A thrice of shimmer without the shine
Three of the week’s inks are technically shimmer inks. I opted to fill each without shaking their bottles. I particularly appreciate separating the fancy from the function of an ink when I anticipate a wealth of short form writing. All three (Enchanted Ocean, Sparkling Shadows, and Sugar Snap) flair up with excellent shading and, without shimmer, flow easily.
As for color: I chose a palette of light-and-dark pairs. Enchanted Ocean is a dark, sheen-forward blue while Eau de Nil is a brighter mid-toned teal. Sugar Snap continues on as a mid-toned yellow-green with deeper shading while Seaweed is a pale green. A little bicoloring.
Grey/Black
TWSBI 580-AL Silver (EF). Diamine Sparkling Shadows. Moderately shading grey inks elicit smiles for me — a boon for a daily driver I’d like to reach for time and again throughout the week. Shadows is quite wet in this EF nib. I need to slow down and breathe before closing a notebook to prevent ink smearing. Task management, meeting notes, scratch notes, and pocket carry.
Blue/Teal
Junlai 930 Ivory White (B). Diamine Enchanted Ocean. My initial expectation of the Junlai, with its massive #9 nib and well-balanced tree-branch dimensions, was as a go-to during teaching reflections and meetings. However, it’s so large as to blitz into meeting agenda. So, the Nunlai has found a happy home when writing at my home desk: journaling, drafting, D&D notes, and, on the weekends, lesson plan outlines.
Delta Dune Zephyr (F Semi-Flex). Diamine Eau de Nil. What a neat pen with a less-than-one turn uncapping. A comfortable size in my hand for brief, medium, and extended writing sessions. The semi-flex nib is soft, providing real-time control over how much shading Nil throws off. Banger. Meeting notes, longform teaching reflections, personal journaling, and some manuscript drafting.
Earth Tones
Pilot Custom 743 Deep Red (F). Diamine Sugar Snap. The 743 is my alternate meeting notetaker. I also like the deep red pen for grading students’ formative homework. Snap’s shading lends whimsy to routine writing like grocery lists and task brainstorms.
Gravitas Monster Aluminum Teal (EF). Dominant Industry Seaweed. The universe took away and the Pen Addict Slack delivered. I swapped the black EF nib over from the cracked Monster for a dark contrast against this Monster’s lovely teal shade. The EF-wide light green lines work great for marking students’ writing, marking my own writing, and for detailed note taking like reading notes. A true bookworm enabler.
Cypress Kawari-nuri Casual A (Sketch, by Monty Winnfield). Teranishi Nostalgic Honey. The paintbrush-to-fine polarity of the Sketch nib is a giggle-generator. The paintbrush scribbles lecture notes that are readable from feet away. The F nib lays out letterforms that work great for journaling and longform reflecting.
Wild Cards
Gravitas Monster Aluminum Black (B). Taccia Ukiyo-e Ume-Murasaki. When the penverse is kind, it’s quite kind. My replacement black Monster sports a disciplined B nib. The week’s palette benefits from a shading-forward earthy purple-red in Murasaki. Nerves lead me to relegate the Monster to longform seated writing: journaling, letter writing, manuscript drafting, and D&D notes.
