The Satisfaction of Running Out of Ink
The dream team.
I wrote through five converters worth of ink this week, two international standard converters, a Kaweco mini converter, and two fills of the Kaweco mini foldable converters. Quite the feat considering that earlier in the week I filled up six pens with the intention of using the ink for coloring. It was something I hadn’t done in a while. I picked up some coloring pages off Etsy and printed them out on Kokuyo business paper. While this paper isn’t completely free of bleed-through I wasn’t really worried about it in this case since I was only printing on one side of the paper.
This was partially prompted by finding my Kuretake water brush in the back of my pen cup. Much fun was had laying down some ink and then blending it with the water brush. I’ve been debating on taking up sketching outdoors again this summer, something I did a few years ago using just one pen and a water brush. It was a simple constraint for creation. I also still have a pack of watercolor paper that I could use to make my own mini-sketchbook.
Beyond coloring, these pens that now sit in the cleaning dish were utilized for journal, non-fiction, and fiction writing. I’m coming up on the end of George Orwell’s 1984 and 2/3 of the way through David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs. I’ve been toying with essay writing and, strangely, these two books compliment each other in the worst ways, but it’s been a fun (?) intellectual exercise. I’ve certainly scribbled down enough quotes. I really need to choose a notebook to become a commonplace book where I can move all of these notes into.
I wrote primarily in the same Mead Five-Star composition book, with a few forays into a 272 page Sterling Ink notebook that is probably 3/4 full. The clearance notebook continues to be rather freeing with ideas all over the place and pages upon pages of a silly story I started last night. I’m actually about halfway through it, which feels like an accomplishment, especially when I felt like I didn’t have it in me to write anything previously. I did nab another two notebooks while they were still on clearance just in case.
What were the inks I used up doing all of this coloring and scribbling?
Ferris Wheel Press Grand Central Skies in a Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Billowing Blush - The color of this pen reminds me so much of a ballpoint pen I bought on a trip to the Denver Zoo when I was probably in 6th or 7th grade. It was light pink just like this with silhouettes of various animals like lions, giraffes, elephants, etc. I hauled that pen around a long time, even through the milky gel pen phase (which promptly got banned from my middle school). This ink is just as fun as the pink pen. I got a soft spot in 2024 for these minty teal greens. FWP Grand Central Skies is a light teal with silver shimmer. I didn’t use any white lightning in the converter this time, so occasionally I got a big build up of glitter in the feed, but a twist of the converter solved that. I’m holding off inking it up right now, but this might be a combo I revisit soon.
Ferris Wheel Press Terracotta Canyon in a Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Hearty Harvest - Another pen color that I just adore. Warm oranges and golden yellows are colors I am really drawn to being so warm and cheerful. I debated on putting in a bolder orange in a pen, but decided to go for this light orange-brown instead. This is one of those inks that looks vastly different depending on nib size. It lays down much darker in the medium nib of this pen than it did in my Esterbrook JR with a B nib. I actually thought I’d forgotten to clean out a dark ink from the pen when I first started writing. In the thinner nib it definitely leans more towards brown. I recently swatched all my FWP sets that I have and I need to play with the Southern Charm collection more (the other two inks are Bayou Berry Mist (black-purple) and Dancing Thyme (light green)).
Laban Poseidon in Kaweco Ice Sport Red - This pen was my second Kaweco that I ever owned. It’s been with me since summer 2016 and I enjoy breaking it out every now and again. I love it with a gold nib and gold clip much better than its original silver furniture. The ink was chosen because I’ve got the songs from Epic: the Musical stuck on repeat in my head (it’s great, if you haven’t heard of it check it out). So, it was that and the desire to revisit a lot of my “ocean” blues. Poseidon is on the bluer side of teal. I’ve had really good experiences with both of the Laban inks that I own (Poseidon and Athena), and I may have to add Hermes to my collection at some point.
Colorverse Hippocamp in a Kaweco liliput copper - I finished off a fill of Teranishi Gentle Green in this pen a few days ago (that is super cool and I’ll need to play with it some more) and decided to go back to an ink that I remembered really enjoying. I still had a little bit of a sample and I also have a full bottle that I bought used from another member of the pen community. Hippocamp fits in the light blue category, but not as turquoise-leaning as Colorverse Strelka. It’s a softer one. I did have trouble with finding a decent nib in my stash for this pen though. I started with a medium that needs something, I’m going to try my hand at some advanced tuning with it at some point. Then I switched to a fine, but it felt too narrow and sharp. A friend of mine was needing to order some stuff from JetPens so I have picked up a new medium nib, but in the meantime I’ve got a broad steel unit in there.
I also finished off a second fill of Colorverse Black Hole and have refilled the pen with Colorverse Office Red.
Turned out to be a pretty satisfying week on the writing front.
Currently Inked
Anderillium Luna Moth Green - Kaweco x Galen Leather Sport Carmine 14K BB ‘journaler’ - I decided to tap a favorite for doing headers this month. This ink perfectly captures the color of a Luna Moth’s wings. On top of that I have never had trouble with flow from an Anderillium ink. It also has some great shading in this wide of a nib.
Colorverse Hippocamp - Kaweco liliput copper B - On a second fill.
Colorverse Office Red - Kaweco liliput fireblue M - Red is my rebellious ink color. It’s turning a color that had negative connotations in school and using it as the main event. Like my favorite, Colorverse Office Blue, Office Red really captures that Bic/standard red color. I used to grab packs of red pens to write with in high school and college. There’s something to the joy I feel when I see a page covered in red ink. (I feel like Sugar Turtle Studio’s sticker is appropriate here, haha).
Ferris Wheel Press Blue Yosemite Falls - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Unfettered Flight - It’s been a long time since I played with this light blue. I think the collection it was a part of was called the California Dreaming collection and included Malibu Pink and Golden Gate Orange. They were all washed out versions of brighter colors. This color reminds me much more of the sky in California (when there’s no smog) than Yosemite Falls or any other water in Yosemite, but it’s a pretty color regardless. It was really fun to use in coloring, but it is pretty light for writing in a thinner nib.
Ferris Wheel Press Gentle Guardian - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel Granite Guardians - This ink is not what I expected at all. It’s a medium gray ink with red shimmer. It’s like the goth sibling of FWP Adventurine (light gray with pink shimmer). I kind of dig it. The shimmer spreads pretty well even in the narrower nib, but I bet it will look pretty sweet in a broader nib.
Colorverse Milky Lavender - Kaweco Sport Burgundy M - I absolutely adore this purple and just needed it in a pen this week. It’s seriously just great. It flows well, works great no matter the nib size, and gets shading in larger nib sizes. If you are looking for a lavender purple at all I recommend giving this one a try.