Landing this currently inked in the comfort zone
This week’s six-piece arrangement lives well within my comfort zone. The inks are all cool or unsaturated tones. And nibs share a healthy 1-3 split across regular EF and ground shapes. Ok: so I’m in more than one comfort zone.
Both daily drivers are kitted with unground EF nibs. The Visconti, inked with grey, is intended as my daily driver. The Sequoia has a narrow enough dark green line to offer a usable backup should the Blizzard run empty during the week. Every other nib sports a specialty grind.
Five of this week’s pens are among the largest in my collection. The Visconti is easily the heaviest pen I own. The Monteverde and Mythic are comfortably large. And the TWSBIs are both sizable, particularly the Vac. Go big or go home, right?
The tinted glasses of justice
One ink each of grey and blue, a green, an orange-brown, a dusty brown and a murky purple. Unsaturated and cool hues are easy on the eyes — and calming. We can all use a little comfort heading into the holiday season.
Only one pairing carries over from last week: the Prussian Blue TWSBI. The rest are new to the rotation. And, frankly, this week’s combination of pens work well as a whole.
I’m excited to dig in. That’s how I should always feel about a currently inked. Tiny victories.
Grey/Black
Visconti Homo Sapiens Blizzard (EF). Birmingham Slag Grey. My daily driver for the week. An EF works well for task management and for detailed notetaking. And round tipping keeps the writing experience enjoyable for small lettering. Running empty mid-week last week was jarring. The vac-filled Blizzard should hold more than enough ink for this week. Task management, detailed reading notes, lesson plans, meeting notes, lecture notes (structure).
Blue/Teal
TWSBI 580-ALR Prussian Blue (EF/M Predator Hybrid, by Nibgrinder). Kyo-no-oto Aonibi. The TWSBI will remain my go-to pocket carry this week. The multitasker predator grind is tailor-made for writing at odd angles, and in both large (M side) and small (EF side) letters. And Aonibi dries quickly enough to avoid smearing on Stalogy’s paper. Pocket notes, lesson plans, journaling (M side), margin notes, unplanned meeting notes.
Earth Tones
Sailor Pro Gear Graphite Lighthouse (Z). Monteverde Gemstone Moonstone. This Sailor is the only regular sized pen in this week’s outfit. The broad Zoom nib more than qualifies this pair for the week’s “go big” theme. Moonstone makes this a wet, shading-heavy combination. The unsaturated brown adds an earthy, easy-on-the-eyes tone to the week’s palette. The Zoom nib is a great demonstration nib as it affords legible large diagramming and smooth detailed writing on the reverse side. Teaching notes, scratch notes, journaling, lesson plans, reading notes.
Mythic Aeschylus Black & Red (M SIG, by Franklin-Christoph). KOBE Arima Amber. I moved the M SIG into this beast of an acrylic pen. The SIG brings out Arima’s best qualities: near-black shading and a hue that sits midway between orange and brown. My manuscript marking and editing pair. The brightest coloring of this week’s six. So, this combo is, comparably, the best suited for grading student papers. Marking, editing notes, lesson plans, reading notes, journaling.
Monteverde Giant Sequoia Brown (EF). Monteverde Jade Noir. This generous EF nib unit emphasizes the Noir out of Jade Noir. Lines are almost black. As such, this pair is my backup daily driver. True EF line width also makes this combo a strong alternative to detailed notes during meetings and while making reading notes.
Wild Cards
TWSBI Vac700R Iris (F CSI, by Pen Realm). Birmingham Cranberry Twinkle. A matchy-matchy pairing. The Vac’s massive ink capacity encourages long bouts of writing between cleanings. Considering the likelihood that Cranberry’s twinkle (aka. shimmer) would lead to clogs over weeks, I chose not to shake the bottle before filling. A peaceful, murky purple that remains a disciplined F line width within this CSI. Excellent splash of color during faculty meetings, while reading, during lesson planning, and for lecture notes. Oh, and certainly journaling.
