Dark and stormy isn’t just a drink
Rain, water, and tea seem to be this week’s theme. All dark and stormy and wintry.
November Rain and Purple Rain are titular. Earl Grey and Rikyu-cha are inspired by teas. Verdigris is what happens to exposed metal near the sea. Pushing the theme a bit, Midnight Twinkle evokes how sailors use the stars to navigate. I’ve got nothing for how Andy Warhol fits the theme. Let’s go with: outlier.
I went with two grey/black inks this week. One is my absolute favorite grey ink, Diamine Earl Grey, for day-to-day task management (in a well-behaved EF). The other is a more fabulous black ink with shimmer for more ornate headings and journaling (in B).
Blues remain unchanged. Verdigris and Cat at Midnight are well balanced together. They’re both muted enough for work. And I like having Cat at Midnight as a fun off-set to my grey inks during task management. One brown, one green, and two purples (one muted and another that pops).
As for pens, I took a risk inking the Nakaya with a shimmer ink. That’s a pen I’m uncomfortable disassembling for a deep clean. The next few inks in that pen may show residual silver shimmer.
Grey/Black
Mythic Aeschylus Black & Red Swirl (EF). Diamine Earl Grey. I enjoy the size of this pen. However, I worry that the pen may roll off my work desk given the Aeschylus’ absence of a clip. Earl Grey’s fantastic shading and the true EF nib make for a lovely week of task management. Under a careful eye.
Nakaya Neostandard Heki-tamenuri (B). Birmingham Midnight Twinkle. The tame Nakaya B brings MT’s silver shimmer to life. The pen stays home this week. I worry that all the sanitizing solvents will effect the pen’s urushi. Journaling, letter writing, D&D notes.
Blue/Teal
TWSBI 580-ALR Prussian Blue (EF/M Predator Hybrid, by Nibgrinder). Rohrer & Kingner Verdigris. I’ve written multiple times on this great pairing. Head back into the archive for specific notes. What’s new: the combo is my go-to for meetings this week. And one of two pocket pens.
Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black (HF). Ink Institute Cat at Midnight. Sailor’s HF nib is great for small handwriting. Cat at Midnight dries quickly enough to work well as a backup daily driver.
Earth Tones
Monteverde Giant Sequoia Brown (M-SIG). Sailor Shikiori Rikyu-Cha. I swapped the Monteverde F nib for a Franklin-Christoph M-SIG, and am happy with the result. The Giant Sequoia is true to name: it is a massive pen. The Sequoia’s comfortable size begs for lesson planning, journaling, and marking manuscripts. The sharp grind will add lovely personality to these slow-writing tasks.
Lamy Safari Petrol (EF). Diamine November Rain. Exceptionally wet as a pair. Yields a M line width despite the EF nib. As a M, this will make lovely headings and smooth fast-writing during meetings.
Wild Cards
Visconti Homo Sapiens Silver Age (F). Birmingham Andy Warhol Pop Art Purple. Wowza. Warhol offers a dusty purple at its lightest and a shock of bright purple at its most saturated. The wet Visconti feed brings out both sides. Journaling, lesson plans (purple is easily seen at a short distance), grocery list.
Sailor 1911 Mid-Size Gold Demonstrator (HF). Diamine Purple Rain. The nib on this pen was misaligned after I inked it this week. A quick tune led to a smoother experience, with a lot of paper drag. Next step is to smooth the tipping until the writing experience is enjoyable.
