My preferences in fountain pen inks

Why am I documenting this? So I can look back on it in a few years and laugh at how much things have changed.

Colour

Although I have slowly tried out the whole rainbow of ink colours over the years, my favourites are red, orange, yellow, teal/light blue, and grey. It’s no coincidence that these colours all go together. When choosing my next ink I am always thinking about how it will look next to the ones I am already using.

I regret all my pink and purple ink purchases - I’ve been trying to sell them, but no one has been buying so I might do a giveaway.

I have a soft spot for colours that are murky, desaturated or sit in between conventional labels. X-ish Y is my favourite colour.

Behaviour

From my uneducated perspective, what people in the fountain pen hobby call wet/dry seems to encompass two traits. Firstly, flow (how easily the ink comes out of the pen and onto the page), and secondly, lubrication (how much smoother the pen feels going across the page than it would if empty).

I can handle an ink which has good flow but poor lubrication. Most pale inks fall in this category. Good lubrication does not make up for poor flow, however.

I refuse to use an ink that dries forever or smears easily. Yes my first bottle of ink was Diamine Majestic Blue, yes it’s 50ml, no I don’t know what to do with it!!

I like to use non-fountain-pen-friendly paper for certain things, especially reporters' notebooks, which I will do a post about someday. I don’t need my inks to perform flawlessly on cheap paper, but they need to be decent. Bleedthrough is okay, feathering is not acceptable. (Inks that don’t live up to these standards are quite rare.)

Sheen and shimmer

I like the matte texture shimmer inks have when not catching the light, and how the glitter can contrast the colour of the ink itself. But these days they are a bit too loud and overtly decorative for me.

I like sheen as long as it’s the right colour. For example, a warm (not pink) sheen on a cool coloured ink. I prefer a tiny hint of sheen which makes the original colour look more complex, not a huge sheen that makes the ink look shiny.

Shading

I can’t stand ‘hard shading’ in the middle of strokes (you can see a taxonomy of shading here). I think it makes the writing less legible, which is unforgivable.

Smooth shading is alright when I like the colours. For example, I’m a big fan of TWSBI Blue Black’s shading, or Diamine Wild Strawberry’s flashes of bright red. Sometimes it’s a detractor - Diamine Prussian Blue might be my favourite ink overall if not for its inconsistent tone.

Inks with no shading at all… I want to say they are my favourite, but I’m not sure I own any. I have fond memories of a cartridge of Caran d’Ache Idyllic Blue which had no shading and an incredible matte texture. I’ll get a bottle some day, I hope.

Haloing is my favourite ink quality. J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie is my favourite ink in terms of appearance, in large part because of its haloing.

I still haven’t tried a real “dual shader” because I’ve heard they are very dry.

Other

I prefer a little bit of water resistance - especially for notes I want to consult later - but ultimately it doesn’t affect whether I would use an ink, only how I would use it.

I don’t mind an ink with a faint smell, I don’t mind an iron gall, I’ve never tried a pigment ink but may do in the future because I want a nice permanent grey.

Have I missed any other properties of inks? Let me know!

Also, let me know whether you find my preferences relatable, if I’m ridiculous and should just stick to gel pens if I don’t want shading, etc.