Multicoloured Correspondence

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Hallo fellow fountaineers!

So most of us appear to have multiple pens and multiple inks (not to mention paper varieties). Would this be a reasonably accurate statement?

Okay then...

… who among us uses more than one colour when writing personal (non-business) correspondence?

Well, I certainly do, and so do my pen pals, but I've been thinking a bit about why I do this and whether it is a thing I should continue to do. See, I get that we like to show off our rainbow colours, and I get that we like to use all our pens.

However, it means that the pens do not always have the colour that I want in them, at the time of writing, because preferences may change almost daily! And sometimes I lament the fact that I have one nicely shading ink in my one italic pen (for example) instead of another equally vivacious colour. Also, to add to mix, some of my pens are now almost permanently wedded to a particular ink (my 823 only ever has Tsuki-yo in it, for instance).

Further to this, I tend to write for only one page in one colour - though this is obviously not a strict rule, and occasionally I have changed between paragraphs.


I guess one solution to this is to use dip pens, but FP inks do not all play well doing this.


So, I thought it might be interesting to hear what other people do.

Are you a rainbow warrior of the written page? Or do you take a noir approach and write monotone monographs?

[Paddler]

I keep four or five pens inked at a time, all with different color inks. When writing a letter, I swap them in and out at whim. I don't remember changing in mid-sentence but anything else goes. Sometimes I change back and forth between two. When using dip pens, I test a pen and ink on a piece of the current writing paper to see if the combination will behave itself.

[azkid]

Sometimes I select multiple pens/colors from among my already inked pens. I didn't have many colors available last time I wrote a letter so I chose one I liked best.

I choose to use black at work, so black is the last thing I would choose for a letter to a pen pal.

[fqgouvea]

When I grade exams I often use a different pen and color for each problem. I’ve done it in letters too, changing at each new page.

[Zou]

I used to keep journals where every time I'd been away from the journal, I would use a different colour so I could have an indication that time had passed between two entries. Now I just represent that with 4 dots, because I got tired of having more than one or two pens inked, and I don't like how a multicoloured journal looks.

It can be useful, at times, to have an alternate colour when studying, but only the clicky fountain pens are well suited to this. It's too inconvenient cap and uncap conventional fountain pens.

I sometimes think it would be much more useful if fountain pens wrote a broader line upsidedown, rather than the extra fine like which is conventional. Because I'd like to write a heading in a bold line upsidedown, but keep the pen right side up for the majority of the writing. A lot of people think of reverse writing as their option for cheaper paper, though, even though it is flow that really determines whether a pen can be used on cheaper paper.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Also, I feel a bit guilty when I notice that some pens and/or inks are not getting used and haven't for some time. For me, and perhaps others, there is a tension between the act of spending money on a tool and the amount of use that tool gets after acquisition.

While this seems tangential to the OP, it does actually tie into it a bit for me.

[Lady Onogaro]

Good question. I keep several pens inked in different colors; I assume that I might have an ink the person I am writing to doesn't, and perhaps that person would like to see the ink on paper or learn of the color. I know I have certainly appreciated that when others write me. I never particularly liked green ink until someone wrote to me in Sailor Tokwa Matsu. Then I was like "oh, I've got to get a bottle of that." I also have a glass pen from J. Herbin that I use when I want to change ink frequently. I actually like some inks better with that nib than with steel nibs.

[Voiren]

I've written one long letter with a gradient of 5 or 6 yellow to oranges on every page. Otherwise I mostly only change colours in a letter if I was talking about a specific pen, or if I ran out of ink. I do have quite a few pens inked, and pick my paper and pen for each letter (sometimes depending on what is more convenient to carry around).

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Good question. I keep several pens inked in different colors; I assume that I might have an ink the person I am writing to doesn't, and perhaps that person would like to see the ink on paper or learn of the color. I know I have certainly appreciated that when others write me. I never particularly liked green ink until someone wrote to me in Sailor Tokwa Matsu. Then I was like "oh, I've got to get a bottle of that." I also have a glass pen from J. Herbin that I use when I want to change ink frequently. I actually like some inks better with that nib than with steel nibs.

Good point. I have done this to showcase an ink to a pen pal, as they have also done for me (and which I have enjoyed). However, with a modest number of inks there comes the time when one's correspondees have seen all the inks. What then? :confused:

[Paddler]

Good question. I keep several pens inked in different colors; I assume that I might have an ink the person I am writing to doesn't, and perhaps that person would like to see the ink on paper or learn of the color. I know I have certainly appreciated that when others write me. I never particularly liked green ink until someone wrote to me in Sailor Tokwa Matsu. Then I was like "oh, I've got to get a bottle of that." I also have a glass pen from J. Herbin that I use when I want to change ink frequently. I actually like some inks better with that nib than with steel nibs.

Good point. I have done this to showcase an ink to a pen pal, as they have also done for me (and which I have enjoyed). However, with a modest number of inks there comes the time when one's correspondees have seen all the inks. What then? :confused:

Have you tried changing stationery? With a computer and a color printer, you can make your own designer writing paper. You can make a letterhead for the first page, a trailing sheet for the last page, and different designs for the sheets betwixt 'em. So design and write your letters that your intended victim will frame and display them on his/her walls.

You can also write your letter in 15th Century format, starting with a flowery salutation, followed by a benediction on the recipient's household, and, following that, a curse upon his enemies. Such a letter usually ends with an oath of friendship.

[Voiren]

I did multicolour some of my paper before writing on it with R&K SketchINKs :)

Also the usual washi tape. You can make some nice corners with some of the larger vintage-y ones.

[Sagebrush64]

Haaaa! This is funny! I thought I was crazy for changing my pen for every new paragraph!

Good Stuff!!

[Lady Onogaro]

Good question. I keep several pens inked in different colors; I assume that I might have an ink the person I am writing to doesn't, and perhaps that person would like to see the ink on paper or learn of the color. I know I have certainly appreciated that when others write me. I never particularly liked green ink until someone wrote to me in Sailor Tokwa Matsu. Then I was like "oh, I've got to get a bottle of that." I also have a glass pen from J. Herbin that I use when I want to change ink frequently. I actually like some inks better with that nib than with steel nibs.

Good point. I have done this to showcase an ink to a pen pal, as they have also done for me (and which I have enjoyed). However, with a modest number of inks there comes the time when one's correspondees have seen all the inks. What then? :confused:

Just use the inks you like. You're the writer--you get to pick. They probably won't care. My correspondents don't seem to notice much.

[junglejim]

Good question. I keep several pens inked in different colors; I assume that I might have an ink the person I am writing to doesn't, and perhaps that person would like to see the ink on paper or learn of the color. I know I have certainly appreciated that when others write me. I never particularly liked green ink until someone wrote to me in Sailor Tokwa Matsu. Then I was like "oh, I've got to get a bottle of that." I also have a glass pen from J. Herbin that I use when I want to change ink frequently. I actually like some inks better with that nib than with steel nibs.

I guess I'm pretty boring when it comes to replying to pen pals. For me it's strictly one pen, one ink color. I do enjoy two pen pals who send me letters that use 4 or 5 ink colors, which allows me to see what the ink can do in real-life. What one sees on the computer monitor most times is not the color one gets on paper, since in one media light projects the color from the back instead of the front.

A case in point, Stipula Calamo Musk Green (Verde Muschiato) was a color that I was kind of "meh" to even though I love swampy musty greens. Then I saw it on a received letter (along with 3 other colors) and knew I had to buy a bottle.

[sgtstretch]

I switch it up every time, some letters are written in just one pen/ink combo, sometimes I do a pen/ink per page, and sometimes I do a pen/ink per sheet. It all depends on what pens/inks I want to use.

[Wuddus]

I like consistency. All the same ink, pen, and paper. A sudden change in colour, says to me that the pen ran out, and I/them just grabbed another, and couldn't be bothered to do what's necessary to continue with the same ink. I think it looks lazy and as there's been no meaning or value attached to what's being written.

If different colours were used, or appeared to be used, in a controlled and planned fashion, that would be different (to me). For example, I have sent letters with multiple dates in the past, starting out with one pen and ink for what is written on one day, then adding a new date for the new entry with the new colour, so the reader can see the clear break in the timeline as the letter was produced, potentially continuing from a different mindset to what was written earlier.

[Morgaine]

I write multicoloured letters! A letter I replied to yesterday had different ink for each paragraph. I tried to do the same but forgot, letting one ink be used for more than one paragraph!

I have run out of ink mid-word before.

[Kaputnik]

My personal letters (admittedly rather rare these days) are almost always written in a single color with a single pen. If I happen to run a pen dry before the letter is finished, I have picked up another without worrying about whether it had the same ink in it. Or at least I think I have; it's not something that happens often. If I want to add emphasis at some point, I usually do it by underlining or printing in all capitals.

I have used more than one ink color when writing birthday or Christmas cards.

[Scrawler]

I think quite a number of people write to each other in multiple colours. I have received quite a few.

[Chrissy]

I write multicoloured letters! A letter I replied to yesterday had different ink for each paragraph. I tried to do the same but forgot, letting one ink be used for more than one paragraph!

I have run out of ink mid-word before.
I write multicoloured letters too. ;) Maybe I keep one ink for longer than one paragraph though. :)

[calamus]

You can also write your letter in 15th Century format, starting with a flowery salutation, followed by a benediction on the recipient's household, and, following that, a curse upon his enemies. Such a letter usually ends with an oath of friendship.

Oh, that sounds glorious, especially the curse on their enemies. Can you refer me to more information about or examples of this sort of letter-writing?

[Paddler]

You can also write your letter in 15th Century format, starting with a flowery salutation, followed by a benediction on the recipient's household, and, following that, a curse upon his enemies. Such a letter usually ends with an oath of friendship.

Oh, that sounds glorious, especially the curse on their enemies. Can you refer me to more information about or examples of this sort of letter-writing?

Try the introductory apologies to the reader in the book The Noble Deeds and Sayings of Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais. Or, hell, I could just write you one. Most people find the format unfamiliar enough to be off-putting. If you write a letter in that format and use archaic English, it just weirds them out. These are the people who will go into a Korean restaurant and order hamburgers.