream paper.
I was writing yesterday about how wonderful it is to have a desk to write at (I have space!), was enjoying the orange theme a bit too much, and decided to post about it. (Materialism happens to me, too! I use a lot of tools and art supplies, and have been choosing prettier ones recently.)
This pen isn’t very “like” me – I own almost nothing that is orange – but it is so attractive looking, and so vivid, that I couldn’t resist. It is a lovely size and shape to hold, large, gently rounded, and easy to write with. It came with a medium nib, but I’m on a broad nib bender, so I ordered a replacement nib-and-feed assembly from Goulet, and am happier with it. I have ink feeding issues from time to time with the converter (it withholds ink after I’ve written a few pages, and I have to dial the converter to be more generous (postscript: this appears to be specific to certain inks, Herbin is flowing beautifully)), but standard international cartridges flow just fine.
Orange inks can be limited in legibility, but I’ve been testing some good ones. By coincidence, the 2023 Diamine Inkvent calendar (an advent calendar with a 12ml bottle of ink behind 24 doors, and a bigger bottle behind door 25 for Christmas), happens to have added two new oranges to my little collection, including one that was behind Saturday’s tiny door.
Sample cards displaying the five (!) orange inks currently in my collection. Diamine Fireside Snug, Diamine Bucks Fizz, Sailor Studio 173 & 473, and Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin.
My employer’s theme color is orange, and I’ve grown accustomed to using a sanctioned shade of burnt orange in my presentations, so I may be more open to using this color than I’ve historically been. Goodness knows there have been many shades of orange in the gorgeous sunsets recently! So, we’ll see if these tiny bottles lead to a bigger commitment for my writing. There are some famous American and Japanese orange inks I haven’t sampled yet, so it’s possible…
