Heart of Blue

One definition tells us that blue is, ‘a color whose hue is that of the clear sky, or that of the color spectrum lying between green and violet.’ For most people blue evokes thoughts of water, sky and perhaps universe. Who hasn’t seen the well-known photograph of a blue earth viewed from space. Apart from sky and water, blue carries a wide range of associations. It is at times a calm, peaceful color, one aligned with infinity, eternity, faith, purity, chastity and peace. Illustrations often show the Virgin Mary and Christ wearing blue. The color has also been linked with melancholia, probably a connection that grew out of the blues sung by African slaves. Another more modern link is with pornography, or the ‘blue movies’—dim screenings of once secret films.

Surveys might suggest that a majority of people polled choose blue as their favorite color. That certainly has been the trend as far as fountain pen ink goes. Blue is the first color of ink offered by ink makers, and since the 20th century has long been a standard color in documents where black once dominated. Without checking sales charts, I would venture to say that the average person buying ink today will choose something close to the standard blue.

But for some of us looking for blue ink, there is an urge to look past the familiar stand by and go for something further along the spectrum. Distinctive fountain pen ink is enjoying a wave of popularity among many these days, especially for those of us with a passion for interesting inks.

From ten bottles of blue ink I have selected six for their special, unusual or particular qualities. Again, I make no mention of writing quality, but focus only on color. Similar to the earlier post on green ink (here), this swatch sample, too shows color, maker and tool used to produce the sample swatch. Starting at the top left and reading across and down…

1. Turquoise • Montblanc • Brush

2. Blue • Pelikan • Q-tip

3. Blue • Conway Stewart • Brush

4. Kon-peki • Pilot Iroshizuku • Q-tip

5. Blue Suede • Private Reserve • Folded paper

6. Hans Christian Andersen • De Atramentis • Pen

Sadly, the Montblanc turquoise is another ink the company has decided to discontinue. I will sorely miss it when my last bottle comes up empty. The Pelikan blue is a standard shade, and in my opinion inferior to none. The Conway Stewart blue is another standard, one with a good depth. As so many of the Iroshizuku inks are, the Kon-peki is a standout, and a particularly distinctive and beautiful blue. Blue Suede by Private Reserve is another color that shows some distinction. To me, it is nothing less than exquisite. Another in the famous names series, Hans Christian Andersen from De Atramentis is close to the Blue Suede, but darker and thereby a touch more traditional. I have one friend who uses this ink exclusively for business papers.

And last, from the imagination of one young student contemplating it all:

“Blue”

BY DAN AT THE ORCHARD SCHOOL

Blue are blueberries freshly picked

a sapphire stone

and an aquamarine shine

Blue is the color of ink in a pen

A long line that never ends

Green Squiggles

The location of ink around here is for the time being haphazard. The Kugayama ink cabinet was something not shipped from Japan, and as a result there are now homeless ink bottles about, stacked in untidy rows on top of a chest. Staring at those bottles, I moved a few of them around, trying to put some order to the jumble. I’ve always been a sucker for green ink (among a half dozen other colors), so ended up with six bottles of green ink off to one side, the finalists chosen from a baker’s dozen of different greens.

I balked at the idea of filling six different pens to accommodate each of the greens, so divvied them up among pen, Q-tip, brush and folded paper. My purpose was to get a good, clean color sample, no more than a swatch of each color, and to leave out any observations about drying time, shading and such. I am happy enough offering just a simple color chart of green inks.

The attached scan may be difficult to read as far as the descriptions go. Here’s the order of colors and tools used; start at the top left and read across and down…

1. O-cha Green (Green Tea) • Sailor, order blend • scribbled with a pen

2. Racing Green • Montblanc • Q-tip

3. Conway Stewart Green • Conway Stewart • Brush

4. Frederick Chopin • De Atramentis • Folder paper

5. Shin-ryoku • Pilot Iroshizuku • Brush

6. Gin & Lime • Itô-ya Cocktail Ink • Q-tip

My favorite remains year after year the now discontinued Montblanc Racing Green. Some may find the bottom right, Gin & Lime a beautiful ink, and I would agree, but warn that it is a difficult color to read. Despite my fondness for the Iroshizuku inks, the Shin-ryoku comes off weakest in this line up. Always liked the Conway Stewart, but how can you not like that luscious blue-green. The Frederick Chopin is from the famous names series by De Atramentis, with a ‘pine green’ label attached to the ink. I like the heaviness of the green. I’ve saved Sailor’s O-cha Green for last, because it holds a special place in my nuttiness for ink. There is rarely a time when a pen loaded with this ink is not within my reach.

Conway Stewart: Benign Neglect

It suddenly occurred to me this morning that for reasons I don’t understand, as far as ink goes, Conway Stewart is a neglected brand in blog pages related to pen and ink. Thinking about it now, I can’t recall reading a single ink review for a Conway Stewart ink. What could the reason be?

A quick Google search shows that the choices are severely limited for someone looking to buy Conway Stewart ink. In addition, the available colors have shrunk from few to paltry. Two or three online stores offer blue or black, but nowhere could I find the full palette of eight colors. Pendemonium has in stock seven of them, lacking only the CS Green featured in this review. This situation makes you wonder if Conway Stewart is gradually withdrawing from the market, or if the demand for their ink has fallen off. I purchased a box of four Conway Stewart inks three years ago, and I believe it was from Classic Fountain Pens in Los Angeles. Now they don’t list Conway Stewart ink on their website. The set of four inks I got included blue, black, green and CS Green.

I’ve done little more than try the blue, black and green in an abbreviated fashion, mainly because the colors are too basic, too ‘vanilla’ for my tastes. On the other hand, the 30 ml bottle of CS Green is now almost empty. This is an ocean water blue-green that is beautiful, practical and eye-catching all at once. The occasions where it would be both acceptable and admired are enough to make it a basic, daily-use shade of ink.

The brief list of CS Green qualities in the photograph here reflect good results. On what I often consider to be a difficult 100% cotton paper (Crane stationery), the CS Green in my Pelikan 425 showed no feathering or bleed through. The flow of ink, the lubrication both good. I did something to test the waterproof qualities I’d never tried before. First, I submerged a sample in a bowl of water; a good amount of the ink washed out, but words were still legible. Next, I held the paper under running water for half a minute—still legible. Results were a heck of a lot better than someone leaving the cake out in the rain. (Mmm…Am I dating myself?)

The upshot of it all…If you can find a dealer who still has CS Green ink, buy yourself a bottle.