I am a fan of ink, and as proof of this I can look over on the second shelf from the top of my bookshelf in this home office and count no less than twenty bottles of fountain pen ink. I plan on going into the city next week and picking up another bottle or two just because I can. I don't need all this ink, it just gives me a thrill to try them and see their various properties.
Too, I will admit to being very pedestrian about this fancy of mine. I have focused on black ink. Why would I do this when there are so many lovely colors out there? Well, I happen to like black ink. It is my preferred color for writing, unless I am writing a note to you in which case I will use another color. Currently Noodlers Blue Black is in my Visconti pen which I use for this purpose and I quite like it. Black ink is not all the same either. I have found a wonderful variety of shades as I acquire more and more. I look at that shelf and know that I will use every bottle. Well, potentially anyway.
I will admit, therefore, I was most intrigued when our friends at Jetpens sent me a bottle of Noodler's White Peacock ink to test. Wow! White ink! Doesn't that send some kind of a thrill through you? Yeah, me too. So I studied the bottle. It's much smaller than most Noodler's inks. Perhaps this is in recognition that this is not something you would use every day. I also noticed some text on the side of the bottle which for a Noodler ink is most unusual. Here is what it says.
"Traditional uses for white ink: label glass plates, label glass bottles, label celluloid film & high gloss prints, marking blueprints, drafters notes, plastic parts, removable / markable instructions on plastic or glass, tile, ceramic surfaces. Also was used to mark details or instructions on hot stoves in stove shops long ago. Will also function on cast iron and colored ceramics.
This is a new gel-water prototype of use with the included pen. It is NOT a conventional water based ink and is only recommended with this pen."
Interesting isn't it. Have you ever seen old photos marked with white ink? Yeah, me too. Wait though. Did you catch that last paragraph? I received the ink but no pen! That was sad. Fine though. I actually had a very cheap pen, a plastic thing that I could donate to the cause here. I tested it and couldn't get it to work. Perhaps the ink has a higher viscosity and the (Not) included pen allowed for that. That was sad. Fine though. I pulled out a dip pen. I have, one that I use when I am really serious about practicing my calligraphy (which isn't that often). It performed beautifully, and highlighted my need to practice more.
So here's what I think about this ink. If you are not quite so pedestrian as I, and have a project, like say writing some thank you notes and you want to make an impact with some off-color paper and really make it stand out with white ink, this would do quite well. Just make sure you pick up the pen that goes with it. I will also note that if you are the least bit artistic this ink would be fun to play with in an environment where the task wasn't limited to creating text. As with all Noodler inks the quality is excellent, and I can recommend it without reservation.
08/27/2010
03:02:51 PM