SusieG Studio

My Two Black Fountain Pen Inky Colors

I found this blog post in my drafts folder from late last year and I forgot to share it. I thought I would go ahead and publish it for those of you who were curious about these limited edition ink colors.

There were two inks I received back in June of last year. I wrote a blog post for each ink color and forgot to show writing samples and swatches together.

I currently have two pens (GO with Medium nib) inked with each color. I’ve been writing with these pens for a few days and wanted to share some of the writing and sketching experiences while using these two black ink colors.

At first, one would think a black ink is basically a black ink color. True. For me, it’s much more than the basic black color. These two inks have their own unique personalities and I like each of them for what they show on paper.

SHOGUN

Let’s start with my first black ink called Shogun. The base color of this ink is a true neutral black ink color. When I say neutral, it does no possess any other underlying color(s) other than black or dark gray.

When I applied water to this ink, the underlying color I saw is a neutral gray color. I really enjoyed this neutral ink’s personality/characteristic. It’s a lovely and subtle black ink color.

Sheen: There is a slight dark sheen in this ink. It’s not noticeable in regular writing, but I can see it in my swatch.

Shading: There’s not much shading that I can see in this ink and from my writing samples.

Shimmers: The shimmers at first appear to be pink. When I look at the shimmers in the bottle it appears to be more rose gold or coppery-like. It’s a gorgeous shimmery color.

PATINA ROARING BLACK

This beautiful ink appeared on my radar because of the swatches I saw on social media. Since I was in a black inky mood, I thought I would give this ink a try. If some of you have been following me for a few years, you know that I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with some of the earlier FWP inky colors that were too light in color to write with and also too dry to sketch with.

This particular inky color changed my mind about FWP. My swatch showed quite a bit of personality for a black ink. It showed a lovely blue underlying color along with golden shimmers. My swatch also showed a lovely robust red sheen. Oh and who could not resist the cute perfume-looking bottle?

Sheen: A bright and lovely red sheen can be seen on my swatch.

Shading: There’s not much shading that I can see in this ink and from my writing samples.

Shimmers: This ink has golden shimmers.

If I looked straight on at the writing sample I did with both inks, they looked very similar in color. The only way I could tell them apart was when I used my water brush and painted over the lines. Shogun has a neutral gray underlying color while Patina Roaring Black has a lovely blue color.

Shogun (top) and Roaring Patina Black (bottom)

I just realized that FWP Patina Roaring Black has been sold out. That makes sense since that was a limited edition ink. A very nice and very similar inky replacement would be Diamine Tempest which comes in a 50ml bottle. Tempest is actually a dark blue ink with golden shimmers with a slight and subtle pinkish sheen. It’s not an exact match, but fairly close.

Inks: Jacques Herbin Shogun. Ferris Wheel Press Patina Roaring Black. Diamine Tempest (Red Inkvent Calendar)

Pens: TWSBI GOs with Medium nibs. Lamy Al-Star Marron with Fine nib.

Journal: GLP Creations The Author Tomoe River Paper 68gsm

Another Jinhao x159 with (#8) Extra Fine Nib

I wanted to provide one more Jinhao x159 blog post for those who are interested in how their Extra Fine nibs behave.

I had written in my previous blog post that I already have the Avocado Green version of this pen with an Extra Fine nib and it wrote like a wet EF. I was curious to see if another EF nib would write the same way. I went ahead and ordered the orange version.

After my orange pen arrived, I checked the nib with my loupe. I could tell the nib was going to write well. I examined the feed and found the familiar blue ink that Jinaho uses to check their nib’s writing experience. I removed the section from the body and dropped in some water and let it run through the feed until the water came out clear.

I filled my orange pen with Brandy Dazzle and did a writing sample comparison. My sample shows my orange pen writes a bit finer than my green pen.

The nib writes smooth with just a tiny bit of feedback.

The line differences between these two Extra Fine nibs could be the result of the different inks I’m using. I find Oklahoma City to be a bit on the wet side and Brandy Dazzle to be a tad bit drier.

I’m happy to see the EF nibs, in general, write well on non-fountain pen paper and shows no bleed through. I have several desk journals I’ve been saving for my finer nib pens.

The EF nibs can handle shimmering inks without any issues.

Pens: Jinhao x159 with Extra Fine nibs in Orange and Dark Green

Inks: Diamine Brandy Dazzle (shimmer) and Robert Oster Oklahoma City

Journal: GLP Creations The Author Tomoe River Paper 68gsm

One More Nib Holder

Prior to last year’s DC Pen Show, I had mentioned to Rich (River City Pen Company) that I needed one more nib holder. I saw several holders in various resins and colors, but I could not find one that spoke to me. So, I decided to wait. Priorities took over with art supply acquisitions, a few more TRP pads of paper and then more bottles of inks and more Col-o-ring swatch cards were needed.

At some point I saw Rich had posted some new nib holders he had made and I was a bit late to that party and a few that I was eyeing were already sold out. I reached out to Rich to see if he had any resins available and would he be able to make another one. Little did I know I could pick any available resins he had, choose my nib holder style, and how many cutout bands I wanted. We exchanged the necessary information which set my nib holder request in motion.

A few days later, Rich sent me a message with a video of my new nib holder. It was gorgeous! I could not wait to see it in person.

Swipe left or right on the next picture to see this lovely nib holder and the lovely swirls of colors.

I’m so happy that I trusted my gut instinct and went with this lovely resin called Voodoo Vineyard. The swirls of colors include pink, coral, green, yellow, and purple.

This is a lovely contoured nib holder with a single band (cut out). Did I mention the swirls of colors are gorgeous?

I currently keep a JoWo nib in this colorful nib holder. My family of nib holders is now complete.

Nib Holders: River City Pen Company in Voodoo Vineyard. Also in Pink, green, & white Diamondcast and Barrier Reef

Nib: JoWo #6 in Fine

More Jinhao x159s…Please

Back in December of last year, I shared a blog post about my lovely Jinhao x159s. I started out with two of their basic pen colors that were readily available: a dark blue with gold trim and the basic black resin color with silver trim.

I mentioned at that time, I saw an Avocado green and a few other colors would be available at the beginning of this year.

Fast forward to now and here is a picture of my current Jinhao x159 family.

x159 colors: black, dark blue, avocado green, wine red, and dark green

The avocado green color is quite pretty. I’m also thinking about adding the orange pen color later this year.

My writing sample shows the top three written with a fine nib and the last one written with an extra fine nib.

My four x159s with fine nibs (blue, black, avocado, and red) have unique personalities. The are all smooth nibs, but I can see they write with different personalities. My Wine Red writes the finest (but still wet) and my Black pen writes the wettest.

I was curious about Jinhao’s extra fine nib and how well it would perform with my writing and sketching. I decided to add a Dark Green color with gold trim. When I received this pen, I could see remnants of blue ink that had dried on the feed. I was glad to see that Jinhao tested my EF nib before packaging and shipping. I gave my pen a good rinse and filled it with some lovely olive green ink called Oklahoma City.

The EF nib is smooth with a tiny bit of feedback. It writes like a dry fine nib. Just slightly narrower than my Wine Red fine nib pen.

I’ve been leaning towards the gold trim as it comes with the two tone gold and silver nib.

I wonder if Jinhao will produce additional colors. I could use a purple and a teal pen color to match my favorite ink colors.

Pens: Jinhao x159 in Black, Dark Blue, Avocado Green, and Wine Red with Fine nibs. Jinhao x159 in Dark Green with Extra Fine nib.

Inks: Robert Oster Blood Rose (shimmer) and Oklahoma City. Diamine Enchanted Ocean (shimmer). Van Dieman’s Ink Devil’s Kitchen.

A Restoration Project in the Works

I’ve been absent from my blog with good reason. I’ve been busy restoring an old Singer Featherweight sewing machine I found on my recent travels.

I found this vintage sewing machine at an antique shop. The sales lady was kind enough to take it out of its case, place it on the counter, and plug in the foot pedal for me. I pressed the foot pedal and did not see any movement on the machine. I could hear the motor humming and the belt pulley moving slowly. There was no movement from the needle bar nor the feed dog. Thankfully, there was no smoke coming from the motor. I tried to manually turn the hand wheel and it was very stiff. I checked the presser foot lever and I was able to flip it up and press it down.

I made an offer on the machine which was less than what was written on the price tag. I wasn’t too sure if I had the knowledge and skill to get this machine to sew again. I knew I would be replacing a few parts as well as spending some much needed quality time with this vintage machine. This would include several spa days of deep cleaning and scrubbing. This would be my first attempt at restoration. For those who know me, I do enjoy a good challenge.

A quick call was made to the owner of this vintage beauty and he wanted to be sure it was going to someone who would enjoy sewing with it. Talk about being in the right place and at the right time. This was meant to be.

I did some quick research and found my Featherweight was commissioned or went into production in 1938 in Elizabethport, New Jersey. It’s almost 85 years old!

One of the details I noticed about my lovely Featherweight was the decorative scrollwork on the faceplate. A few of my sewing buddies have told me this pre-WWII machine was a special find.

During the war, Singer stopped manufacturing the Featherweights. Post-war they made a few cosmetic changes to their Featherweights and continued manufacturing their sought after Featherweight machines.

The black painted body and chrome metal plates have layers of dirt and grime. Possibly a decade or so of non-use which explains the non-working/non-moving parts that were stuck and old sewing machine oil that turned into a hard varnish. I would guess the machine was stored in a garage or possibly in an attic. When I opened the case, the “old smell” almost knocked me over. I’ve read this scent is from the old glue used to hold the fabric cover over the wooden case. I tried to give the machine a dry dusting with a rag in a few areas on the outside of the machine and I found bits of spider parts and unknown dried debris underneath the exterior of the motor.

I’ve rolled up my sleeves and ventured into new territory with my first Featherweight sewing machine. So far, it’s been a fun adventure. More to come!

A Finished Page from My Art Journal

I finally got around to finishing my floral page in my art journal. In my last blog post I had created a helleborus flower as that was the only blooming flower in our garden. A few days later, additional flowers were blooming including miniature daffodils.

I’ve been taking reference pictures for future use. I do this as time flies by quickly and when I’m ready to sketch again, the flowering blooms have long expired.

Luckily, both my helleborus and daffodils are still blooming around our gardens. This morning I stepped outside to look at our miniature daffodils before I sketched the remaining flowers in my art journal.

I like adding the hazy and blurry colors in the background of my sketches. It gives me the feeling that there are other flowers in the background without adding any details.

Pens: Platinum Preppy 02 Extra Fine nib. Jinhao x159 Wine Red with Fine nib. TWSBI GOs with Stub 1.1 nibs.

Inks: Robert Oster Heart of Gold (shimmer), Blood Rose (shimmer), and African Gold. Van Dieman’s Ink Anna’s Hummingbird Wing (shimmer), KWZ/Galen Leather Prairie Green (shimmer), and DeAtramentis Document Grey.

Journal: Stillman & Birn Alpha softcover 7.5″x7.5″

A Simple Floral Sketch & Prompt

I’ve been writing my Jinhao fountain pens dry. Literally, I would run out of ink while in the middle of writing a sentence. My x159 pens are lovely wet writers and I’ve also been using them for creating my pen & ink sketches.

My favorite pinky red ink color to sketch with is Blood Rose. Yes, it’s a shimmering ink. My Wine Red x159 has been filled with this lovely color since I received it and turns out to be on its third refill of the same color. This might be the perfect pen & ink combination for me.

In my black x159, I filled my pen with the lovely Prairie Green shimmering ink color. My shimmering inks have been flowing well in my Jinhao’s.

I’m finding Blood Rose and Prairie Green are two lovely colors that work well together and perfect for floral sketches. The inks react beautifully with water on my sketch paper and they create lovely washes of color.

For the last few weeks, I have seen some blooming beauties in our gardens. A pop of color here and there. The flowering colors range from white with green edges to a light green to a deep burgundy/purple.

I decided it was time to start sketching again. I created this loose sketch of a Helleborus flower in my art journal.

I used my Document Grey ink to sketch the outline of my flower. I used Blood Rose for the flower’s petals and Prairie Green for the leaves and stem. To create the subtle colors in the background, I wet the paper around the flower and I dropped in some color using my water brush. I was careful not to blend the colors together or I would end up with a muddy mix.

Since I’m sketching with lighter inky colors, I’m thinking about using Document Urban Grey to create the lighter color outlines of my floral sketches.

Prompt: Go outside and see what is blooming in your yard, at a park, or at your local garden center. Take a picture or two of the flower. Create a pen & ink sketch. Don’t worry about the details. Focus on the shape(s) of your flower and petals. Create another sketch using a different ink color for the flower.

Cleaning Note & Tip: When I’m refilling the same ink into the same pen, I do clean my pen before refilling. Especially, when I’m using shimmering inks. I place a towel under my pen (with feed facing up) and I use my soft toothbrush dipped in water and gently clean out the feed and the underside of the nib. I will dip my toothbrush several times into water and then onto my feed/nib. The towel underneath will pull the water and remaining sparkly particles out from the nib. I’m often amazed how much shimmering particles come out of the feed/nib.

No need to remove nib unit from pen. Showing placement on towel with small soft brush

Pens: Jinhao x159 Wine Red in gold trim with Fine nib. Jinhao x159 Black in silver trim with Fine nib. Platinum Preppy 02 Extra Fine nib.

Inks: Robert Oster Blood Rose (shimmer), KWZ & Galen Leather exclusive Prairie Green (shimmer), and DeAtramentis Document Grey.

Journal: Stillman & Birn Alpha softcover 7.5″x7.5″

Toothbrush: Oral B Soft Child-size

Sketching Progress

I took my pencil sketch and using my permanent gray ink, I sketched over my pencil lines that I wanted to keep. In some areas I straightened out the previous broken lines I had drawn. I also added in more details where needed. After my permanent ink had dried on my paper, I used my kneaded eraser to remove my pencil lines. Right now, my sketch looks flat and almost like a cartoon.

I left my inky sketch alone for a few days while I decided which colors to use for my inky washes.

I came back to my sketch armed with my TWSBI Swipe filled with Thunderstorm and started my pen & ink wash process. Thunderstorm has been my go to black/blue inky color for when I need to sketch something in black and also for creating shadows around and under my object. It’s a lovely color to use and it has quite a bit of personality as you can see in my sketch below.

I was careful to not inundate my sketch by dumping a lot of dark color onto my paper. It’s harder to “lift” dark colors let alone “lift” fountain pen ink off of my paper. With my first layer of color I applied a light or watered down color wash. To avoid creating a flat sketch, I made sure to leave some lighter color or the white of my paper as highlights. I am always looking for my light source. I let the first layer dry completely before attempting to apply the second layer of color.

When I apply my second layer of color, I can now focus on areas that are quite a bit darker. I think about the shadows within my object. Where are the darkest parts of my object. By applying the different values of a color, I can create a sense of “roundness” to my object. I can also make certain parts of my object appear closer to me like the numbered dial on my tension knob, the golden logo patch, or the horizontal light covering in the arm of my machine.

I used Morning Frost on the silvery pieces of my object like the throat plate, parts of the tension dial/discs, thread spindle, stitch regulator, bobbin winding system, and for the hand wheel/pulley.

While I’m creating my pen & ink wash, I have to remind myself to be a bit spontaneous and less controlling with my sketch. There are times when it’s harder to control where the ink color goes. I make the best of it and most of the time I create wonderful inky surprises.

I have also learned to know when to stop. Since I was using a mixed media paper versus a heavier watercolor paper, I noticed my second layer of inky wash was disturbing the paper’s surface. Small areas of my paper developed a “rash” while the paper was still wet. That was my clue to stop work in that area as the surface had been compromised. Once the paper is dry, the rashes miraculously disappear.

In case you’ve forgotten, this is where my pen & ink sketch started from. My quick pencil sketch.

Once I start sketching, I forget about properly centering my object on the page or in this case across two pages. To help remove the white space on the right side, I added the bobbin and two spools of thread. I intentionally left one of the spools half-off the page to balance out the left side where I ran out of space for the machine’s bed extension.

Pens: TWSBI GOs with Stub 1.1 nibs. TWSBI Swipe with Stub 1.1 nib. Platinum Preppy with 02 Extra Fine nib.

Inks: Robert Oster Thunderstorm, African Gold, Steely Days, Melon Tea, and Blood Rose. Van Dieman’s Ink Morning Frost. DeAtramentis Document Grey (Preppy).

Pencil: Pentel Energize mechanical with 0.7mm HB lead

Journal: Stillman & Birn Alpha softcover A5 (5.5″x8.5″) 150gsm

Journal Cover: Lochby Field Journal A5 waxed canvas in Brown

Sketching a Hobby and a Prompt

My mind and time has been busy with a restoration hobby I picked up at the beginning of 2023. This project required some TLC and a bit of cleaning to remove decades worth of dirt, grime, old oil that turned to varnish, and rust.

I had a few days while I was waiting for parts to arrive and attempted to create some sketches. I failed miserably as it had been weeks since I’ve last sketched anything. You see, this is the reason why sketching daily is important. Keep the creativity, the sketching skills, and memory muscles in good working order.

When other things take over (priorities), I tend to quickly lose my sketching mojo. It usually takes a week of daily sketching to get my lost memory muscles and creative interests back in sync.

Naturally a week later, I’m back to sketching with my mechanical pencil. Here is my latest sketch. I’m struggling with capturing too many details.

At this point, I’ve decided to stop working on my sketch before adding any color. I had originally thought about creating a watercolor sketch, but then realized I picked up the wrong journal after my sketch was completed. I created this sketch in my mixed media journal (150gsm paper) and so I’m limited to a single wash or two of colors. It looks like this will become a pen & ink wash sketch.

I guess I can always recreate another sketch in my watercolor journal.

Prompt: Create a sketch of your favorite hobby. Create your sketch across 2 pages. It could be one single hobby item or several items that make up your hobby. If you don’t have a favorite hobby, create a sketch of a hobby you would like to try/get into.

Pencil: Pentel Energize Mechanical pencil 0.7mm HB

Journal: Stillman & Birn Alpha softcover (A5)

Creating Sketches While Traveling

A couple of weeks ago, Hubby and I went on a trip. I made sure to set aside some time to figure out what art supplies I would pack and take with me for our adventure.

I thought about how I wanted to record this journey. Do I bring my watercolor paints and brushes? Or do I bring my fountain pens and inks? Or do I bring both?

I laid out my favorite supplies including my fave Maxpedition case and my new Rickshaw/Nock case. Based on my past traveling experiences I knew these would be the two cases to bring and it would be easy to figure out what supplies will fit in the cases.

After going back and forth between the two mediums, I knew I would not enjoy our trip if I could not decide what main art medium to use to capture our adventures. I decided it was best to bring my fountains pens and inks in my Maxpedition case. I used my Rickshaw case to carry just the essentials when I was out and about with my slender messenger bag.

I carried with me a slender A5 journal and wrote about our adventures each day. I was keeping a daily travel log. I found it was easier to write or jot down key points from our adventures as I sipped my coffee in the morning or while we sat in front of a fire pit enjoying the early evening weather.

I also included my A5 mixed media art journal for my pen & ink washes. Both journals fit inside my Lochby Field Journal.

Each day, I recorded objects and things that were easy to sketch. Sometimes I would have 5-15 minutes to quickly sketch something with my pencil or permanent pen.

In my two page spread (above), I created a variety of sketches from ideas in my head. Each object had Thunderstorm incorporated into the sketch which brought the sketches together or created a bit of harmony.

It was handy to have my Rickshaw case filled with my essential supplies as I was able to create quick sketches on the go. Yes, that meant I had to narrow down my choices to six inky colors to take with me.

Waterbrushes, Nahvalur Original Plus, Pilot Custom 823, Platinum Preppy (02), mechanical pencil, and TWSBI pens in my Rickshaw case

My Pilot Custom 823 was filled with Hailstorm. I used this ink for writing in my journals. It’s a dark green color that leans more towards blue.

For this trip, I decided to fill a Preppy with a permanent Grey ink color. I used this Preppy mostly for the outlines in my sketches. I do like using this lighter color for my outlines versus using the bold black Carbon ink color.

For my peach sketch, I did not have an orange ink color with me. I used Blood Rose and African Gold and blended/dabbed the colors a bit on my paper. Again, Thunderstorm makes another appearance in each of my sketching scenes.

Here’s an example of a quick sketch I created in my art journal. I had about ten minutes to sketch a few things and not enough time to add my fountain pen inky colors to all of my sketches. I find it’s okay to leave out the colors and add them back in for another day. I can also go back into my travel log and find other things to add to my sketch and add the colors when I have the time.

I know the pages in my art journal looks a bit bare and there are quite a few blank areas in between my sketches. They are my invisible placeholders for when I will go back and write a story about my adventures.

Pens: Pilot Custom 823 in Amber w/Fine nib. Nahvalur Original Plus in Melacara Purple w/Stub nib. Platinum Preppy (02) Extra Fine nib. TWSBI Swipe w/Stub nib. TWSBI GOs w/Stub nibs.

Inks: DeAtramentis Document Ink in Grey. Van Dieman’s Ink Hailstorm and Anna’s Hummingbird Wing (shimmer). Robert Oster Sydney Lavender, Steely Days, Melon Tea, African Gold, Blood Rose, Sydney Darling Harbour, and Thunderstorm.

Cases: Maxpedition Beefy Pocket Organizer in Olive Green. Rickshaw Nock Sinclair model R in Black/Aqua.

Other: Pentel Energize Mechanical Pencil with 0.7mm HB lead. Pentel Water Brushes with small and medium size tips.

Art Journal: Stillman & Birn softcover Alpha A5 (5.5″x8.5″)