Currently Inked - November 11
Into the land of B
The setup for this week stands out of character. I now have five B nibs and four ground nibs inked. The comforting world of EF line widths that is typically my notebooks is momentarily in the rear-view.
I typically reserve B nibs for journaling. EF and F are for day-to-day work. It’s exciting to change up the routine now and again.
I went with two grey inks again this week. Having a backup daily driver may become my standard moving forward. A blue, two teals, two purples, a pink and a green round out the current rotation. All in cool tones. I suppose my subconscious is anticipating winter despite the warm weather here.
Five pen-and-ink pairings carry-over from last week: the Pro Gear, Emerald TWSBI, Visconti, Franklin-Christoph and Platinum 3776.
Grey/Black
TWSBI 580 AL Emerald (EF). KOBE Museum Grey #46. This week’s daily driver is an EF TWSBI. The Museum Grey is really wet in this feed and so takes a while to dry. A long drying time makes recording tasks more challenging. Many notes have grown more ... smeary. I might need to consider a dryer combo for day-to-day notetaking.
Pelikan m805 Stresemann Anthracite (B Architect, by Custom Nib Studio). Sailor Shikiori Chu-shu. The purple undertones in CS are noticeable but are understated enough that the color is still grey-forward. I love that balanced tone. This is my backup once the TWSBI kicks. Until then, maybe this pair will join in on some journaling, too.
Blue/Teal
Sailor Pro Gear Slate (Z Architect, ground by Custom Nib Studio). Colorverse Warped Passages. This pairing was the MVP from last week. It somehow survived with most of its ink. This week looks to be more heavily scheduled with meetings. This pen will get a lot more use. I’m stoked.
TWSBI 580 AL Silver (F). Robert Oster Blue Velvet Storm. The RO ink was a ton of fun a few weeks ago. It’s back. And this time it’s in a demonstrator. I paired the RO with a B nib to better avoid clogs. It’s been a hot-and-cold lesson planning combo as the feed does dry out when I write too quickly. The pair is playing best with slower, methodical writing.
Earth Tones
Visconti Homo Sapiens Silver Age (F). Robert Oster Muddy Bucket. The wet Visconti feed brings out the darker side of Muddy Bucket. It’s an excellent pairing. The round nib contributes to this combo’s excellent performance with intermittent notes. The Visconti will stay at my desk this week. I’m loving it for lesson plans, journaling, and for writing letter (yep: singular).
Nakaya Neostandard Heki-tamenuri (B). Diamine Eau de Nil. Another desk pen. This combo is reserved for journaling and at-home bullet journaling. The Nakaya’s feed brings out the darker, greener sides of EdN. There’s plenty of haloing – my favorite ink trait – and some sheen on the right paper.
Wild Cards
Platinum 3776 Nice Pur (B). J. Herbin 1798 Amethyste de L’Oural. This pen is lovely for short bursts of writing – like during meetings. It will be interesting to learn how the wet B nib takes to a shimmer ink like AdO. But, off the bat, it’s smooth and free of hard starts. My editing/revision combo.
Franklin-Christoph 31 in Smoke & Ice (M-SIG, ground by Audrey at Franklin-Christoph). Noodler’s Ottoman Rose. I typically shy away from red inks. I worry that seeing too much red at work will freak students out. The SIG nib makes me write more slowly, and so more thoughtfully while journaling, drafting research, and writing notes in my personal bujo. The ability to see such a striking ink color from distance may also lend itself to lesson plan notes, too.
TWSBI Vac700 R Iris (F Cursive Smooth Italic, ground by Pen Realm). Kyo-No-Oto Sakuranezumi #9. Wow. Kirk Speer did a wonderful job grinding this nib. It’s smooth and shows line variation. This is my marking pen for the week. Glob knows it can hold enough ink for the job.
