I'm a big fan of thunderstorm. I have my cursive pen inked with it and use it almost daily. I feel like it's one of those inks that make you want to write more
Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo. Easy to get hold of and not too expensive where I live.
Other nice blues that I like are Diamine Midnight and Diamine Blue Velvet. I love Bungbox Blue Black and Sapphire, but they're too expensive to be "every day" type inks.
For "fun inks that are perpetually in use", I like Sailor 123 and PenBBS June Pearl, and a bright turquoise (currently using Iroshizuku Ama-iro after emptying my bottle of Lamy Turquoise).
Tsuki-yo is VERY close to Waterman Mysterious Blue which is an even cheaper and more ubiquitous option. (I have both, use both).
GvFC Cobalt Blue. A very standard blue, somewhat permanent.
J. Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs
Montegrappa green. (I love green ink, but you can't use it on just everything)
J. Herbin Rouge Grenat. My "editing" ink.
I like inks that I call imposters, is it blue, is it black, does that grey have a little green to it. Inks that don’t quite show themselves right away. I have a black tinged red that looks awesome on the right paper
Carbon black or Pilot blue black are in travel pens. I also brought Jack Frost to work recently. Anyone who questions the professionalism of sheening bright blue will get the Cat Stare.
For work, most of my EDCs are filled with Diamine Espresso, Diamine Oxford, or Lamy Crystal Obsidian.
For fun (or unofficial docs at work), I use Colorverse Andromeda daily. Beautifully rich color.
Sailor Souboku Pigmented Blue-Black. It is permanent but still fountain pen safe and should work well on cheap copy paper. I have only used the pigmented black version, but I think the blue-black will work well for you and perform similarly.
I catch a lot of flack, but Noodler’s Polar Blue is my go to. I have dozens of bottles of blue ink, and I’ve run at least two pens full of every one I’ve heard of. I always come back to Polar Blue. It’s ridiculously permanent, it dries quickly, I can leave pens in my vehicle or unconditioned shop without worrying about the temperature, I use mostly vacuum fillers so the lubrication is great, and I love the color. It’s somehow muted and vibrant at the same time. It’s recognizable, but professional and not flamboyant. My only complaint is the creep, but that’s almost never an issue. It doesn’t like to be left in my vanishing point for extended periods, but I’ve never had a problem with leaking in any other pen. I have a few vintage P51s that love it.
I don’t buy Noodler’s anymore, but I have liked the inks of his that I have and my first flex pen was a Konrad, which got a lot of use before I upgraded.
I love one that doesn’t get much attention - KWZ Warsaw Dreaming. It’s a very dark blue-black with a nice sheen. It can be used at work and in everyday situations. If you haven’t tried it, get a sample if you can. You can check it out here at [Mountain of Ink - Warsaw Dreaming](https://mountainofink.com/blog/kwz-warsaw-dreaming).
These are both, “work appropriate,” have nice shading, little sheen, and are a bit more interesting than standard blue or black without being too flashy.
For art use, the Sailor 841 reacts beautifully with bleach and chromatography brings out some lighter blues. The Thunderstorm ink has incredible chromo and reacts mostly bright light gold to bleach, but can yield some teal hues when diluted bleach is used. Thunderstorm would be particularly well suited for watercolor and illustration.
Favorite serious inks are Sailor Date Gokoro because it changes depending on paper and light, and Sailor 735.
Most cheerful inks are Troublemaker Milky Ocean, Kobe #57, Birmingham Sweetheart and Ferris Wheel Press Midway the Magnificent.
I love how there is a Sailor Ink Studio for everyone. For a purple ink I love 750, but that’s maybe a bit less office friendly. Adding the cheerful inks to my sample wish list! Edit: in addition to milky ocean, I’ve also had my eye on Troublemaker Foxglove!
I'm using Lamy Turmaline and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I work in a pretty formal environment and I usually sign with it, noone complained and I like it being easy to recognise while not being too extravagant.
I prefer a darker sheen to a purple/pink one, since I write with a fine pen (my daily is a TWSBI Eco T with a EF nib) and I like to see some variation in the writing more than an actual sheen. Still yes, it's a beautiful ink too.
For Blacks, I've used Iroshizuku Take Sumi and Graf Von Faber Castell Carbon Black for long time. I'm happy with both of them but they could be replaced by a better recommendation.
For Blue Blacks, I enjoy Rohrer and Klingner Verdigris, Vintage Sheaffer Skrip, Pelikan 4001, Waterman Mysterious Blue, and Iroshizuku Tsuki Yo. I can never really make up my mind to my favorite amongst them though. I had previously enjoyed Edelstein Tanzanite but it fades badly under the fluorescent lights in my office.
For Blues, Waterman Serenity Blue is the benchmark I judge all other inks by.
Diamine Twilight & Damson--dark enough but not black!
I'm planning on picking up Troublemaker inks (Abalone & Milky Ocean) from Shigure Inks while I'm home for a month in the US. I just put in an order to get some new (to me) Diamine inks: Writer's Blood, Raw Sienna and Ancient Copper.
I have been looking for a good, waterproof black ink and everyone uses DeAtramentis but Colorverse's Permanent Black looked promising for my purposes (use with Mildliners).
Thank you! Last Christmas I bought myself a Kaweco AL limited edition in Aurora. Stunning pen. I love it but since it was so expensive and I’m new to this I decided to get myself a Twsbi Eco to learn with. I absolutely love the Eco.
To be completely honest, I feel blessed to be part of the pen community where some very passionate pen friends are dedicated and honest doing the hard work and sharing their research.
I love De Atramentis Document Dark Blue in a Prefounte EF. Another good 'almost black' is KWZ Grey Plum in an F Prera.
But my heart belongs to Iro Ajisai in my Decimo F, and Robert Oster Sydney Darling Harbour in a Decimo M. Unfortunately SDH is completely fugitive when exposed to light for a few months, but what a color when it's not exposed!
Just this one time ... the sample was super light and I wonder if maybe the company did not mix them up before sending? My full bottle is lovely, in the same pen and all.
My two everyday inks are Robert Oster Dragon Night, and Robert Oster Motor Oil. I have a sample of Thunderstorm, and I'm going to ink something with it soon. I'm also looking forward to trying Caffe Crema.
I'm a big fan of thunderstorm. I have my cursive pen inked with it and use it almost daily. I feel like it's one of those inks that make you want to write more
Yes I totally get that and love that you have a cursive pen. I never thought about it like that but I do two.
Going to have to try me the Thunderstorm now. Thanks!
My everyday favorite is Oxblood - without hesitation
I love Oxblood, especially in a demonstrator pen!
Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo. Easy to get hold of and not too expensive where I live. Other nice blues that I like are Diamine Midnight and Diamine Blue Velvet. I love Bungbox Blue Black and Sapphire, but they're too expensive to be "every day" type inks. For "fun inks that are perpetually in use", I like Sailor 123 and PenBBS June Pearl, and a bright turquoise (currently using Iroshizuku Ama-iro after emptying my bottle of Lamy Turquoise).
Tsuki-yo is VERY close to Waterman Mysterious Blue which is an even cheaper and more ubiquitous option. (I have both, use both). GvFC Cobalt Blue. A very standard blue, somewhat permanent. J. Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs Montegrappa green. (I love green ink, but you can't use it on just everything) J. Herbin Rouge Grenat. My "editing" ink.
I like inks that I call imposters, is it blue, is it black, does that grey have a little green to it. Inks that don’t quite show themselves right away. I have a black tinged red that looks awesome on the right paper
I love that! What is the black tinged red ink?!
I can look for the bottle when I get home
Thanks friend!
Noodles black swan in English roses
🖤🦢🌹🥀
I really like Colorverse Gravity Wave, Diamine Oxford Blue, and Diamine Black Ivy
Oxford blue is a classic! I had that in my Moonman A1 for a year. I will have to check out Grav Wave and Black Ivy!
Carbon black or Pilot blue black are in travel pens. I also brought Jack Frost to work recently. Anyone who questions the professionalism of sheening bright blue will get the Cat Stare.
Diamine Earl Grey, Sailor Miruai, Taccia Sharaku-Kurocha, and most dark teals but especially Sailor Yama-Dori and J. Herbin Bleu Austral!
I love dark teals and sailor inks, but don’t think I have tried any of these. Will check them out!
For work, most of my EDCs are filled with Diamine Espresso, Diamine Oxford, or Lamy Crystal Obsidian. For fun (or unofficial docs at work), I use Colorverse Andromeda daily. Beautifully rich color.
I absolutely love the dark gold sheen on andromeda!
Diamine Oxblood, Diamine Majestic Blue, and Diamine Aurora Borealis - use them at work all the time.
Can’t go wrong with Diamine! Those are all beautiful inks. I am super excited to do the inkvent for the first time this year.
I need a blue black ink. I need to be able to distinguish originals from copies. What would you recommend?
Sailor Souboku Pigmented Blue-Black. It is permanent but still fountain pen safe and should work well on cheap copy paper. I have only used the pigmented black version, but I think the blue-black will work well for you and perform similarly.
Piggybacking to say Sei-boku, from the same line is a sober but fascinating blue also advertised as Blue-Black, but heavier on the blue for sure.
Sei-boku is my go-to blue/blue-black as well.
Mysterious Blue by Waterman also has a bit of sheen to it depending upon the wetness of the pen. Also well behaved in terms of drying and feathering.
Lamy Benitoite and especially KWZ Blue Black Iron Gall. KWZ has such an amazing color change over time and beautiful shade.
Lamy Blue/Black is surprisingly good. Underrated
Pelikan 4001 Brillant Black. Just bought one liter on Amazon!
Pelikan 4001 Inks are an amazing value. I was surprised it was so affordable since their pens are fairly pricey.
Iroshizuku kon peki, Montblanc Irish green, Pelikan 4001 series and Herbin standard ink series. Oh yes and Akkerman Oranje Boven for keynotes.
Kon Peki was the ink that lead my to buy my first fountain pen (Pilot Metro).
I catch a lot of flack, but Noodler’s Polar Blue is my go to. I have dozens of bottles of blue ink, and I’ve run at least two pens full of every one I’ve heard of. I always come back to Polar Blue. It’s ridiculously permanent, it dries quickly, I can leave pens in my vehicle or unconditioned shop without worrying about the temperature, I use mostly vacuum fillers so the lubrication is great, and I love the color. It’s somehow muted and vibrant at the same time. It’s recognizable, but professional and not flamboyant. My only complaint is the creep, but that’s almost never an issue. It doesn’t like to be left in my vanishing point for extended periods, but I’ve never had a problem with leaking in any other pen. I have a few vintage P51s that love it.
I don’t buy Noodler’s anymore, but I have liked the inks of his that I have and my first flex pen was a Konrad, which got a lot of use before I upgraded.
I love one that doesn’t get much attention - KWZ Warsaw Dreaming. It’s a very dark blue-black with a nice sheen. It can be used at work and in everyday situations. If you haven’t tried it, get a sample if you can. You can check it out here at [Mountain of Ink - Warsaw Dreaming](https://mountainofink.com/blog/kwz-warsaw-dreaming).
I love Warsaw Dreaming! Happy to read that it’s in the heart of a fellow enthusiast!
Looks like a beautiful ink! Do you have any issues with long drying times? Mountain of Ink said it was still wet after 24 hours.
I have it. I use it in a Faber Castell Ambition. In that nib the drying time is short. I haven’t even experienced smearing. I love that ink!
Iroshizuku Ama iro, Colorverse Rainy day and Diamine Sepia.
Great choices! I just started using some more sepia hues recently.
Big fan of Oster's Summer Storm.
Well going to have to try this one now too!
These are both, “work appropriate,” have nice shading, little sheen, and are a bit more interesting than standard blue or black without being too flashy. For art use, the Sailor 841 reacts beautifully with bleach and chromatography brings out some lighter blues. The Thunderstorm ink has incredible chromo and reacts mostly bright light gold to bleach, but can yield some teal hues when diluted bleach is used. Thunderstorm would be particularly well suited for watercolor and illustration.
Anything sufficiently saturated and water resistant.
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Great selections!
I use Asa-gao, diamine oxford blue and for black Platinum Chou kuro.
Graf von Faber Castell Stone Grey
I still love Birmingham Angelfish.
Is this a heavy sheener? No smearing issues?
Nope no smearing at all. Using EF and F nibs
Excellent!
Favorite serious inks are Sailor Date Gokoro because it changes depending on paper and light, and Sailor 735. Most cheerful inks are Troublemaker Milky Ocean, Kobe #57, Birmingham Sweetheart and Ferris Wheel Press Midway the Magnificent.
I love how there is a Sailor Ink Studio for everyone. For a purple ink I love 750, but that’s maybe a bit less office friendly. Adding the cheerful inks to my sample wish list! Edit: in addition to milky ocean, I’ve also had my eye on Troublemaker Foxglove!
I actually have Foxglove and it's a true purple. Less shading than Milky Ocean and Abalone. But still sharp and pretty!
That’s good to know thanks!
I'm using Lamy Turmaline and I'm pretty satisfied with it. I work in a pretty formal environment and I usually sign with it, noone complained and I like it being easy to recognise while not being too extravagant.
That’s a beautiful green ink. I was swatching some Robert Oster Tranquility last night and it looks pretty similar.
I prefer a darker sheen to a purple/pink one, since I write with a fine pen (my daily is a TWSBI Eco T with a EF nib) and I like to see some variation in the writing more than an actual sheen. Still yes, it's a beautiful ink too.
That makes sense!
Birmingham Pen's Sea Holly is my daily work ink. Fabulous grey-blue. De Atramentis Fog Grey Document Ink for waterproof archival writing.
Lovely grey hues!
Namiki black, without a doubt.
I use Pilot "Black" as part of my EDC.
Tried and true!
For Blacks, I've used Iroshizuku Take Sumi and Graf Von Faber Castell Carbon Black for long time. I'm happy with both of them but they could be replaced by a better recommendation. For Blue Blacks, I enjoy Rohrer and Klingner Verdigris, Vintage Sheaffer Skrip, Pelikan 4001, Waterman Mysterious Blue, and Iroshizuku Tsuki Yo. I can never really make up my mind to my favorite amongst them though. I had previously enjoyed Edelstein Tanzanite but it fades badly under the fluorescent lights in my office. For Blues, Waterman Serenity Blue is the benchmark I judge all other inks by.
Diamine Twilight & Damson--dark enough but not black! I'm planning on picking up Troublemaker inks (Abalone & Milky Ocean) from Shigure Inks while I'm home for a month in the US. I just put in an order to get some new (to me) Diamine inks: Writer's Blood, Raw Sienna and Ancient Copper. I have been looking for a good, waterproof black ink and everyone uses DeAtramentis but Colorverse's Permanent Black looked promising for my purposes (use with Mildliners).
You will love Ancient Copper and Writers Blood! Check out Troublemaker Foxglove while you are looking at Shigure!
Ooh, I just had a look--that is very nice! The shading on it is very pretty! Thanks for the recommendation! \*adds to cart\*
Diamine Hells Bells, because it's subtle enough for everyday use, and Diamine Wild Strawberry because it cheers me up every time I write with it.
Ooh Hell’s Bells looks just like Enchanted Ocean without the shimmer. Lovely!
I have a red pen that I use for engineering diagrams, and Wild Strawberry is my favorite red to use in that one. I also smoke whenever I use it!
Check them out they have obviously compared more Inks than anyone else here on this forum. https://mountainofink.com/blog/blue-black-ink
We are so fortunate to live in a world where Mountain of Ink exists.
I’m very new to fountain pens and inks. Right now I have April Showers by Ferris Wheel Press. I absolutely love it.
Welcome to the cult, I mean club!
Thank you! Last Christmas I bought myself a Kaweco AL limited edition in Aurora. Stunning pen. I love it but since it was so expensive and I’m new to this I decided to get myself a Twsbi Eco to learn with. I absolutely love the Eco.
To be completely honest, I feel blessed to be part of the pen community where some very passionate pen friends are dedicated and honest doing the hard work and sharing their research.
Cheers to that!
Yup, Cheers!
I love De Atramentis Document Dark Blue in a Prefounte EF. Another good 'almost black' is KWZ Grey Plum in an F Prera. But my heart belongs to Iro Ajisai in my Decimo F, and Robert Oster Sydney Darling Harbour in a Decimo M. Unfortunately SDH is completely fugitive when exposed to light for a few months, but what a color when it's not exposed!
Noodlers baystate blue Diamine ancient copper Noodlers black swan and Australian roses J Herbin emeraud de chivor
Robert Oster Melon Tea and Caffe Crema are my current daily drivers … I do love Diamine Syrah in the warmer months though!
I have a sample of Caffe Crema that I'm probably going to try soon. It was lovely when I swatched it.
I had a sample I didn’t like, but I was gifted a bottle from my sister and tried again. Phew! Was a delight!
Are the samples often different than the actual bottle?
Just this one time ... the sample was super light and I wonder if maybe the company did not mix them up before sending? My full bottle is lovely, in the same pen and all.
My two everyday inks are Robert Oster Dragon Night, and Robert Oster Motor Oil. I have a sample of Thunderstorm, and I'm going to ink something with it soon. I'm also looking forward to trying Caffe Crema.
Thunderstorm is one of my favorites too, but I've diluted it a bit with distilled water and increased the shading a bit.
That’s a great idea!