Every day pen ink colour

[maxman]

Gents,
What colour ink do you prefer for every day writing?
Not taking into account small nuances like manufacturer, paper, ambient light, time of day, &c.

Just a general inquiry.
I've always favoured blue black, but I'm enamoured with blue recently.

[djh]

I can't vote in your poll, sadly. At the moment I have pens inked with blue, black and blue-black ink. I also use lots of other colours for casual correspondence.....

[kg0mz]

I generally use blue ink. I will use gel pens, but I refuse to use ballpoint pens. Ink is the best.

[stobes21]

As an attorney I try to make sure to always sign in blue so that I can easily tell the difference between original documents and copies. I don't have a preference for things like taking notes but mostly use blue because my blue pen is usually the most convenient. All of my professional correspondence is typed, so no preference there.

I'm also not a "pen guy." I certainly appreciate the fine workmanship and aesthetic appeal of a fine pen, but the Pilot G2 is my go to pen because it is comfortable to hold, writes very well, and is cheap enough that I can have a dozen scattered in my office and if I lose some no big deal.

[coyotewhisper]

I use a variety of fountain pens daily. I use a variety of ink colors such as Noodler's Apache Sunset, Noodler's Black Swan Rose, J Herbin, Private Reserve, and Diamine.
I like colors when I write.

[maxman]

dang. :sad: I thought that would happen.
I'm in the same boat. I regularly use blue black in my fountain pen, blue in my rollerball and blue in my ball point.

[Monkeydad]

Blue for writing words, red for initialing/approving finance documents at work.

So, I voted blue. Also prefer it for signatures and my checkbook.

Sanford Uniballs are my favorites...love the way they write, plus they look great in all black. Simple and effective.

http://cdn.dickblick.com/items/207/05/20705-group3ww-l.jpg

[Groat]

I split my regular writing in two. Half of the time I'm using a nice blue. I'm currently using Pilot Iroshizuku asa-gao, which is a dark blue with violet. It behaves wonderfully and looks great. I also enjoy using brown ink. Brown is dark and stodgy enough to be used all the time, yet so few people use it that it differentiates you from the crowd.

[LuckyR]

I used to use black (good for doodling), but now it is blue at all times, formal and informal. The right blue hits like a sunny day. The brighter the better.

Noodlers Baystate blue is the best followed by Private Reserve DC Supershow blue.

[rod251]

I'll be the first to speak up for good 'ol black ink. Zebra F-301. Writes well, inexpensive, refillable, and nice-looking.

[TonyGold]

I use Parker 'Quink' black. In the bottle it even smells 'official'. Come to think of it for years I used a Blue-Black ink that wrote bluish and oxidised to a black. Can't think why I stopped. Probably the black was cheaper.

[Miles]

I use Noodler's Legal Lapis for the majority of my writing.

[Jethro1984]

Blue...unless something requires another color!

[galopede]

Noodler's Walnut brown is my favourite colour and is always in my Pelikan 400. For more official stuff I have a Sailor filled with Aurora Black.

[Sullybob]

I use black ink. I'm starting to use other colors as well but black gets the most use.

[saltypete]

I have half a dozen pens inked. I have a couple of different blues, blue black, a blue green and a green as well as a sepia ink at the moment. I tend to use Blue/blue black for formal stuff but, as others have said, I use the other colours for personal correspondence and general note taking.

Pete

[Austin]

Every day ink is FPN blue. I use FPN brown for my journal.

[VampyreWolf]

Everyday writing & signing is blue, approving work from my techs is done in a 0.2mm black (Pixma Micron 005 black), making notes from a presentation or meeting is either in the same 0.2mm black or 0.5 pencil

Also have red, green, brown, and purple in the 005 pens if I want to get creative

[instpasr]

I use black because no other color ink exists, after 20+ years service I am fully indoctrinated into the no blue ink thing. I had a prof that granted me a special dispensation because I told him that I was allergic to blue ink :wink2: he was cool. I do carry a red ink pen for that once a year that I have to mark something.

[rajagra]

I try to make sure to always sign in blue so that I can easily tell the difference between original documents and copies.

This. I think it's quite important, even if it isn't foolproof.

[Walker]

Right now it's loaded with Velevet Black

141928

[-dave-]

black, though i prefer blue black, only using black because i got a huge stack of promo pens from a supplier that are really good to write with, they have black ink

[mdevine]

At present, I am using Noodler's Red-Black. When looking through a chart where many different people have written notes and orders, I can quickly find what I've written.

[_dadgad]

I generally keep my Rotring filled with one of several brands of Blue-Black (Private Reserve, Pelikan, Noodlers).

[chuckr9]

My favorite everyday ink color is Sapphire blue (old Parker was best, but hard to find now so I use Levenger).

[LouieGrandie]

Favorite ink right now is Tsuyu-Kusa in the Iroshizuku line of inks.

[dbeedle]

I rotate through a few different pens and have a different blues in each. All Private Reserve inks. Napels Blue is nice. American Blue is a no-nonsense blue, and Cosmic Blue for fun. I also have one called DC Supershow Electric blue that I haven't opened yet. Variety is the spice of life or something!

[maxman]

I'm surprised that blue-black isn't getting more love.
When I first started using a fountain pen in highschool (I was an oddball), I was immediately attracted to blue-black because it was cool and unique.

I have recieved a sample Sharpie pen in blue and I admit I like the way it writes for a disposable pen. The colour is nice too.

But i'm itching to get some new ink for my Montblanc. I was curious what people chose for every day use.

[Dennard]

I favor black ink.

[DogHair]

I generally keep a pen filled with blue-black for signing official or important stuff. Sometimes black. Notes and everything else is whatever varies. Right now it's De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes ink which is kind of a darker blue/green.

[DFrancis]

At work I used a black pen, I think I used blue so much through high-school and university I want to get away from it.

[auk1124]

As an attorney I try to make sure to always sign in blue so that I can easily tell the difference between original documents and copies.

+1 Also, some very anal Clerk's offices in my neck of the woods won't accept legal documents unless they are signed in blue, so they can easily tell they are originals.

I've tried explaining until I am blue in the face that there is nothing magical or mandatory about blue ink, but sometimes it is just easier to go with the flow. All puns unashamedly intended.

[Wil Dorenbos]

As an attorney I try to make sure to always sign in blue so that I can easily tell the difference between original documents and copies. I don't have a preference for things like taking notes but mostly use blue because my blue pen is usually the most convenient.

As an accountant I do the same... For corrections I use red and black.

[stobes21]

+1 Also, some very anal Clerk's offices in my neck of the woods won't accept legal documents unless they are signed in blue, so they can easily tell they are originals.

I've tried explaining until I am blue in the face that there is nothing magical or mandatory about blue ink, but sometimes it is just easier to go with the flow. All puns unashamedly intended.

Wow, I've never heard of the preference going that far. But then again It seems to be in the nature of court clerks to come up with their own rules that to attorneys can seem quite arbitrary. Oh well, the courthouse is their world and we have to live by their rules if we ever expect to get anything done.

[Dave_D]

Diamine Blue Black.

+1 to the comment that blue ink is required in some offices on legal documents. Ive run into that twice now although there hasnt been a distinction between blue and blue/black so the aforementioned Diamine has worked.

[Legion]

I have made my own colour which I use all the time by mixing different inks. It is sort of a dark violet colour, which I think looks quite nice. I was trying to exactly duplicate a colour that I found in an inscription in an antique book, but of course that ink had changed over the years, so I could find no commercial ink available that was quite like it. So I made my own. :glare:

I also like Noodlers Forest Green.

[Walker]

I'm gonna have to check out this Blue/Black you speak of

[Groat]

I'm gonna have to check out this Blue/Black you speak of

Just as a word of warning do NOT buy Waterman Blue-Black. I bought some to 'try out' the blue-black color, and it's the ugliest color I can personally think of.

[Walker]

Just as a word of warning do NOT buy Waterman Blue-Black. I bought some to 'try out' the blue-black color, and it's the ugliest color I can personally think of.

What would you recommend? I have Velvet Black from Private Reserve.

[Virulence]

+1 for blue. Clerks up in the orderly room scream death curses upon your bloodline if you fill something out in black. :lol:

[Drewser]

I'm a fountain pen guy, and typically keep 3 inked: one with Noodler's Bulletproof Black for note in my lab journals, one with Noodler's Blue-Black or Legal Lapis for casual writing, and one with Noodler's Walnut or Brown #41 for grading (more interesting than red IMO). I'm a fan of Noodler's inks, especially the longevity and fade resistance for lab notes.

[Groat]

What would you recommend? I have Velvet Black from Private Reserve.

I haven't used any others yet, but I was very disappointed in the way my Waterman Blue-Black turned out. I suppose I should give it another shot just to make sure it wasn't a fluke with the pen I was using it in. Actually, I think I'll do that today in my Lamy 2000.

EDIT: This review (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=90571) on FPN is quite accurate to the color I got when I first used the ink. I wouldn't call that Blue-Black, I'd call that teal. For my trial today, I'm using it in a wetter pen and I've shaken the bottle up considerably to make sure everything is consistent. The color looks decent today, but I believe in a couple days it'll look just as bad as that review.

[jazzman]

After many happy years of using Aurora Black and Pelikan Blue-Black, I dipped my toes into the waters of Noodlers Red-Black, Aircorp Blue-Black, Luxury Blue, and Aquamarine Contract (blue). But within the past year, I have truly succumbed to NAD (Noodlers aquisition disorder) by buying three greens, two browns, and a purple. I can't decide whether it's good, clean fun or a sickness in need of treatment.

[rummwa]

My job requires me to send out form letters to multiple addresses, because they are form letters I personalize them with my signature with a fountain pen loaded with blue ink.

[aimsport]

Other colors vary but I always have fountain pens with Noodler's Legal Lapis and Noodler's Black loaded.

[Doc4]

Black.


I've been a black ink guy for ages. I have a fine-nibbed Pelikan with Noodler's black for everyday use, and a medium-nibbed Pelikan with Noodler's blue for signatures on letters and documents.

[MichaeltheRomanHistorian]

I switch inks somewhat infrequently but my day to day pen is inked with Diamine Sepia, particularly when I'm marking student papers. The other ink colours in my rotation are Pelikan Brilliant Brown and Parker Black or Blue-Black but I am well known for my use of brown inks.