Winter wanes and I feel like a change of inks. My previous inking was dark and with little thoughts other than 'I fancy this colour' or 'I want to empty this sample'. Nothing wrong with this but this time I want something more specific to the season, something that returns me to old favourites.
First up Rhorer & Klingner Salix in the Pilot Justus 95. This is not a new inking. According to Fountain Pen Companion, I have had this ink in this pen since early December.
It's an odd pairing for me. When I returned to fountain pens after a few years of not using them, I swore off blues, especially the type of blue Salix is. Those are too close to my school days blue. Endless pages of notes, scribbled margins, and written tests have carried a similar blue. The ink back then was from Waterman and when I felt fancy Parker.
These days, I take comfort in the familiarity of this blue. I don't have to think about it, I don't get distracted by it. I write, focused on emptying my thoughts in my diary, in taking notes as I learn about medieval literature. Every now and again, I watch the ink pool on the stroke of a letter and marvel at the change of colour from wet to dry, from recently dry to longer ago dry.
Laban Aphrodite is a recent favourite. I discovered it last year and fell in love with it, so much so that I purchased a bottle (a rare event for me). My mother and brother swear it's brown but to me it is not. It is pink. I will concede that it carries muted tones of earth, the very reason why I adore it. It reminds me of early blossoms, delicate flowers hanging at the edges of trees, always about to fall. It is not the exuberant flash of electric pink but a soft pink, a murmur on the wind.
Platinum 3776 is a firm favourite. The nib is stiff, precise, and to me generous for an F nib. The ink flows out in a wet gush onto the page, a trail easily smudged by an errand wrist.
Shaeffer Lady and Rohrer & Klinger Alt-Goldgrün are fast becoming a favourite pairing. I love the glittering pattern of gold on the pen, brash in some ways, subtle in others. The pen is light and sleek, fits in my hand effortlessly and glide on the page with its Triumph nib.
Whenever I pick this pen up, I think of Alt-Goldgrün. This light green compliments the warmth of gold and this time of year, it is an essential ink. It echoes the green of new growth, buds adorning the tip of branches and the leaves of tulips about to explode into the light.
To bring together the above trio of inks, I needed a dark earthy tone, one that called to soil and the deep rich brown of where all life and colour begins. I picked Laban Demeter.
I have a love affair with rich dark brown inks and a soft spot for Demeter. It is not a unique ink but it is done well and the name sings in the colour. It is not a scented ink but I can almost smell the sweet mustiness of earth in it, the tears of a mother without her daughter for half the year.
I hesitated on the pen to ink it with. The three other pens boast fine nibs and I briefly wondered if I should pick a broader one. The moment of doubt was fleeting. Just like for the Pilot Justus 95 and the Shaeffer Lady, this ink has a pen it fits just right for me: Namiki Nippon Art. It is a pen I nearly sold. It had a medium nib that although delightful didn't fit my preferences and so I seldomly used it. Luckily, I remembered there are such things as nib grinding and so I did just that. I brought the pen to Thomas Ang who ground it to a sharp fine nib, now a firm favourite in my collection.
