So, for which things do you use your pens? And how much do you write?

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Originally Posted by Paddler

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Originally Posted by penwash

Sketching, like this one I just did tonight:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7895/...6ac97b1b_c.jpg

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That looks just like my Leica 3G.

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The sketch is based on a camera that was more or less "inspired" by your Leica IIIg :)

My writing is mostly functional, in a planner / notebook / filofax. I have tried planning and managing to-do lists digitally, but I always come back to pen and ink eventually. I've been using various formats at various times for many years - I was in an A5 filofax for a long time, mostly using hand-drawn layouts on plain paper, then I moved into a B5 "Deskfax" binder (filled with sheets I'd punched myself from a Kokuyo "Campus" B5 notepad - similar to Tomoe River paper but a little heavier and half the price) and at the beginning of this year I transitioned to an A5 Leuchtturm "official bullet journal" notepad.

I work in IT; at the moment I am mentoring / training a couple of new hires at the office and spending a lot of time drawing diagrams to illustrate bits of the system and its functionality. Particular speciality: entity-relationship diagrams, drawn out in Sailor Kiwaguro nano-black ink from my Parker '51' Flighter, on a stack of A4 paper filched from the printer input stack.

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Originally Posted by Kaputnik

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Originally Posted by Pterodactylus

...But where are your drawings in the Art and Calligraphy Forum?

I want to see them! :whip:

As you might know I started drawing the same way a couple of years ago at FPN, first I wrote posts, then I started to add scribbles to it, at the end I ended writing much less and drawing mainly.

.... this can be an addictive process.

... and an expensive one too......

First I bought a lot of FP because of the writing.....
..... then I bought a lot of art supplies(tools and materials) because of the drawing .....

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I've just spent some time enjoying your work in the Art and Calligraphy forum.

As for myself, if I end up producing anything that seems worth sharing publicly, I will. I'm far from being there yet. But the nice thing about being at the bottom is that you can only go up.

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Thanks, glad you like it :)

Looking foreword to see something from you.

Imo the personal view is most of the time much more critical and negative than the view of the average viewer.
Because you had a picture in mind, an expectation, how it should look like and this often differ with the results (I guess this is true also for very advanced artists).
Also you see all the problems and flaws (as you created it), the average viewer seldom see all of these.


In the spirit of Bob Ross:
We don't make mistakes; we just have happy accidents. And that's when you really experience the joy of painting :)

I use them for most writing activities.

I keep several journals and I have penpals, so I use them for letters.

I am a teacher, so I keep notes for lectures, online posts, and various readings and I usually write most things out longhand.

I am a poet, essayist, and short story writer, so all these works begin on the page written out longhand.

I don't think I have much to add that anyone else hasn't said.

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Originally Posted by inklord

fountain pens are primarily tools, not a hobby....

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I agree only in part with this statement. Forks are primarily tools. But if I start collecting forks from different countries, if I swoon about the golden age of forks and start hanging around internet forums like ForkGeeks to rant against sporks then it becomes more of a hobby. :wink:

Same thing happens with pencils, watches, horses or cars. Granted, for a vast majority of people a pen is only a tool and nothing more.
But I guess some of us are just a bit different... :crazy_pilot:

I agree with the earlier posters, who said that trying to find excuses to use pens is ass backwards. If you're not already doing it, it's not something you're really interested in, and if it was something you're already interested it, you wouldn't need to ask. Are you just trying to "justify" a collecting habit? If so, just accept that you're a collector and get on with it, or face up to the fact you're not and curtail the spending.

That being said...

I went through similar questions myself when I started exploring fountain pens. I tried the pen pal thing, and found it unsatisfying. A few hours to write something, and two weeks to wait for the reply that takes four minutes to read, kind of didn't feel rewarding. I got bored of sketching really quick, though much of that will be my limited abilities. Journalling is probably the most pointless activity for me, and something I've never seen any benefit in. I couldn't even bring myself to try that one, as I could never get past the question of why I'd ever want to write it, read it, or have my personal thoughts in a stealable and readable format.

Nowadays, it's shopping lists, to do lists, phone notes and reminders, greetings cards, and exploring my thoughts in the moment (but those pages are then disposed of once I've navigated through them). I go through roughly the equivalent of one ink cartridge a fortnight. Forms and envelopes are still done with ballpoints, and freezer labels are done with a marker pen.

I suppose writing poetry or fiction would be a good use of the pens, but only if it's an interest in its own right. As Deb said, drafting blog posts or other typed work is a good use, but again, that other interest or need has to already be there. If you've bought pens you have no need for, maybe you should ask yourself why you bought them. Fashion statement? Desire to collect? Boredom? Curiosity? All these are valid answers, but it obviously wasn't for writing.

Identify the original need, and work with that, rather than working to create a new need that wasn't there to start with.

Nothing wrong with providing someone a little inspiration by example.

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Originally Posted by carlos.q

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Originally Posted by inklord

fountain pens are primarily tools, not a hobby....

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I agree only in part with this statement. Forks are primarily tools. But if I start collecting forks from different countries, if I swoon about the golden age of forks and start hanging around internet forums like ForkGeeks to rant against sporks

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How do you feel about runcible spoons?

There is a part of this topic that folks have not explored: curiosity about the various pen designs.
I have used fountain pens since the 1950s. To me, they were writing tools with fine, round points. I found out about all this eldritch pen lore when I decided to re-sac my parents' Snorkels. I inherited these pens and they were the first that I ever tangled with. The folks online gave me the knowledge to do this and the pens work well to this day.

The interest really got started when I found that I could buy old pens at flea markets and rehabilitate those. In doing this I found out about different nib sizes, different nib shapes, different filling mechanisms, interchangeable nib units, nib smoothing and grinding, and the whole arcane scene. So now I own many pens, but they are all different in some important way. I want them all and use them all for real writing projects, just as my tool box contains twist drills, auger bits, spade bits, Forstner bits, and cement drills (You never know when you will need to put a hole in something).

And then I found out how to really use dip pens. . . .

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Originally Posted by ilikenails

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Originally Posted by carlos.q

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Originally Posted by inklord

fountain pens are primarily tools, not a hobby....

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I agree only in part with this statement. Forks are primarily tools. But if I start collecting forks from different countries, if I swoon about the golden age of forks and start hanging around internet forums like ForkGeeks to rant against sporks

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How do you feel about runcible spoons?

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Silence! The mere mention of such abomination will get you banned from ForkGeeks and burned at the stake!!! :crazy_pilot:

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Originally Posted by carlos.q

... Forks are primarily tools. But if I start collecting forks from different countries, if I swoon about the golden age of forks and start hanging around internet forums like ForkGeeks to rant against sporks then it becomes more of a hobby. :wink:

Same thing happens with pencils, watches, horses or cars. Granted, for a vast majority of people a pen is only a tool and nothing more.
But I guess some of us are just a bit different... :crazy_pilot:

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That's true.

But the original post was more about how the poster could put the pens he had to use, not about pen collecting as such.

So if a fork collector had the same sort of concern, how he could eat more with his fork collection, people might well think that this was the wrong focus. Others, though, might say that they typically had an array of fourteen forks at every meal, switching between bites. Some might share their technique for meshing the tines of two forks so as to use them for eating soup. And some might just say that one should eat as much as possible, weight gain be damned.

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Originally Posted by ilikenails

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Originally Posted by Nerdyhistorian

I am trying to write much more and thus using my pens more. To get some inspiration: for which things do you use your pens? Just for specific things or are you an all-rounder? And do you write much/a lot?

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Honestly, this seems the wrong way around. If you want to buy something for the fun of it, do it. If you want to do something because you enjoy the doing, do it. But doing something just because you bought the tool seems like a joyless waste of time. Time isn't an infinite resource. Spend it doing either what's most useful or enjoyable at any one time. If you want to write or draw because the activities appeal to you, then do that - and then choose the most effective tools, not the pens you already bought.

...I hand write thousands of words every week and type thousands more. It's work and I find it satisfying, and I chose my tools carefully to be the best for the purpose - a Filco mechanical keyboard with Cherry Brown MX switches and dampers, extremely custom emacs install, and a Kakuno F nib (it beat out every other pen I auditioned - even the Triumph nib Sheaffers and my Danitrio Raw) and custom printed paper. Typing something just because I have a good keyboard, no. Not even if I get around to buying that Topres with electrocapacitive switches. Ditto for pens.

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I have a Matias QuietPro mechanical keyboard that types like a dream. I love it. I use it when I need to input text into a computer. Often that text is composed and rewritten once or twice in fountain pen, and then transcribed.

I'm a professional writer and editor (one of several hats I wear), and I do most of my writing with a fountain pen. That includes fiction, nonfiction, letter-writing, shopping lists and filling out forms (unless they're in triplicate). I've never made a first draft of an internet forum post in fountain pen, however. Those get composed at the keyboard.

I used to do a fair bit of edged-nib calligraphy, but fell out of practice. I've started doing practice drills, trying to get back up to speed, but my drawing table is in my unheated garage (well, okay, I've got a space heater, but it's still a hostile environment in winter), so I'm limping along in that department for the nonce. I tried fountain pen briefly but didn't like the way the inks looked, so I'm doing almost all my calligraphy with dip pens. I'm also gearing up to start learning pointed pen calligraphy when it gets warm (been reading how-to manuals), and will be using dip pens for that, too. I've acquired some very cool vintage nibs.

I used to draw in pen and ink a lot, and back then my instrument of choice was a Rapidograph technical pen. I had a set, and they required an enormous amount of babying, but when they were working smoothly, they were a delight. Lately I've been doing a little sketching in fp, mostly with firm fine nibs, but also a little with some semi-flex. I'm even rustier at drawing than at calligraphy; too many years doing digital art. But I hope to eventually be once again able to produce something I won't be too terribly ashamed to show people.

My biggest problem isn't what to use my pens and other instruments for, but finding the time to do it.

OP here.

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Originally Posted by ilikenails

Honestly, this seems the wrong way around. If you want to buy something for the fun of it, do it. If you want to do something because you enjoy the doing, do it. But doing something just because you bought the tool seems like a joyless waste of time. Time isn't an infinite resource. Spend it doing either what's most useful or enjoyable at any one time. If you want to write or draw because the activities appeal to you, then do that - and then choose the most effective tools, not the pens you already bought.

...I hand write thousands of words every week and type thousands more. It's work and I find it satisfying, and I chose my tools carefully to be the best for the purpose - a Filco mechanical keyboard with Cherry Brown MX switches and dampers, extremely custom emacs install, and a Kakuno F nib (it beat out every other pen I auditioned - even the Triumph nib Sheaffers and my Danitrio Raw) and custom printed paper. Typing something just because I have a good keyboard, no. Not even if I get around to buying that Topres with electrocapacitive switches. Ditto for pens.

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Originally Posted by Wuddus

I agree with the earlier posters, who said that trying to find excuses to use pens is ass backwards. If you're not already doing it, it's not something you're really interested in, and if it was something you're already interested it, you wouldn't need to ask. Are you just trying to "justify" a collecting habit? If so, just accept that you're a collector and get on with it, or face up to the fact you're not and curtail the spending.

That being said...

I went through similar questions myself when I started exploring fountain pens. I tried the pen pal thing, and found it unsatisfying. A few hours to write something, and two weeks to wait for the reply that takes four minutes to read, kind of didn't feel rewarding. I got bored of sketching really quick, though much of that will be my limited abilities. Journalling is probably the most pointless activity for me, and something I've never seen any benefit in. I couldn't even bring myself to try that one, as I could never get past the question of why I'd ever want to write it, read it, or have my personal thoughts in a stealable and readable format.

Nowadays, it's shopping lists, to do lists, phone notes and reminders, greetings cards, and exploring my thoughts in the moment (but those pages are then disposed of once I've navigated through them). I go through roughly the equivalent of one ink cartridge a fortnight. Forms and envelopes are still done with ballpoints, and freezer labels are done with a marker pen.

I suppose writing poetry or fiction would be a good use of the pens, but only if it's an interest in its own right. As Deb said, drafting blog posts or other typed work is a good use, but again, that other interest or need has to already be there. If you've bought pens you have no need for, maybe you should ask yourself why you bought them. Fashion statement? Desire to collect? Boredom? Curiosity? All these are valid answers, but it obviously wasn't for writing.

Identify the original need, and work with that, rather than working to create a new need that wasn't there to start with.

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Originally Posted by ilikenails

Honestly, this seems the wrong way around. If you want to buy something for the fun of it, do it. If you want to do something because you enjoy the doing, do it. But doing something just because you bought the tool seems like a joyless waste of time. Time isn't an infinite resource. Spend it doing either what's most useful or enjoyable at any one time. If you want to write or draw because the activities appeal to you, then do that - and then choose the most effective tools, not the pens you already bought.

...I hand write thousands of words every week and type thousands more. It's work and I find it satisfying, and I chose my tools carefully to be the best for the purpose - a Filco mechanical keyboard with Cherry Brown MX switches and dampers, extremely custom emacs install, and a Kakuno F nib (it beat out every other pen I auditioned - even the Triumph nib Sheaffers and my Danitrio Raw) and custom printed paper. Typing something just because I have a good keyboard, no. Not even if I get around to buying that Topres with electrocapacitive switches. Ditto for pens.

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I am not looking for things to do just because I bought pens :). I do use and love all the pens I bought (journaling mostly), I am just afraid that I don´t use them enough which will result in cartridges drying up, etc. For example, I had not a chance to use them in the last three days. However, I could have explained that better in the OP.

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Originally Posted by Sailor Kenshin

Nothing wrong with providing someone a little inspiration by example.

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Thank you :)

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Originally Posted by calamus

My biggest problem isn't what to use my pens and other instruments for, but finding the time to do it.

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Hm, you might hit the nail on the head there. At work I am very digital (despite working as secretary I have a background in IT) and my other hobbies are digital too. Finding time or opportunities to use pens is indeed not easy. And that was more what I meant with my original question.

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Originally Posted by Nerdyhistorian

I am not looking for things to do just because I bought pens . I do use and love all the pens I bought (journaling mostly), I am just afraid that I don´t use them enough which will result in cartridges drying up, etc.

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That still seems backwards. If the pens you use dry out too fast for the way that you use them, then doesn't make more sense to buy pens that seal better rather than writing or drawing for the sake of it? Platinum Preppies, Cools, Balances and Plasirs are cheap and will keep ink "fresh" for around a year. And I be very surprised if any pen with an inner cap has problems with just a few days - I often leave my $3 Baoer 100 that long and it's never complained.

I also work in IT. Meeting notes, training notes, any notes - all taken in Fountain Pen. I fly a lot for work (I've taken five short-haul and two long-haul trips this month). I've worked out a way of flying with fountain pens that I'm happy with - I make sure the pen is full, then wrap it in a square of kitchen towel to catch any leaks, then pop it into a zip-loc bag. I've had a couple of instances where a drop or two of ink has leaked, but nothing has escaped the lid yet - I may have just been lucky.

The point is, I like to write with a fountain pen, if I don't use them whilst working overseas, I lose around 50% of the opportunity to use them.

I journal. I journal quite a lot - always in fountain pen.

Finally, I am a part-time novelist. All of my plots are worked out in ink, lots of ideas get noted whilst I'm away from the keyboard and I always have a small-format notebook with a Kaweco clipped to it ready at hand (unless I'm overseas, then it's whatever I have in my flight bag).

Even as a digital asset of a faceless corporation, I have found lots of opportunity but, as has been noted by others, the opportunity was already there, it's not artificial - if it were I personally wouldn't have the discipline to maintain the effort required.

You may be different.

I take around 10 pages of notes for sermon preparation each week, plus other lists and signatures that I write day to day.

Today when the daily battle between my wife and my son started to bring him to bed in time, I thought about this thread.

And I thought the time is right to do also some scribbling with one of my FP´s.

So I grabbed a Montblanc 342 which I´ve inked up with Diamine Prussian blue yesterday (a for me new ink) and started to scribble.
Without a pencil sketch in advance, which is quite uncommon for me.

I really like this (in my eyes) blue-grey ink and enjoyed the sketching.
It´s a real nice looking and well behaving ink, not all the time it has to be black ink ;)


https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...e0a16e26bc.jpg
Old Man FP Sketch by Ptero Pterodactylus on DeviantArt

(Montblanc 342 - EF ..... Diamine Prussian Blue, Cretacolor White Chalk Nr.2)

You call that a scribble?

If there are any typos in this post, I blame Tapatalk!

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Originally Posted by Lloyd

You call that a scribble?

If there are any typos in this post, I blame Tapatalk!

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Hmmmmmm, ....... what would be an appropriate answer to this question?

It took not much time to create it, so it had to be a sketch or scribble, isn’t it?

How would you call it?

I may assume you like it (because of your post), in that case, thank you very much :)

To be honest I like it as well (if it is appropriate to write liking the own stuff) and I was also surprised how it turned out.
Normally my comfort zone is drawing cartoony stuff, not „realistic“ stuff, so I had no real expectations, it was a spontaneous impulse to sit to the desk and start scribbling.

Side note, my wife liked it as well, many times she do not really like my stuff, you know too cartoony, too less realistic. :bounce:

Yes, I like it... except it causes me jealousy. This is my scribble - https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6a8dd79a1b.jpg

If there are any typos in this post, I blame Tapatalk!