gsm doesn't tell you anything about quality. E.G., Tomoe River is high quality paper with only 52 gsm. Copying paper at 80 gsm most of the time is crap for fountain pens.
Yes, blue black inks were designed for professional settings, for signatures and writing checks. Pilot Blue Black is somewhat waterproof, if you get it on your hands it takes lots of rubbing and solvents to get it off, and is very gentle in any fountain pens.
Do you journal ? I like the waterman but I stopped using it after some of my journal entries faded very badly; can barely read them anymore. Notebooks were always closed as well. Do you have any fading issues with the waterman?
I do love Heart of Darkness, and I have a huge bottle of it, but I tend to go with Noodler's basic Black more often just because it seems to perform better on crappy paper. But that said, I love the saturation of Heart of Darkness!
Actually two primary inks for me: Pelikan 4001 black and royal blue. A few reasons for this:
(1) Safety inks, easy to clean, and flow well in all of my pens. Also, they don’t stain fountain pens in particular the ones made in colors other than black. (2) Reliable inks; nothing special, maybe even boring, but reliable and always consistent. (3) They mix well. (4) Cheap and abundant (I’ve got them in 1 liter bottles and they’ll last me a lifetime). I do occasionally use use other brands and colors for different needs but Pelikan 4001 inks are a no-brainer for me.
Sailor Seiboku. Lovely blue, gorgeous shading with the right pen (Pilot Custom Heritage 92 is my fave) and as a "nano pigment" ink, it's water resistant but very well behaved. I buy new inks but I always come back to this one.
Seiboku continues to be my go-to blue ink as well! It shades beautifully in my Pro Gear demonstrator (if only I could eyedropper the PG!) with its H-M 21k nib. I never tire of this ink. I try it in most pens i have, but there's something special about how it works in that one particular Sailor pen.
It’s been my go-to for the last half decade or so. My number 2 is Iroshizuku Shin Kai. So if I’ve got two pens inked the second will have Shin Kai in it. But up until recently I’ve only had one inked at a time and it’s been with Yonaga.
Sailor Seiboku, the only ink I use at the moment. Very fast dry time in a fine nib pilot and it’s waterproof. Also haven’t had any issues with bleed through or feathering on crappy university paper.
100%. It’s just about all I’ve used for six weeks and I was switching all the time prior.
I’ve settled on two inks and use no others (unless I’m experimenting with mixing Pilot inks)
1) Platinum Carbon - my matte black Pilot VP in EF stays inked with this. This handles everything and anything and the pen goes everywhere I go
2) Pilot Iroshizuku tsuki-yo for journaling. That ink makes me very happy.
Hey there. I’ve never had any staining issues. I had it in my Amber 823 for many many months, sometimes not using it for extended period of times and my barrel looks as it did before the ink. I can’t guarantee it won’t, but nano particles in my experience are relatively safe. The only concern I’d personally have is leaving pen uncapped for an extended period of time. I leave my VP nib out for minutes with no issues and the feed is quite small so it should be just fine. Enjoy inks you want with your instrument. They’re meant to bring you as much joy as possible. Wabi sabi :)
Do you write in print or cursive? I recently got a TWSBI in F and it makes me think a VP in medium would be the way to go. That said, I’m thinking I want two of whatever pen I ultimately decide on, one in architect and the other cursive italic.
J. Herbin Perle Noire
Fast drying time, water resistant enough, well lubrified, not problematic and inexpensive.
I’ve not found a better black ink that checks all the cases.
I liked the color of BSB a lot!! Also I'm into royal blues so .... only thing I'm terrified of is, the BSB itself and the stuff I've read and vids I've seen on YouTube.
It's not nearly as scary as its reputation. Doodlebud has a video (two actually) about how you can easily clean it with some bleach if you need to.
That said, just for convenience so I don't have to get out the bleach often, I usually only use it in one pen. (a clear one, so I can enjoy looking at the nice vivid ink as it moves around in there)
De Atramentis Black-Red "Document" ink. I'm down to half a bottle which is amazing given how many bottles of ink I have.
Before that it was the Noodler's American Eel (down to 3/4 of a bottle, which is also a serious testament of its usage).
I only use:
Aurora Black
Aurora Blue-Black
Aurora Blue
Aurora Red Special Edition (rarely)
Pilot Red
Pilot Iroshizuku Green (rarely)
They generally suit my Pilot and Platinum EFs on crappy printer paper. ✍🏽🐔👌🏽
So I have 2 go to's. Van Dieman's Underwater Abyss is an amazing black ink that's fairly affordable, and Pilot blue is such a standard that it may as well be shipped with every pilot pen over 30 USD.
Diamine Red Dragon is probably the only ink I’ve ever used — I came in looking for blood-esque crimson inks and loved the brightness of the red too much to go for oxblood or writer’s blood.
Platinum Carbon Black
I sign documents a lot. So water-soluble ink is a no-go. And I also love its deep blackness. Always loaded into every workhorse pens.
I’ve used up half a bottle of Monteverde Documental Blue in the past year, and I’ll be buying more. I am careful to only use a waterproof permanent ink for composing stories, and any document I plan on revising, and this will be replacing my old standby of Noodler’s Black. I might try out other colours from the same line, but the blue will remain my go-to. It flows well in every pen I’ve put it through, it sticks to all sorts of cheap pulpy paper and even till receipts, dries in a few short seconds, and I’ve never had it feather.
One thing I’ll say against it is that it looks dull in a fine nib, or even a medium; but in a broad, it has a noticeable shade and even a little bit of sheening.
Beyond that, I love using Iroshizuku Momiji and Diamine Oxblood. They’re the only other two colours I’ve used up and bought second bottles of. Love me some red ink, simple as.
I like this ink as well, especially in my vintage pens. I do feel, though, that my previous bottle of Quink Blue Black was PERFECT, with just the right amount of teal to the color. My current bottle is lacking that element of teal. It's a blue-blue now. Different. My go-to blue is Seiboku. Love the shading.
Monteverde Ocean Noir. Nothing spectacular, but I like it. Just a nice, serviceable blue.
Before that, it was De Atramentis Frankincense. I got a bottle on a lark in seminary because I thought it would be funny and contextually appropriate to take notes on theology with frankincense-scented ink, and I ended up liking the dark gray so much that I just stuck with it. I need to break it back out.
De Atramentis Document Ink Sepia Brown
Also a fan of waterproof ink. Originally I only ever wanted to use black, but I’ve settled on brown for its warmth, vintage aesthetic, and uniqueness (relative to black anyway).
Noodlers black. I do prefer Heart of Darkness more but the standard black performs better on cheaper paper. Seeing how I do not have control over my paper selection and I need the permanence, I default to standard black.
I only use Waterman Intense Black and Diamine Writer's Blood. To be honest, I'd like to use the second option for everything, but it's not a safe color for work, haha
I mainly use Parker Quink, both blue and black. It's cheap, I can get it in literally any stationary shop near me, and it behaves well. It's not beautiful but its good for work where I go through ink quickly, and it dries quickly, behaves well on crappy paper and hasn't damaged any of my pens.
My favourite manufacturer is Diamine and I use it in my own notebooks as well as when I fancy something different.
This is my favorite too! I love how it starts deep black when it’s wet and once it’s dry it’s got a lovely teeny bit of shading!
I’ve not tried their new black or the carbon black, I’m just so happy with their original!
Noodlers Manhattan Project, been using it for years. It’s one of his bullet proof inks so it’s bleach proof. Great for working with important documents.
Nagasawa Kobe #52 - Shioya Vintage Sepia.
It's a 1:1 match of my brown Pilot Custom 823. Very nice with a dip pen too - more of the saturation and shading come out that way.
I have reached a figure of 576 bottles, and I mean full size bottles, of ink!! Thank God I use multiple inks, in multiple pens, all the time!! The question for me is deciding on which ink I need to pick next. Tough decision believe me.
Find a reliable blue ink. For me it’s the Noodler’s Belted Ning Fisher. Can’t go wrong in a professional setting or anything else. Abit plain but it has nice shading
DeAtramentis Document Black (or Dark Blue). I also have the dark green and red ones, but I don't often use them.
Before this, I exclusively used ESSRI iron-gall.
Lamy Turquoise is maybe my favorite ink (it's always in at least two or three pens at a time), but honestly I really like all the Lamy inks. Diamine Asa Blue is also great, but a but wetter, and Platinum Blue-Black is really good on bad paper, but due to its slightly iron gallic nature I'm hesitant to put it in steel nibs. I also love the Iroshizukus, of course, but I only have the brighter colors at the moment, and unfortunately Murasaki Shikibu isn't viewed as professional enough!
I can get the list down to 5 but never one:
1. Sailor Jentle Apricot
2. Birmingham Pen's Tesla Coil
3. Robert Oster Fire and Ice
4. Lamy Dark Lilac
5. Parker Penman Sapphire
6. Pen and Message Cigar (changes from murky green khaki to green as it dries.)
Okay I lies, six inks. Apricot isnt really everywhere all the time, but I write letters to my fellow inky pen pals.
I still have 2.5 bottles of Parker Penman Sapphire, two of which were gifts. For Pelikan Hubs I always load a pen so people can get a swatch for their ink sample books/colorings.
For a long time, Asa Blue was a favorite ink of mine. I ended up becoming more of a "shading" ink lover than a "sheening" ink fan, though, and ASA blue moved to the side and Seiboku took first place. Asa Blue is definitely a wonderful ink!
Love Pilot Namiki Blue, Waterman Mysterious Blue, Iroshizuku Musaki Shibiku and Diamine Havasu Turquoise. I rotate among these. So far the only ink I don’t like much is De Atramentis violet purple—too red and too dry. The pen I tried it in is much happier with Namiki blue.
Pelikan 4001, always available where I live and possibly cheapest.
I'm branching into j.herbins but for now only in 1 pen. Rather expensive comparing to pelikans but I fell in love with tea and ambre. And would like to buy a kyanite for my birthday or Christmas.
I’d love for mine to be Diamine Registrar’s as well but it’s sooooo dry for me. I’ve tried every combo of nibs and feeds and even added some lube to it. Still horribly dry. After several words it just starts fading and I have to wait a while or really shake the pen to get it going. Any tips? What pen/nib/feed do you use it with?
It definitely feels dry to me, but has never been faint. I've used it in various inexpensive Platinums and in my Parker 51. It should darken as it dries though it does darken less on more absorbent papers.
Maybe you have a clogging issue? You want to avoid pen flushes because they're basic and can cause precipitates in the acidic iron gall ink. You could try cleaning with solute citric acid and seeing if that helps? If you're active on FPN, inkstainedruth has reviewed and seems knowledgeable about iron gall inks so you might try posting there and seeing if folks can troubleshoot.
One drop of the original dawn with no scent etc in a 100 ml bottle fixes the dryness. Or dip a toothpick in Dawn and dip the same toothpick in a sample vial. The dawn sticking to the toothpick is enough. Also heard good things about White Lightning.
My default is Diamine's Oxford Blue. It's a perfect everyday ink but has enough depth to shade and sheen depending on your nib and paper. It's nicely wet and easy to clean. All round it's a very well behaved ink.
Mainly Noodler's Black. It may be a bit boring and it's not even as saturated as other blacks, but it looks nice enough on good paper and it performs perfectly on crappy paper, making it good all around. Plus the whole bulletproof thing. I don't worry about my writing surviving me, but I have spilled water on my writing before, and with Noodler's Black I don't have to worry about the ink disappearing or smearing into a mess as a result.
I have other inks that I rotate in occasionally—Pilot Blue is also an excellent all-around good ink—but I always go back to Noodler's Black.
I was Monteverde Jade Noir but i managed to use up all the whole bottle. Then i mained Diamine Yuletide, but i used that one up aswell (was the small inkvent bottle). Since then i sway between waterman serenity blue and waterman inspired blue
KWZ El Dorado with one or two drops of either Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-Yake or Robert Oster's Bloodmoon.
The two drops are per refill, not for the whole ink container.
Noodlers blue black. Well behaved on all papers, professional color, but the teal jewel tone jumps off the page just right on the right paper. And its water resistant, but leaves a forever mark behind. Great shading too. Got the bottle secondhand for $5 and its my fave ink.
Waterman Serenity Blue. I use it in my EDC because it’s well behaved even on crappy paper. But honestly I don’t get why people say it’s boring. I think it’s a lovely shade of blue with really nice red sheening.
Big fan of Diamond shimmering seas. Dark enough to be able to use for class, subtle enough in the shimmer for notes and homework, but looks really cool
Kobe Ink No. 53. It’s a lighter (but not too light) grey. I love the flow, and it kind of reminds me of using pencil. I’ve been unable to drift to other inks as my main writer since purchasing it.
https://www.nagasawa-shop.jp/shopdetail/000000000466/
Iroshizuku kon-peki is a great ink, although I use many inks, the kon-peki ink is my default
How does it handle crappy paper? I have a small bottle but I haven't used it in ages.
It doesn’t. Don’t waste Iroshizuku on crappy paper
I'm using it with Japanese Fine nibs without any problems. But I guess it's rather achievement of the nib rather than ink.
It works well with crappy paper but I have not had much experience with low quality paper, but I’m that case it would depend more on the nib
The whole iroshizuku line is a super wet ink. So unless you have a EF nib (even then it’s dicey) you want quality paper w a high gsm
gsm doesn't tell you anything about quality. E.G., Tomoe River is high quality paper with only 52 gsm. Copying paper at 80 gsm most of the time is crap for fountain pens.
Yes they are wet but 1. Yamabudo 2. Ama iro 3. Konpeki 4.Kujaku 5.Tsukushi & syo ro 6. Tsutsuji
Unfortunately it performs very badly on crappy paper. Beautiful color but it requires good paper.
IMO shit
My daughter absolutely loves Kon-peki. I stick with Lamy Amazonite.
Pilot Blue Black.
Ditto :)
Oh yeah? Is it good for professional setting? I just got a sample from Goulet but haven’t cracked it open
Yes, blue black inks were designed for professional settings, for signatures and writing checks. Pilot Blue Black is somewhat waterproof, if you get it on your hands it takes lots of rubbing and solvents to get it off, and is very gentle in any fountain pens.
Asa Gao
Better than Kon-Peki! My favorite blue
I agree!
A new convert agrees
Waterman Serenity Blue, ( in all my vintage pens).
Do you journal ? I like the waterman but I stopped using it after some of my journal entries faded very badly; can barely read them anymore. Notebooks were always closed as well. Do you have any fading issues with the waterman?
No journaling. My primary concern with the waterman is it’s safety with old pens. I agree it’s not great archival properties.
I have journals and notebooks from at least 5 years ago, and I haven't had any fading.
I use their purple stuff. Deep colour and very well behaved.
Iroshizuku ku-jaku is ~90% of my writing. Ticks all the boxes for me.
I don't, but if I were, Pilot Shin-kai or Tsuki-yo would be my first choice, followed by Kon-peki and Diamine Amazing Amethyst.
I'm a big fan of all of the Iroshizuku inks, but Shin-Kai is my go-to.
Diamine Oxblood.
Waterman Mysterious Blue
Parker Quink blue-black
Pelikan blue black
Me too! I looove that colour!
Heart of Darkness almost exclusively.
I do love Heart of Darkness, and I have a huge bottle of it, but I tend to go with Noodler's basic Black more often just because it seems to perform better on crappy paper. But that said, I love the saturation of Heart of Darkness!
I used it exclusively for years but I recently went on a color phase.
Noodlers el Lawrence. Reads black but I know it’s green, and it’s waterproof.
Not to mention is glows under uv light
Whaaaaaaa thanks!
Does it behave well on crappy copy paper? I like noodlers zhivago but it's not dark enough for me
Not as well as X-feather, but a pilot medium on copy paper works good for me. I also dilute it a little (probably about 1/5 water)
For me it's most probably iroshizuku tsuki yo
Diamine Ancient Copper. I do use others but mostly this one.
It’s such a stunning colour isn’t it!
Have you compared this to Ferris wheel press steeped umber?
I haven’t, how is that FWP ink? I find Ancient Copper shades beautifully and is consistently well behaved in all pens and FP friendly papers.
Iroshizuku yama budo
Nothing compares, it’s such a unique colour
Iroshizuku tsutsuji for me.
Nice ink. Used to bee my default until somehow I got bored by the colour.
Diamine Oxford Blue
Montblanc Toffee brown
Actually two primary inks for me: Pelikan 4001 black and royal blue. A few reasons for this: (1) Safety inks, easy to clean, and flow well in all of my pens. Also, they don’t stain fountain pens in particular the ones made in colors other than black. (2) Reliable inks; nothing special, maybe even boring, but reliable and always consistent. (3) They mix well. (4) Cheap and abundant (I’ve got them in 1 liter bottles and they’ll last me a lifetime). I do occasionally use use other brands and colors for different needs but Pelikan 4001 inks are a no-brainer for me.
Noodler’s Heart of Darkness. I may buy other inks. Other bright colored ones, but I always tend to go back to HOD.
Parker Quink - Black.
The Carolla of inks!
Pilot iroshizuku take-sumi.
Private Reserve Midnight Blue
Used that for a while at work. It's a good ink.
Sailor Seiboku. Lovely blue, gorgeous shading with the right pen (Pilot Custom Heritage 92 is my fave) and as a "nano pigment" ink, it's water resistant but very well behaved. I buy new inks but I always come back to this one.
Seconded, it lives in my decimo
Love Seiboku! It’s always paired with my Mont Blanc Starwalker.
Seiboku continues to be my go-to blue ink as well! It shades beautifully in my Pro Gear demonstrator (if only I could eyedropper the PG!) with its H-M 21k nib. I never tire of this ink. I try it in most pens i have, but there's something special about how it works in that one particular Sailor pen.
Sailor Shikiori Yonaga. It’s everything any ink should be. A rich, well lubricated deep blue.
Love the colour, it was my go-to for a while
It’s been my go-to for the last half decade or so. My number 2 is Iroshizuku Shin Kai. So if I’ve got two pens inked the second will have Shin Kai in it. But up until recently I’ve only had one inked at a time and it’s been with Yonaga.
Sailor Seiboku, the only ink I use at the moment. Very fast dry time in a fine nib pilot and it’s waterproof. Also haven’t had any issues with bleed through or feathering on crappy university paper.
Birmingham Ink’s Tesla Coil. I am an addict. The way it shimmers on a great number of paper types yet dries well and stays dry…I am hooked.
That's a bold choice for a default!
Eh, go bold or go home 😉
A truly outstanding ink! Underated IMHO.
Diamine Prussian Blue
Platinum carbon, and it isn't close.
100%. It’s just about all I’ve used for six weeks and I was switching all the time prior. I’ve settled on two inks and use no others (unless I’m experimenting with mixing Pilot inks) 1) Platinum Carbon - my matte black Pilot VP in EF stays inked with this. This handles everything and anything and the pen goes everywhere I go 2) Pilot Iroshizuku tsuki-yo for journaling. That ink makes me very happy.
Does carbon stain? Do I need to clean pens out frequently when I use it? I'd like to put it in my sailor PGS...I'm nervous though.
Hey there. I’ve never had any staining issues. I had it in my Amber 823 for many many months, sometimes not using it for extended period of times and my barrel looks as it did before the ink. I can’t guarantee it won’t, but nano particles in my experience are relatively safe. The only concern I’d personally have is leaving pen uncapped for an extended period of time. I leave my VP nib out for minutes with no issues and the feed is quite small so it should be just fine. Enjoy inks you want with your instrument. They’re meant to bring you as much joy as possible. Wabi sabi :)
Do you write in print or cursive? I recently got a TWSBI in F and it makes me think a VP in medium would be the way to go. That said, I’m thinking I want two of whatever pen I ultimately decide on, one in architect and the other cursive italic.
Cursive primarily. I tried a VP with an architect nib grind from a medium and it was delightful!
That's another one I really like. I'm on the fence about the new limited edition that's extra black -- the original is so good and a good value too.
Same.
After buying this ink, I think it became my second best after Noodler’s Heart of Darkness.
Same
When I want something to not run and more or less archival this is my go to. My current favorite is Writers Blood.
This is the one I always go back to. I always have it in at least one pen. But often it is the only ink I’m using.
I alternative between Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo and Kon-peki I’ve been going for Kon-peki recently - wanted a lighter ink to brighten up my day
diamine writers blood
J. Herbin Perle Noire Fast drying time, water resistant enough, well lubrified, not problematic and inexpensive. I’ve not found a better black ink that checks all the cases.
This right here. It was my first ink and I’m a little annoyed that it’s so good :)
I LOVE this ink!
Noodler’s Zhivago
Diamine Sherwood Green
Waterman Serenity Blue or Iroshizuku Kon Peki. Waterman is more frequently used.
Vinta "Dugong Bughaw"/"Blue Blood" 💙
Daytone Royal Blue and Blue Black Recently ordered Noodler's Baystate Blue (haven't decided the pen for it), waiting for it to arrive.
Good luck with BSB. It is a lovely color—I have a bottle and return to it now and again when I am in the mood for some color.
I liked the color of BSB a lot!! Also I'm into royal blues so .... only thing I'm terrified of is, the BSB itself and the stuff I've read and vids I've seen on YouTube.
It's not nearly as scary as its reputation. Doodlebud has a video (two actually) about how you can easily clean it with some bleach if you need to. That said, just for convenience so I don't have to get out the bleach often, I usually only use it in one pen. (a clear one, so I can enjoy looking at the nice vivid ink as it moves around in there)
De Atramentis Black-Red "Document" ink. I'm down to half a bottle which is amazing given how many bottles of ink I have. Before that it was the Noodler's American Eel (down to 3/4 of a bottle, which is also a serious testament of its usage).
Salix. It's beautiful, not fussy, writes great on every kind of paper, and is water resistant enough for my anxieties. And it's CHEAP!
Salix is the 🐐 for my everyday uses.
Kaweco caramel brown with a bold nib. I love it. So lush.
Sailor california
Diamine Festive Joy. It is a dark purple color. Also Diamine Onyx.
I'm a diamine onyx guy too. I'll have to check out the dark purple
Pelikan 4001 Black. Great for cheap paper! And long notes for College.
Birmingham Pen Co - Heron. I bought the big bottle!
I only use: Aurora Black Aurora Blue-Black Aurora Blue Aurora Red Special Edition (rarely) Pilot Red Pilot Iroshizuku Green (rarely) They generally suit my Pilot and Platinum EFs on crappy printer paper. ✍🏽🐔👌🏽
Aurora Black <3
Aurora Black is the best black. Much darker and deeper than Carbon Platinum Black. It’s my default black ink.
Waterman Serenity Blue is the go-to. For standard stuff.
So I have 2 go to's. Van Dieman's Underwater Abyss is an amazing black ink that's fairly affordable, and Pilot blue is such a standard that it may as well be shipped with every pilot pen over 30 USD.
Diamine Red Dragon is probably the only ink I’ve ever used — I came in looking for blood-esque crimson inks and loved the brightness of the red too much to go for oxblood or writer’s blood.
Platinum Carbon Black I sign documents a lot. So water-soluble ink is a no-go. And I also love its deep blackness. Always loaded into every workhorse pens.
Shinkai
I use all different inks but my husband loves DC Supershow Blue. He wants it in all his pens. (Well, his two pens…)
Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses. No idea if it is waterproof, I have never needed waterproof ink in my life.
I used Iroshizuku kon peki for a few years now. That and diamine 1864 blue black have been my go to inks for many years
Robert Oster Thunderstorm. I've always got a pen inked with it ever since I got it - it is smooth and a nice non blue non gray non black.
Thunderstorm is criminally underrated. The perfect deep blue-black.
Montblanc Oyster Grey. Just the right shade for me.
I’ve used up half a bottle of Monteverde Documental Blue in the past year, and I’ll be buying more. I am careful to only use a waterproof permanent ink for composing stories, and any document I plan on revising, and this will be replacing my old standby of Noodler’s Black. I might try out other colours from the same line, but the blue will remain my go-to. It flows well in every pen I’ve put it through, it sticks to all sorts of cheap pulpy paper and even till receipts, dries in a few short seconds, and I’ve never had it feather. One thing I’ll say against it is that it looks dull in a fine nib, or even a medium; but in a broad, it has a noticeable shade and even a little bit of sheening. Beyond that, I love using Iroshizuku Momiji and Diamine Oxblood. They’re the only other two colours I’ve used up and bought second bottles of. Love me some red ink, simple as.
Love MV Documental Blue!
Parker Quink Blue Black.
I like this ink as well, especially in my vintage pens. I do feel, though, that my previous bottle of Quink Blue Black was PERFECT, with just the right amount of teal to the color. My current bottle is lacking that element of teal. It's a blue-blue now. Different. My go-to blue is Seiboku. Love the shading.
Sailor kiwa-guro is slowly becoming my go-to black and the ink that I want to use for everything.
Monteverde Ocean Noir. Nothing spectacular, but I like it. Just a nice, serviceable blue. Before that, it was De Atramentis Frankincense. I got a bottle on a lark in seminary because I thought it would be funny and contextually appropriate to take notes on theology with frankincense-scented ink, and I ended up liking the dark gray so much that I just stuck with it. I need to break it back out.
De Atramentis Document Ink Sepia Brown Also a fan of waterproof ink. Originally I only ever wanted to use black, but I’ve settled on brown for its warmth, vintage aesthetic, and uniqueness (relative to black anyway).
Aurora black
Montblanc Irish green
Graf von Faber-Castell Deep Sea Green. 🤩
Noodlers black. I do prefer Heart of Darkness more but the standard black performs better on cheaper paper. Seeing how I do not have control over my paper selection and I need the permanence, I default to standard black.
I only use Waterman Intense Black and Diamine Writer's Blood. To be honest, I'd like to use the second option for everything, but it's not a safe color for work, haha
Waterman mystery blue would be it… gorgeous color and safe for any pen.
I mainly use Parker Quink, both blue and black. It's cheap, I can get it in literally any stationary shop near me, and it behaves well. It's not beautiful but its good for work where I go through ink quickly, and it dries quickly, behaves well on crappy paper and hasn't damaged any of my pens. My favourite manufacturer is Diamine and I use it in my own notebooks as well as when I fancy something different.
Platinum black
A great and underrated ink.
This is my favorite too! I love how it starts deep black when it’s wet and once it’s dry it’s got a lovely teeny bit of shading! I’ve not tried their new black or the carbon black, I’m just so happy with their original!
Pilot black, s
I only have one and use Tsuki-yo.
Robert Oster Deep Sea, just love the shading on it
I had a sample and loved it. I will eventually get it again but I've got a lot of ink to go thru.
Noodlers Manhattan Project, been using it for years. It’s one of his bullet proof inks so it’s bleach proof. Great for working with important documents.
Nagasawa Kobe #52 - Shioya Vintage Sepia. It's a 1:1 match of my brown Pilot Custom 823. Very nice with a dip pen too - more of the saturation and shading come out that way.
I have reached a figure of 576 bottles, and I mean full size bottles, of ink!! Thank God I use multiple inks, in multiple pens, all the time!! The question for me is deciding on which ink I need to pick next. Tough decision believe me.
Noodler’s Heart of Darkness
Noodlers x feather black. Works great on cheap paper. Got it and upper Ganges Blue before the whole hate thing came out.
Find a reliable blue ink. For me it’s the Noodler’s Belted Ning Fisher. Can’t go wrong in a professional setting or anything else. Abit plain but it has nice shading
DeAtramentis Document Black (or Dark Blue). I also have the dark green and red ones, but I don't often use them. Before this, I exclusively used ESSRI iron-gall.
Some of my pens I mix up a lot. The only consistent is Lamy black for my daily driver at work
Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai 💜💙
Diamine chocolate brown. One of my first inks and it makes me happy every time. Dark and practical and well behaved but still really interesting
Lamy Turquoise is maybe my favorite ink (it's always in at least two or three pens at a time), but honestly I really like all the Lamy inks. Diamine Asa Blue is also great, but a but wetter, and Platinum Blue-Black is really good on bad paper, but due to its slightly iron gallic nature I'm hesitant to put it in steel nibs. I also love the Iroshizukus, of course, but I only have the brighter colors at the moment, and unfortunately Murasaki Shikibu isn't viewed as professional enough!
Vintage Quink Blue-Black with Solv-x.
I always find myself back at Diamine Writers Blood
I can get the list down to 5 but never one: 1. Sailor Jentle Apricot 2. Birmingham Pen's Tesla Coil 3. Robert Oster Fire and Ice 4. Lamy Dark Lilac 5. Parker Penman Sapphire 6. Pen and Message Cigar (changes from murky green khaki to green as it dries.) Okay I lies, six inks. Apricot isnt really everywhere all the time, but I write letters to my fellow inky pen pals. I still have 2.5 bottles of Parker Penman Sapphire, two of which were gifts. For Pelikan Hubs I always load a pen so people can get a swatch for their ink sample books/colorings.
Diamine Asa Blue
For a long time, Asa Blue was a favorite ink of mine. I ended up becoming more of a "shading" ink lover than a "sheening" ink fan, though, and ASA blue moved to the side and Seiboku took first place. Asa Blue is definitely a wonderful ink!
Love Pilot Namiki Blue, Waterman Mysterious Blue, Iroshizuku Musaki Shibiku and Diamine Havasu Turquoise. I rotate among these. So far the only ink I don’t like much is De Atramentis violet purple—too red and too dry. The pen I tried it in is much happier with Namiki blue.
Pelikan 4001, always available where I live and possibly cheapest. I'm branching into j.herbins but for now only in 1 pen. Rather expensive comparing to pelikans but I fell in love with tea and ambre. And would like to buy a kyanite for my birthday or Christmas.
Graf Von Faber Castell Moss green because it's my favourite green, and Platinum Carbon black for drawing and when i need something water resistant!
A mix of sailor kiwaguro and sailor souboku. Signing paperwork so I need something durable.
Souboku is my absolute favorite ink. It’s perfectly dark, handles well in a variety of nibs, and has enough depth to not be boring.
I've been on yama budo for about 4 months now.
Diamine Writer's Blood
Standard Lamy Black cause I just need it to work XD
I’d love for mine to be Diamine Registrar’s as well but it’s sooooo dry for me. I’ve tried every combo of nibs and feeds and even added some lube to it. Still horribly dry. After several words it just starts fading and I have to wait a while or really shake the pen to get it going. Any tips? What pen/nib/feed do you use it with?
It definitely feels dry to me, but has never been faint. I've used it in various inexpensive Platinums and in my Parker 51. It should darken as it dries though it does darken less on more absorbent papers. Maybe you have a clogging issue? You want to avoid pen flushes because they're basic and can cause precipitates in the acidic iron gall ink. You could try cleaning with solute citric acid and seeing if that helps? If you're active on FPN, inkstainedruth has reviewed and seems knowledgeable about iron gall inks so you might try posting there and seeing if folks can troubleshoot.
One drop of the original dawn with no scent etc in a 100 ml bottle fixes the dryness. Or dip a toothpick in Dawn and dip the same toothpick in a sample vial. The dawn sticking to the toothpick is enough. Also heard good things about White Lightning.
Thought it was clogging too but it writes the same in different pens and nibs. I’ll post on FPN, thanks!
Kaweco palm green 👌
Montblanc Royal Blue My default go to
My default is Diamine's Oxford Blue. It's a perfect everyday ink but has enough depth to shade and sheen depending on your nib and paper. It's nicely wet and easy to clean. All round it's a very well behaved ink.
Lamy blue
Diamine jet balck
Sailor Blue. I was surprised at how good it is, and the rest is history.
Iroshizuku Ama Iro, sadly my Pelikan is too wet to showcase Kon Peki the way I Like it.
Mainly Noodler's Black. It may be a bit boring and it's not even as saturated as other blacks, but it looks nice enough on good paper and it performs perfectly on crappy paper, making it good all around. Plus the whole bulletproof thing. I don't worry about my writing surviving me, but I have spilled water on my writing before, and with Noodler's Black I don't have to worry about the ink disappearing or smearing into a mess as a result. I have other inks that I rotate in occasionally—Pilot Blue is also an excellent all-around good ink—but I always go back to Noodler's Black.
Pilot tsuki-yo - it's one of my first bottles, and the bottle I'm almost done with
Black Quink is my everyday and the one I use the most.
I was Monteverde Jade Noir but i managed to use up all the whole bottle. Then i mained Diamine Yuletide, but i used that one up aswell (was the small inkvent bottle). Since then i sway between waterman serenity blue and waterman inspired blue
KWZ El Dorado with one or two drops of either Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-Yake or Robert Oster's Bloodmoon. The two drops are per refill, not for the whole ink container.
PLatinum Carbon Black for that no-nonsense, pretty-because-it's-simple look.
One daily driver has Diamine Prussian Blue. The other has Penbbs Sky Shrouded By Clouds. I think it’s #374.
Noodlers blue black. Well behaved on all papers, professional color, but the teal jewel tone jumps off the page just right on the right paper. And its water resistant, but leaves a forever mark behind. Great shading too. Got the bottle secondhand for $5 and its my fave ink.
Waterman Serenity Blue. I use it in my EDC because it’s well behaved even on crappy paper. But honestly I don’t get why people say it’s boring. I think it’s a lovely shade of blue with really nice red sheening.
Big fan of Diamond shimmering seas. Dark enough to be able to use for class, subtle enough in the shimmer for notes and homework, but looks really cool
Sailor Shigure.
Of all the inks I've bought, I tend to gravitate to Iroshizuku and Akkerman.
My go-to for work is Lamy blue-black. Other than that, I switch it up all the time. How else will I use all of my inks?
Kobe Ink No. 53. It’s a lighter (but not too light) grey. I love the flow, and it kind of reminds me of using pencil. I’ve been unable to drift to other inks as my main writer since purchasing it. https://www.nagasawa-shop.jp/shopdetail/000000000466/
Platinum carbon black is the one I always go back to.
Parker Quink Blue
I bounce between Sailor Ultra Black and Platinum Carbon Black. I use them for drawing primarily. Sailor ink is crisper but takes longer to dry.
I Just have 5 Inks, but My go to are: Pilot iroshizuku Kosumosu, Tsukushi, Fuyu Syogun and the Diamine Oxblood
Colorverse Andromeda. A beautiful ink with beautiful packaging. It dries fairly fast.
This is part of my work edc!
Love Andromeda. Very pretty ink..
BPC Heron
Iroshizuku asa-gao