The straight and narrow on mute
This week’s collection of six pen and ink combinations heavily favors traditional round nibs and unfussy inks. Round nibs perform strongly on my new work notebook’s paper. And when writing quickly (read: distractedly) during meetings.
Welcome, friends, to the straight and narrow of nib selection. And to a comfy array of muted ink colors that all play well across paper types. Safe and steady for the win. Three EF, two F, and one Zoom.
Four of last week’s six pen-and-ink combos return, with two exceptions though. Both new inks are samples I received during last weekend’s local pen meetup. Shogun is a lovely near-black grey with rose gold shimmer. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is an earthy purple-red with medium shading.
Straightforward works for me. Sometimes. This week.
Grey/Black
Franklin-Christoph 03 Antique Glass (EF). Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same. I am eager to continue on with Kiri-same from last week. It writes smoothly, without skipping, on Rhodia’s Goalbook paper. Kiri-same also dries quickly enough to prevent most smudging with this EF nib. Combined, this is an excellent task management pairing. Meeting notes and lesson plans.
Visconti Homo Sapiens Silver Age (F CI, by Nibsmith). Jacques Herbin Shogun. A pen group special wherein I brought the empty pen and friends chose the ink. A moderately wet combination that dries to show fun rose gold shimmer. The shimmer will keep lecture notes readable from down on the lectern. And the cursive italic grind send up strong line variation during deliberative writing sessions like journaling and letter drafting. Eat your heart out, Clavell.
Blue/Teal
Montblanc 146 Le Petit Prince and Fox (EF). Sailor Ink Studio 441. The Montblanc’s feed has grown wetter in the week since this pair was originally inked. I now get a smooth, disciplined EF line. The bright 441 is excellent for accent notes, marking students’ papers, and editing my own manuscripts. The prince is my accent-maker this week.
Sailor Pro Gear Blue Train (Z). Kyo-no-oto Hisoku. The smooth, narrow EF line from this Zoom nib’s reverse writing makes the Sailor an excellent pocket notetaker. Add to that Hisoku’s quick dry time and I can close my pocket notebooks immediately after writing unafraid of smearing my notes. I like it when a plan comes together. Also: meeting notes.
Earth Tones
Narwhal Schuylkill Chromis Teal (EF). Colorverse Brane, glistening. The titanium Bock nib breathed new life into this lovely acrylic piston filler. This pair sits in the Goldilocks zone, opening it up to a wide variety of writing types. Brane is wet enough to shade strongly for journaling, lesson plans, lecture notes, and scratch notes. The EF line also accommodates small detailed notes I use in meetings and reading notes. Sweet.
Wild Cards
Pelikan m805 Stresemann Anthracite (F CI, by Custom Nib Studio). Montblanc Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The fourth piston filler in this week’s rotation. And the second gifted ink sample from last weekend’s pen meetup. The CI italic relegates this pair to slow writing tasks like reading notes and journaling. That said, I plan to experiment with meeting notes.
