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This is a list of questions from Olive Octopus:
1. What was your first memorable ink?
I bought Diamine Evergreen with my first fountain pen purchase, a limited edition Platinum Preppy, because I had to write in green or I would die. It exceeded my expectations because I didn't realize it had sheen. (At the time, I had no idea what sheen was, so I was unnecessarily fascinated.)
2. What is your favorite ink bottle design, and which bottle (or cartridge) is your favorite to use?
I'm partial to the Diamine 150th Anniversary bottles. It's a triangle! Also, I love the ink splatter label design so much I saved the box.
As far as practicality is concerned, I like using the funny boot-shaped Montblanc ink bottles because I don't feel like they're going to tip them over if I sneeze or something.
3. What's an ink you love or find useful, but would not use for everyday writing?
Most of them. I like interesting colors but prioritize practicality, so there are a lot of inks that I think are nice but would never use. Diamine Garland is a big one - that ink is gorgeous, but I don't have the patience for shimmer.
4. How do you discover new inks?
I just window shop until I see something that I want to try. Lately, I've been trying to branch out since I'm a chronic green user and I guess I want more colors than that. I guess.
5. Do you use inks for anything other than writing?
I am a massive ink drawing/painting stan (fountain pens and dip pens).
6. What's an ink that's worth hoarding (whether you actually do or not)?
I don't go through ink fast enough to hoard it, and once I finish a bottle, I'll most likely opt to fill the space with a new color than keep buying the same old ones.
That being said, I'm going to keep buying Sailor Manyo Shirakashi because that ink fucks.
7. How do you choose which ink goes into a pen? Do they have to match? Do you always use the same ink in a particular pen?
I don't go out of my way to match my pens. I'm a simple man, so I'll keep filling a pen with the same ink until I get tired of it.
8. Do you use ink samples? If so, is your goal find an ink to buy a bottle, or just get a smaller amount of ink to use?
All of the above! It's a low-commitment way to experiment with colors I wouldn't normally go for, but I also buy them when I want to try inks before getting a bottle and experiencing buyer's remorse.
9. Is there a popular ink that's just not for you? What underhyped ink would you like to see more people try?
Most of the popular inks aren't my thing because the colors are way too light for my preferences (Noodler's Southwest Sunset immediately comes to mind). Popular shimmer inks are also out of the question. I think Waterman inks are pretty underhyped nowadays, which is too bad because they're flawless with no flaws.
10. What do you do with any unused ink when you clean a pen?
I won't clean a pen before it's out of ink, so it's pretty hard to salvage anything when I'm cleaning. I don't mind dumping a bit of ink out if I need to.
11. What is the most unique ink you've used or seen?
Diamine Pick Me Up! Brown with green sheen is a great color combination (that matches my glasses, which are brown on the outside and green on the inside). The main ding on it is that it's scented, but it's not particularly offensive, so I live with it.
12. How do you catalog, swatch, track, and store your inks?
I use a Col-o-ring to make swatch cards with. I have a half-sized binder with sample writing pages in sheet protectors, and I put the corresponding swatch card in each sheet protector. It's easier to find and rearrange colors that way, which is good because I can get pretty neurotic about it. I don't like putting all my faith in swatch cards because inks look different on paper (particularly when you're not using sheen-y paper).
As far as storage goes... I have a box that all my ink is in. That's it. There are sample vials everywhere. It's fine! Everything is fine.
13. What is your favorite ink color/color family?
Green!!!!!!! But also darker earth tones more generally.
14. What ink-related tool or accessory can you not live without?
A syringe. I love my syringe.
15. Have you ever mixed inks or used shimmer additives?
My distaste for shimmer inks is well-documented at this point. I haven't mixed inks, but I've had my eye on the Birmingham inks for a while.
16. What is your favorite ink delivery system (cartridges, type of filling system for bottled ink, etc.)?
From a practical standpoint, I like syringe-filling cartridges. They hold more ink than converters, and C/C pens are just easier to clean. I still like piston fillers, but cleaning them out is a chore if you can't fully disassemble the pen.
17. What ink(s) are you excited about right now?
I've been bananas for the new LAMY Dark Lilac ever since I got my hands on it. It is THE purple. Everyone else go home.
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