inkophile

[inkophile]

Cursive Is Making A Comeback

The value of learning cursive has been known for years and is finally being acknowledged in school systems nationwide. Check out this editorial by Dr. Daniel Coupland about cursive and its benefits. https://flic.kr/p/2eG2wNV  

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#cursive writing

[inkophile]

Jinhao 82 Writing Sample

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words… I received this pen in a set of three from Amazon last year. One of them had a flow issue that still needs to be addressed, but the other two work perfectly. Given the price, it would have been a bargain for only two pens. The three colorful units can be assembled in multiple configurations and two medium nibs is really all I need. So things…

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#budget fountain pen #fountain pen #fountain pen nib #fountain pen review #inexpensive fountain pen #Jinhao 82 #Waterman Black Ink

[inkophile]

New Favorite Products

My interests have settled into three categories all of which require tools and elements that I explored in 2023. If only I could double my workspace to accommodate it all but for now the best I can do is to organize, organize, organize and find tools that work with more than one interest. There were nine standouts worth mentioning among my 2023 acquisitions. Links are to these products on Amazon.…

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#Boku-Undo E-Sumi Watercolors #diamine ink #Jinhao 82 #Kuretake Gold Ink #Raphael Quill Brush #Waterman Black Ink

[inkophile]

Make Your Ink And Watercolor Choices Colorful

Creating an ink rotation for fountain pens or a palette of watercolors for a painting can be a frustrating endeavor. Or it can be a stuck-in-a-rut bore. Taking a cue from flowers, birds and other sources can mix things up in unexpected but compatible ways. A few weeks ago, I discovered Lorene Edwards Forkner who matches watercolors to flowers and plants. The technique she uses is a good exercise…

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#color palette #color swatch book #gardenercook #ink rotation #Lorene Edwards Forkner #watercolor palette

[inkophile]

Need A Laugh?

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#dog video

[inkophile]

Review: Waterman Black Ink Hits All The Right Notes

After twenty years of using fountain pens, I finally purchased Waterman Intense Black Ink. My usual choices are Noodler’s Black or J Herbin Perle Noir when I am in a black mood. But I purchased the bottle of Waterman for a family member and decided to give it a whirl in a Delike New Moon 2 EF to good result. It isn’t the darkest black but varied a little in my test perhaps in part due to the nib…

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#Delike New Moon 2 #Faber-Castell Fast Gel Z #Noodler&039;s Black Ink #Waterman Black Ink

[inkophile]

Frankly Walnut Ink From Robert Oster And Federalist Pens

Federalist Pens sent a bottle of their exclusive ink Frankly Walnut from the Robert Oster Signature collection. It flows very well in the Conklin Duragraph 1.1 stub that I have had since 2015. Not too wet as some inks can be from such a wide nib. This is definitely my kind of ink since it wrote without a skip after over a week of no use. Swatches are good for relative comparisons. Here Frankly…

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#Conklin Duragraph #Federalist Pens #fountain pen ink review #Frankly Walnut Ink #Robert Oster Ink #The Well-Appointed Desk

[inkophile]

One Of My Best Pen Gifts Ever

Some quickie penporn for the weekend. The 14K nib on a Platinum #3776 Century that is a favorite. It’s one of the best pen gifts I have ever received and it came from Luxury Brands. Nice, eh? The background is a bit of doodling with Bodu-Undo graphite watercolors and Holbein gold gouache.  

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#fountain pen nib #Kuretake #Luxury Brands USA #Platinum 3776

[inkophile]

A Home For My Desk Pens

Those inexpensive Chinese fountain pens on my desk needed protection from my clumsiness and to prevent escaping to parts unknown. So I bought an equally inexpensive case to keep them safe. It holds twelve pens but there are just six in my rotation so it only needs to be left open to access the current crew. When closed, the pens are protected and can’t go wandering as I have been known to lose…

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#Chinese fountain pens #Delike New Moon 2 #Jinhao 82 #pen case #Rhodia Notebook

[inkophile]

Chinese Pens: The Final Chapter

Chinese Pens: The Final Chapter

Three years ago and after considerable research, I bought my first Chinese fountain pen, a Delike (Majohn/Moonman) New Moon 2 bent nib from Amazon. It was such a pleasure to use that for a time it was the only pen on my desk and for over two years, it was the only pen I used in my daily journal. The fine and extra-fine that I purchased were not in the same league and only the bent nib arrived in…

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#Chinese fountain pens #Delike New Moon 2 #Fountain Pens #Jinhao 82 #Jinhao fountain pen #Majohn New Moon 2

[inkophile]

Customize Your Pen By Swapping Parts

Recently on Instagram there have been photos of two-colored pastel pens that caught my eye. Of course I could blink and lose interest so I decided to make a minimal investment and give the trend a try. This photo from @suzi_scribbles on Instagram was the inspiration for assembling my own version of the Platinum 3776 Kinokuniya “Chamomile Tea”. It is a limited edition and beautiful but no longer…

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#Fountain Pens #Jinhao 82

[inkophile]

The Evolution Of My Summer Ink Rotation

Several summer ink rotations from the past came to light as I researched my current selection of inks. It reminded me how much my tastes have changed. They are in reverse chronological order. Some lack names for the inks and aren’t the best color renditions. No swatch for 2022 because I used only Iroshizuku syo-ro. Diamine Violet has been in my summer rotation more than any other ink for its…

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#fountain pen ink comparison #fountain pen inks #ink rotation #summer inks

[inkophile]

My Summer Six Pack Isn't Made Of Beer

After months of testing nibs and writing reviews, the crew on my desk exploded into a massive invasion. Eighteen is simply too many so now it’s back to a smaller group of pens and inks. Last summer two bent nib pens were all I wanted, but this year I added fines and extra fines. I’m calling them my six pack. These are the ones that made the cut: Jinhao 82 EF Transparent Gray and Diamine…

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#best fountain pens #Delike Fountain Pen #diamine ink #Jinhao 82 #Platinum 3776 music nib #Sailor ink #Sailor Shikioro Ink

[inkophile]

MakeID Beats The Pants Off Dymo Tape

Do you have a Dymo label maker? I have owned a few and gave up on them years ago. Between keeping a journal and making collages, I recently decided to find a label maker that might add a little artistic flare to a page or to a label for a storage container or tabs in a notebook. There are lots of uses but those topped my list. There are only a few companies offering these products but my…

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#collage #Jinhao 82 #label maker #label printer #MakeID

[inkophile]

Fude vs Bent Nib. Is There A Difference?

Fude in Japanese means “writing brush” which is how Asian calligraphy was originally written. For a fountain pen, the nib is bent to produce a thick and thin line like a brush does. All fude nibs are bent nibs, but the length of the bent section and thus the stroke can vary greatly. Held upright, the nibs can be scratchy but they do write a fine line. Held at an angle, the nibs glide more easily…

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#bent nib #Chinese calligraphy #Delike Fountain Pen #Delike New Moon 2 #Duke Fountain Pen #fountain pen review #fude #fude nib #Jinhao 82 #Leigh Reyes

[inkophile]

Where Does An Inkophile Search For Ink And Pens?

Where does an inkophile search for ink and pens? Glad you asked. Twenty years ago there were so few inks on the market that I honestly thought I would eventually be able to try them all. Not a joke. I really thought that. Ten years ago it was not realistic but samples made it possible to try a significant number of available inks. Five years ago, I downsized my goal to all of the inks in one or…

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#diamine ink #Federalist Pens #fountain pen #Jinhao 82 #Pendemonium #The Well-Appointed Desk

[inkophile]

Those Chinese Fountain Pens

Here is a photo of those Chinese pens that was captured before they could roll away. Corralling them was not easy. Jinhao 82 and 100, Delike New Moon, and a lone Wing Sung were the finalists for my comparison posts. A summation is in the works. While the New Moon is a better fit in my hand, the Jinhao 82 EF and F nibs were more consistently better performing out of the box than the New Moon EF…

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#Chinese fountain pens #Delike Fountain Pen #fountain pen review #Jinhao 82 #New Moon 2 #Wing Sung 659