Saturday, February 8, 2014

Ink According To Paper Or Paper According To Ink?



Do you buy your inks so that you can use any quality of paper or do you tend to buy your paper so that you can use any ink regardless of its behavior?  A couple of years ago or so I decided I was most comfortable in the former.

I want the inks I use to have practically no feathering or bleed-through on the papers I most often find myself using throughout the course of the day at home and work--20lb copy paper, Moleskine weekly planner & cahiers,  Made in Brazil Norcom Composition Notebooks, Ampad Gold Fibre Project Planner, Ampad Gold Fibre Classic Planning Pads, Leuchtturm1917 Journals and Rhodia Classic Side Staplebound Notebook (3x4.75). Basically, I want inks that will behave very well regardless of the quality of the paper. Therefore, my most commonly used inks include Lamy Blue, Lamy Blue-Black (old formula, iron-gall), R&K Scabiosa, R&K Sepia, Stipula Calamo Musk/Moss Green, Quink Blue-Black, Quink Black, and Skrip Red. Most of the inks I use regularly would make Inkyjournal's 100% Moleskine Proof list of inks. As Inkling13 writes in a post over at the Fountain Pen Network, "Ink and pen are with you for the day, paper will come and go. I like my ink versatile."

While I like Diamine Emerald, for example, I would be limited to using paper such as Rhodia, Clairefontaine and 24lb-32lb copy paper.

So which way do you lean, inks that behave well on any quality of paper or paper on which any ink behaves well? Please include the applicable inks and/or papers.

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