Giving last week’s six pens a second chance
When at first I don’t succeed, I give it one more go. This week is a second chance to make effective use — and enjoyable use — of my six currently inked pens from last week.
I’m sticking to last week’s well-balanced plan, with only the few targeted tweaks below. Following through with well-balanced pairs.
Grey/Black
Sailor Pro Gear Graphite Lighthouse (EF). Papier Plume Oyster Grey. The daily driver returns. Kokuyo’s THIN paper spreads narrow lines up one nib size. This combo writes a dark, consistent F. Oyster Grey dries quickly, which allows for clean lines throughout my task lists, lesson plans, and meeting notes. Huzzah.
Blue/Teal
Able Snail Powder Blue Classic (B). Taccia Ukiyo-e Ainezu. A round B nib with Ainezu’s strong-shading screams for longform reflections and letter writing. I also like to the pair for notetaking during serious meetings, like curriculum planning and parent collaborations. The Able Snail’s generous B nib lasso contrasts against the Sailor’s EF on Tomoe River, which opens this pair to reading and commonplace notes.
Earth Tones
Franklin-Christoph 03 Antique Glass (F CI, by Mike it Work). Monteverde Jade Noir. The crisp italic nib brings joy to short bouts of detailed writing — the kinds of writing infused with methodical and deliberate thinking. The subtle clear pen body and muted green ink combine for targeted notetaking during slow-moving meetings and serious-toned gatherings. Lesson plan outlines, analytic journal entries, and meeting notes.
Jinhao 9019 Transparent Green (F). Diamine Ancient Copper. This dry writing pair is excellent on absorbent copy papers and students’ fibrous notebook papers. Ancient Copper is this week’s brightest ink, and so continues on as my go-to accent maker for meeting notes, reading notes, and margin notes. Ancient Copper? More like Classy Copper.
Wild Cards
Sailor Pro Gear Bora Bora Waters (B). Sailor Yoramezu Seki. The newest pen and ink arrivals in my collection. Seki is a multifaceted ink on coated papers and a muted, subtle player on absorbent papers. Sailor’s B nib accommodates a generous diversity of writing angles. Together, this pair is suited to thoughtful reflections wherein I can lose focus on my writing angles and for both long and short bouts of notetaking. And lesson plans.
Nahvalur Schuylkill Chromis Teal (EF). Birmingham Cranberry Twinkle. Cranberry Twinkle is one of those inks that I forget is excellent for months on end and then rediscover it periodically over the course of the year. Lovely, subdued gradient shading with silver shimmer. Excellent for keeping lecture notes legible while standing above from my notebook. Also: journaling, letter writing, and commonplace notes.
