Inking to the new year!

Each year, just about the time when I change from the usual jazz/classical/old rock and roll to holiday jazz/classical/old rock and roll music, I get out the red and green inks. I typically get into the spirit by filling my red Levenger “Rocket Pen” and green Aurora Tu green resin pen. I’ve relied on Fireball Red (bottled), Always Greener (bottled) and Gemstone Green (cartridges) from Levenger (Note: both Always Greener and Fireball Red are now discontinued). This year I decided to branch out. I ordered bottles of Forest Green and Pomegranate from Levenger, and some simply labeled “green” cartridges for my Pilot pens and some “red” from Monteverde. I pulled out other shades of wine red from my shelf and filled up every pen!

There were some surprises—apparently ink colors do not necessarily come across accurately when looking at them online. The variation is subtle between the shades of green.

Pomegranate was browner than I expected, almost indistinguishable from the Levenger Claret. The Diamine Claret cartridges were more on the wine-y side. The Pilot green cartrdges are slightly teal. I’ve enjoyed the variety of holiday colors, whether for Christmas cards and letters or the mundane grocery lists and work notes. Of the shades I tried, my favorite is Forest, which I’ll continue to use all year.

Now as we shift out of Christmas and into thoughts of the coming year, I am drawn to blue inks. Blue is synonymous with sadness, and perhaps when thinking about the new year we do have a bit of nostalgia for time gone by. 

But for me
the color blue signifies openness and clarity. Perhaps it is because the Colorado skies are so brilliantly blue at this time of year, so deeply beautiful in these short days of winter.

To launch the new year I’ve tried a few blue inks. I recently acquired a bottle of “Mysterious Blue” from Waterman and some Pelikan Edelstein Blue Topaz cartridges. They are both misty blue-blacks, even though the Topaz description is purple blue. Skies of Blue from Levenger is a bit deeper in tone than it appears on the company’s website.  Diamine’s Blue Sapphire and Pilot’s standard ink in Blue are straight-up bright blue. Blue Bahama from Levenger is clear-water aqua-- setting off dreams of the beach.

So many inks, so many pens, I have no excuse for not fulfilling my New Year’s Resolution to write and draw more! Happy 2015 everyone!

Notes:
All on Levenger paper.

Gemstone: Aurora Tu, medium nib

Forest Green: Pilot Prera, fine nib

Always Greener: Padrino, medium nib

Pilot Green" Pilot Plumix

Monteverde Red: Online calligraphy pen

Levenger Fireball: Levenger Rocket Pen, fine nib

Levenger Claret: Levenger True Writer, fine nib

Levenger Pomegranate; Waterford, fine nib

Diamine Claret: Monteverde, medium nib

Levenger Skies of Blue: Levenger True Writer

Pelikan Blue Topaz: Pelikan Souveran, medium nib

Levenger Blue Bahama: Anthony Ruscitto Pen, medium nib

Pilot Standard Ink Blue: Pilot Knight, medium nib