Shoe Polish for Beavers

About the recent thread of autumn tinted inks in these pages, today is something like a U-turn, a looking back at the brown I jumped over last Tuesday. That particular brown is NOODLER’S BEAVER, and at this point, after an hour or two of playing with the ink on two different kinds of Clairefontaine paper, in a Sailor Professional Gear fountain pen with medium nib, and with Q-tip, I have to say in all honesty that I am only moderately impressed.

Like green, brown is another color I’ve chased after for a long time, always searching for the one that fits my preferences as closely as possible. In that search I’ve found three that fit the bill, three that I’m happy with, but those inks are not on parade here. The spotlight this time is on Noodler’s Beaver.

The color—Let me say right off that all the red in the Beaver works to push the shade toward what I call shoe polish brown. There will be some who like this particular reddish Shinola brown, and for them I would say go for the Beaver. But memory works against me, as I am reminded of the Saturday nights I had to polish my father’s shoes for church on Sunday. While it isn’t my kind of brown, the same is not true for everyone, and Noodler’s Beaver could be the one for you.

I lined Noodler’s up alongside two other browns and found all three to be close. Side by side, Noodler’s Beaver, Waterman Havana and Montblanc Sepia (Toffee Brown) almost look to be from the same ink pot, or the same shoe polish bottle. So close in fact, you might have difficulty in telling them apart. Feel like I would be stumped if you showed me unlabeled samples of the three tomorrow.

Brian Goulet has some good things to say about the Beaver, and I tend to agree with his remarks about the shading of the ink. Yes, it does shade well, and it also flows smoothly. With my Sailor pen at least, it lays down a line of well-balanced wetness, neither too wet nor too dry. In this sense, I found the drying time reasonable, but must caution left-handed writers that drying time could be a problem.

Everyone has this or that little something that draws them to a particular brown, or green or any color ink. Experience has taught that an ink displaying the finest of all qualities is rare. I have to think that getting it all right is a matter of delicate balance. Noodler’s Beaver has some excellent qualities, but the color, be it autumn or otherwise is not what I look for in a brown ink.

In my book the three top brown inks are: Maruzen’s Athena Sepia, Iroshizuku’s Tsukushi and Yama-guri. All the qualities we look for in ink are superior in these three. They are examples of that delicate balance personified by the harmony of color and performance.

Igniting Sparks

Back in August of last year, Vanrensalier at Saint Austin’s Pub put up an interesting tongue in cheek post called, The Pen Pusher Test, in which he posed questions meant to ferret out those of us with ‘serious’ pen pushing tendencies. I got a kick out of that because I couldn’t help seeing myself in his questions, and wondering, “Am I that far gone?” The answer is probably yes.

I suppose my story today could apply to any one of several questions in Vanrensalier’s post. Nonetheless, I can’t help thinking that the outcome of my addiction in this case was definitely along positive lines. Not sure that I sent anyone running to the nearest fountain pen dealer, but perhaps I opened a window.

I have a young acquaintance here in Tokyo who is something of an artist, and who no doubt will one day after finishing high school and art college, find his way as a successful artist. A few months back he was working on an assignment at school combining drawing and/or painting with English text, something that expressed his feelings in connection with the drawing. The first time I saw a draft of his work, the text was written in pencil. I asked if he had considered doing it in ink, and if the idea appealed I’d be happy to loan him a fountain pen along with the ink of his choice.

He was reluctant at first for fear of imposing, or maybe even damaging the pen, but I waved off his concerns and handed over three pens for him to take home and play around with. A couple of days later he returned the pens, saying he would like to use the Sailor Professional Gear pen for his assignment. For the ink he chose De Atramentis Guiseppe Verdi Blue from my sample book, and I cleaned and filled the Sailor with that ink.

A few weeks later I was quite honored to receive his painting—post exhibition—as a gift. His way of saying thanks.

Did this experience light a spark of interest in fountain pens? I like to think so.

The text in the picture…

Thursday, September 10, 2009 — Morning

I rode fast on my bicycle, because I was late. I felt many different things on the way to school. First, I heard the breeze blowing and then noticed a utility pole on the road paved with concrete. Then I noticed other natural things in a routine way, and I thought, “Why have I [not] noticed the things around me lately? Why did I lose that?” I missed these things in the course of busy days. But today I re-connected with the daily important sights around me. I don’t want to lose that ever, even after I am grown. I don’t want to lose track of the small but important things around me.