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Thread: What is your favorite set of inks?

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by A Smug Dill View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by jace View Post
    I think I would be more looking into their properties like dry time, lack of feathering/bleedthrough, lack of killing my expensive pens, more than the actual color._...‹snip›...
    - I would preferably want the color scheme to have a diverse range touching the red, green, and blue spectrum.
    - Not too bright, maybe leaning towards warm tones.
    - Relatively cheap, and if the set is small, that helps I guess. I am definitely not going to look into a set that has more than 100 colors. Anything more than 10, I'd probably just get the samples.
    - Easily accessible, i.e. I can readily buy it in my local stationery shop.
    - Bottles look nice (e.g. Pilot Iroshizuku)
    https://www.waterman.com/en/7-inks

    Certainly not my favourite brand or line of inks, but they probably tick just about all your boxes as listed, so to speak.
    Yes, thank you for letting me know about it, A Smug Dill.

    I like that the colors are warm toned. And wow, very affordable too, definitely very high up my list for consideration. Now as long as they don't kill my pens and have better than average ink properties (feather/bleeding/showthrough), then i'll be happy.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by arrow View Post
    From your rationalisation I would think a set of Diamine inks would be within reason. Ink is a bit expensive in general, but you get 10 x 30ml bottles in a box, at least in the flower and music line. You might have to add a color as an additional purchase, but it's not a bad workaround. For the odd decorative touch up, a dip nib and small ink bottles aren't bad at all either. This is one of the set I am tempted to buy too. Herbin have as mentioned nice ink sets too, but again, you probably need to add a color or two to complete it for your needs.

    I have to say, I love writing with deep colors on a nice cream paper, blue-black, deep burgundy hues, dark greeen, dragon red, slightly flexy nib,... I understand your preferance for a nice black with any type of writing too.

    I just noticed there are mini Iroshizuku bottles, probably the least expensive way to test these inks.
    Yes I like Diamine. Their Onyx Black is one of the first black inks I have tried and for the price, it is really hard to beat.

    And using dip pens is actually quite a good idea for my purpose... hmmm... but they seem a little high maintenance for me (I'm a bit clumsy so will I break the glass pen and stab myself with it? lol) and I am not sure I'd like the writing experience of them vs fountain pens. But I can see why you suggested them.

    I have also considered the mini Iroshizuku bottles, but speaking purely $/ml they are almost double the price of the regular bottle. I guess that's with all smaller sizes inks huh. This is also something that deters me from getting samples is the $/ml. But I also don't want to hoard a bottle that I would never be able to finish. Ahhh!

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by jace View Post
    . . .

    I like that the colors are warm toned. And wow, very affordable too, definitely very high up my list for consideration. Now as long as they don't kill my pens and have better than average ink properties (feather/bleeding/showthrough), then i'll be happy.
    Waterman is considered one of the top inks for being both versatile and pen friendly. I only have the mysterious blue and it's not a favorite for me, but I have admit that it is extremely well behaved.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    And using dip pens is actually quite a good idea for my purpose... hmmm... but they seem a little high maintenance for me (I'm a bit clumsy so will I break the glass pen and stab myself with it? lol) and I am not sure I'd like the writing experience of them vs fountain pens. But I can see why you suggested them.
    Dip pens are a different type of rabbit hole. First you need to find the nib that you like. Then the inks... Fountain pen inks are traditionally not suitable with dip pens.
    Then the inks, you have Winston and Newton, Higgins, Walnut, Sumi or you can go the zen world of ink sticks.......
    Unless you buy a desiderata pen....but then you were asking about inks

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by jace View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by aurore View Post
    But I wholeheartedly agree with Chrissy - thinking of inks in sets or lines is quite useless, you either like a particular ink or not.
    Please see my above post. Thinking of inks in sets or lines is quite useless is the sense that it doesn't suit your particular needs.

    I mean one can say that using colored inks is useless because what is the point of using colored ink at all? If you really cared about the writing or art, why distract yourself with color?

    So obviously people do not buy ink just to suit the pure action of writing. Some draw focus away from the writing and put it in the aesthetics of the writing process, whether it be the color, the properties of the color whatever.

    Why do I even bother explaining at this point?

    I am actually starting to think maybe I should stick away from colored inks after all.
    Forgive me if I seem pedantic, but I'm trying to understand the intent of your question. I interpreted your original post to mean that you were thinking of finding a brand (e.g. "Diamine"), or a product line within a brand (e.g. "Pelikan Edelstein") from which you would buy one of everything. Looking at the responses, I suspect that I am not the only person who interpreted it that way.

    But after reading this post (the one that I'm quoting here), I think that I misinterpreted your goal. It sounds like you want a handful of inks. Something "well rounded" but still minimal, and perhaps you don't even care if they're of the same brand. If this is right, then... what's the universe of colors? For example, if I look at the Bic multi-color pens from when I was a kid, the universe consists of only black, blue, red, and green. Outside of using "Bic" as an example on an FP board, I'm actually serious: if you're happy writing the bulk of text in black and non-black is only for occasional use, then blue, red, green might actually round things out nicely. A "set", if you will.
    Last edited by XYZZY; December 4th, 2020 at 03:00 PM.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ole Juul View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by jace View Post
    . . .

    I like that the colors are warm toned. And wow, very affordable too, definitely very high up my list for consideration. Now as long as they don't kill my pens and have better than average ink properties (feather/bleeding/showthrough), then i'll be happy.
    Waterman is considered one of the top inks for being both versatile and pen friendly. I only have the mysterious blue and it's not a favorite for me, but I have admit that it is extremely well behaved.
    I've seen Waterman Serenity Blue referenced many times as the gold standard in "testing" inks: it wont hurt anything, and will work in anything, to the extent that if your pen writes with serenity blue but not with something else then the problem is not the pen. I wouldn't go that far, but they definitely have a great reputation as safe and reliable. And Serenity Blue is a decent blue.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by jace View Post
    I have also considered the mini Iroshizuku bottles, but speaking purely $/ml they are almost double the price of the regular bottle. I guess that's with all smaller sizes inks huh. This is also something that deters me from getting samples is the $/ml. But I also don't want to hoard a bottle that I would never be able to finish. Ahhh!
    I have 31 of the 34 Iroshizuku inks in the little mini-bottles. $/ml is an obvious way to measure "value for money", but it's not the only way. Several of the inks I don't like enough to ever want the 50ml bottle, so the small bottles were value to me in that they take up less space, and for many of the inks any "ml" over the 15 would be superfluous and not worth paying for even at a better $/ml. Two+ years later and the only two that I use regularly enough to have bought a 50ml bottle are Yama-budo and Asa-gao. Some of the others are getting low.

    It helped, though, that at the time I bought them I already had an order open on Rakuten, and that same dealer had the mini-bottles for about $8 each.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Digressing a bit but, a lot of nibs are fine with fountain pen inks, it's the other way around that gives more problems. Nibs aren't that expensive, it leaves room for experimenting. Glass nibs are probably the closest to a modern firm nib, they have their own caracteristics, but is very easy to get used too. They can write with anything from tea, chocolate milk to ink. I dare say a glass nib can handle most if not any ink.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by XYZZY View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by jace View Post
    I have also considered the mini Iroshizuku bottles, but speaking purely $/ml they are almost double the price of the regular bottle. I guess that's with all smaller sizes inks huh. This is also something that deters me from getting samples is the $/ml. But I also don't want to hoard a bottle that I would never be able to finish. Ahhh!
    I have 31 of the 34 Iroshizuku inks in the little mini-bottles. $/ml is an obvious way to measure "value for money", but it's not the only way. Several of the inks I don't like enough to ever want the 50ml bottle, so the small bottles were value to me in that they take up less space, and for many of the inks any "ml" over the 15 would be superfluous and not worth paying for even at a better $/ml. Two+ years later and the only two that I use regularly enough to have bought a 50ml bottle are Yama-budo and Asa-gao. Some of the others are getting low.

    It helped, though, that at the time I bought them I already had an order open on Rakuten, and that same dealer had the mini-bottles for about $8 each.
    You do have a point. It makes sense for the Pilot Iroshizuku line because if you want to collect all the colors, it is much cheaper to buy the mini bottles.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Sounds like you want a few nice basic colours in attractive bottles... purely for shape, the wedge shaped anniversary diamine inks are nice (and the colours are quite good). Some people yearn for the Akkerman bottles but for me the colors don't stand out.

    Monteverde has a utilitarian but sturdy, easily stored rectangular shape and are my favourite ink for good flow and rich colour. (Prices are good too.) I often use colours as contrast, for example writing the date above a journal entry.

    J. Herbin is good value but I have just a few favourite ones because many of them seem watery (unsaturated) compared to other brands. Poussiere de Lune is my desert island ink and I just splurged on a 100ml bottle of Bleu Nuit because I find it superb for drawing (good shading and water resistant once bonded to the paper).

    De Atramentis hasn't been mentioned by others; like Diamine, their range of available colours is phenomenol, including waterproof document inks. Some people quite like Noodler's but I've regretted every bottle I bought (including Polar Brown) except for Kiowa Pecan. I think it has some strange formula and I don't like how the ink behaves (bleeding and/or smearing because of never drying).

    Regarding dip pens, your options are calligraphy nibs in nib holders, glass pens, a sharpened twig, a brush or -- my favourite for ink exploration -- folded nib (use with a nib holder).

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    In restricting yourself to one "set" of inks you are not only restricting yourself to one brand that might not turn out to be an ink you particularly like, but you are also restricting yourself to one type of bottle.

    INHO that would be a real shame. I have several different types of ink bottles. Some I love, some I like and some that I think are meh.....Vive la difference though.

    Many fountain pen inks aren't very good for use with any type of dip pen. For regular use with dip pens you need calligraphy ink. It's thicker and stays on the dipped nib better. I have a glass dip pen that I only use for writing the names of my comparison inks. Some fountain pen inks just don't write with it at all.
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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    In restricting yourself to one "set" of inks you are not only restricting yourself to one brand that might not turn out to be an ink you particularly like, but you are also restricting yourself to one type of bottle.

    INHO that would be a real shame. I have several different types of ink bottles. Some I love, some I like and some that I think are meh.....Vive la difference though.

    Many fountain pen inks aren't very good for use with any type of dip pen. For regular use with dip pens you need calligraphy ink. It's thicker and stays on the dipped nib better. I have a glass dip pen that I only use for writing the names of my comparison inks. Some fountain pen inks just don't write with it at all.
    Chrissy, I always restrict myself in many parts of my life for no good reason, and my friends and family is constantly telling me to open up you'd be much happier that way. I've actually in the past day or so decided to just go back to black inks... I actually didn't get any colored inks after all...

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    In restricting yourself to one "set" of inks you are not only restricting yourself to one brand that might not turn out to be an ink you particularly like, but you are also restricting yourself to one type of bottle.

    INHO that would be a real shame. I have several different types of ink bottles. Some I love, some I like and some that I think are meh.....Vive la difference though.

    Many fountain pen inks aren't very good for use with any type of dip pen. For regular use with dip pens you need calligraphy ink. It's thicker and stays on the dipped nib better. I have a glass dip pen that I only use for writing the names of my comparison inks. Some fountain pen inks just don't write with it at all.
    I have to ask is the restriction of which speak not driven by one's personal tastes? Is that truly limiting if one is satisfied with his or her choices?

    Analogously, while I like clams in a dish, say with pasta, I find oysters unappealing and will not eat them. Is that a restriction or is it a preference?

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by An old bloke View Post
    I have to ask is the restriction of which speak not driven by one's personal tastes? Is that truly limiting if one is satisfied with his or her choices?

    Analogously, while I like clams in a dish, say with pasta, I find oysters unappealing and will not eat them. Is that a restriction or is it a preference?
    Everyone has their own personal tastes. Mine is to not restrict myself to buying one type of ink bottle or ink brand. A personal taste may or may not be like a personal restriction in that analogy. YMMV.
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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by An old bloke View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    In restricting yourself to one "set" of inks you are not only restricting yourself to one brand that might not turn out to be an ink you particularly like, but you are also restricting yourself to one type of bottle.

    INHO that would be a real shame. I have several different types of ink bottles. Some I love, some I like and some that I think are meh.....Vive la difference though.

    Many fountain pen inks aren't very good for use with any type of dip pen. For regular use with dip pens you need calligraphy ink. It's thicker and stays on the dipped nib better. I have a glass dip pen that I only use for writing the names of my comparison inks. Some fountain pen inks just don't write with it at all.
    I have to ask is the restriction of which speak not driven by one's personal tastes? Is that truly limiting if one is satisfied with his or her choices?

    Analogously, while I like clams in a dish, say with pasta, I find oysters unappealing and will not eat them. Is that a restriction or is it a preference?
    That was exactly my sentiment, but I do understand what Chrissy is saying too. How would you know that oysters are unappealing if you haven't tried them? We'd stubbornly just say we know. And we are probably right haha. Wait I just realized this analogy isn't really working for what I am trying to say...

    So one reason I limit myself to one set, is 1. the colors are not the most important to me, 2. I like the idea of collecting a full set if I do delve into colors, like a kind of palette that's fairly consistent in their properties... some might say that's stupid.


    Sometimes I learn more about what I love better and faster by trying out things I don't love. By restricting myself to a set, I kind of arbitrarily potentially cause myself to open up to things I do not love, hence forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone (because I always tend to stay within my comfort zone - I only use black ink)... maybe that's a psychological analysis to what I was doing...

    If that were my aim, just cherry picking and choosing things I like would be counterproductive to what I was trying to achieve in the first place, because I'd just stick with black and if forced to choose a color - very dark colors. If I had a set, then it would be like an experiment - giving me a diverse experience in one easy stroke without my preferences affecting this opening-up experience... plus it may lead me to grow my preferences.

    This is going nowhere is it... but it truly is kind of my feelings towards this topic.

    [I honestly just wanted to know what kind of sets of inks were out there and didn't expect opinions on why I shouldn't consider set (but I appreciate that you care).]
    Last edited by jace; December 5th, 2020 at 05:42 AM.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Well...why not spring for a few ink samples, say five, and call it a set? I have so much ink I haven't shopped for any in a long time, but at one point, there were dealers selling sample sets. I know I bought some in the distant past.

    Start with Diamine Les Paul Guitar series....okay, I admit, I am prejudiced for these. 😝
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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Please, do not get the wrong impression.
    I am open to, and actively advocate, trying new things, experiences, and tastes. In point of fact, I have actually harvested fresh oysters and eaten them. I've also had the experience of eating many far more exotic things that one can encounter. I've had some very unique life experiences, some one would prefer not to have and others that are enviable, during the journey of life.

    The point of my earlier comment was that I believe it is a mistake to think that having one's likes, dislikes, and preferences defined by one's lifetime of experience equates to a level of close-mindedness, prejudice, ignorance, and limiting.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sailor Kenshin View Post
    Well...why not spring for a few ink samples, say five, and call it a set?
    That seems a good idea. If you only intend for colour to be a small part of your inky life, why buy more?

    But fwiw, and I appreciate the nib may well have already flown, I'd say Pelikan 4001. Good design of bottle, cheap, nice range of colours but not too many. Although personal prejudice sez skip the Red. The Turquoise though? Wonderful ink. They mix too, although I would urge some caution on mixing the Blue-Black and the Red. But all utterly unlikely to do harm to any pen in their natural state.
    In the words of Paul Simon, you can call me Al.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    ...just don't feel to much, or overthink too much. Colors can be very forgiving too, when they come together. Just go for a few and try it, sticking to black all
    the time for the rest of your existence is just silly. You are proably cought in a rut, a tautological circle in your mind. If you really want to explore, you
    need the full range. Take on a new concept, a new strategy for peferction. Add a few elements other than black. Perfection, as close to it as we get, is found among a lot of things.


    Last edited by arrow; December 6th, 2020 at 03:45 PM.

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    Default Re: What is your favorite set of inks?

    My favourite is Winsor & Newton calligraphy ink set. This set is perfect for calligraphy practices as it has all the primary colors needed for the work. Moreover, I love how the ink gives life into my artwork. It can easily be seen when written in

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