J. Herbin Rouge Opera

"Show Must Go On" by Alselon

Ohh, I realized the color! J. Herbin’s Rouge Opera is the color of those plush velvet seats in old theaters. Or, a less intense version of various scenes in Moulin Rouge. So, that makes sense.

So, I received this from the ever-generous Karen Doherty through the Quo Vadis blog’s Bastille Day Giveaway. I tried this ink in three different pens: a Lamy Safari with a F nib, a Lamy Al-Star with a 1.1 italic nib, and a Pilot Prera with a F nib, which is the equivalent of an XF nib in the U.S. I read a review of this ink that said it looked better in a fine nib, so I figured I’d cover all the areas.

This ink is not very saturated, which is a general trend with J. Herbin inks. As a result, I tend to like their colors that are intentionally light, like Diabolo Menthe, and disappointed by their deeper colors… like this one. But it does have a bit of nice shading in the italic and the F nibs. In the Pilot XF nib, the ink was much too washed out and became a sort of dusty floral color.

This photo makes it look a bit more saturated than it is in real life– it’s not nearly so neon.

Some inks look sort of cool when they’re washed out, but in this case it just looks too pink. And, um, I don’t dig pink ink. I’ll bet that it would look a bit better on cream or ivory paper, instead of the bright white. Perhaps using a wider italic nib than the 1.1 would also serve this ink well. Biffybeans reviewed this ink, and it looks much more purple than mine, especially on the ivory paper.

This ink also had a dry start when I first tried it in with the italic nib. Which might have been a fluke, because other J. Herbin inks have worked just fine in that pen. I think I should have requested Rouge Caroubier, which is supposedly a bit more of an orange-red instead of a pink-red. Ah, well!

Is Your Writing Disposable? Didn’t Think So.

So, here’s the thing

My interest in fountain pens is not the same as, say, a car enthusiast’s for cars. I don’t necessarily believe that more expensive is better (although that can be the case; for example, a gold nib will generally be of higher quality than a steel nib). I do feel a certain excitement at the prospect of trying new inks, but never to collect more than I need (“need” here being used loosely).

There are two primary reasons that I started using fountain pens: 1) they’re far healthier for my carpal tunnel, and 2) they’re sustainable, re-usable, and environmentally friendly!

I know that “sustainability” is being thrown around these days till it’s nearly lost its meaning, but I really do believe in its original conception: that the things we do (and buy, and throw away) now shouldn’t jeopardize the next generation’s ability to live healthily and comfortably in the future. Thus, I rarely buy new items, and prefer to shop at Goodwill. Not only has this saved me a ton of money, but I’m pretty proud to have a unique wardrobe at a school where ten girls own the same $100 dress.

The Epiphany (without the beam of light)

Basically, the epiphany occurred one day after buying a handful of new pens (yes, even though the fountain pen fetish is new, the office supply fetish goes way, way back). I suddenly pictured landfills absolutely stuffed with thrown-away pens, pencils, and office supplies. This moment was sort of akin to the day when I learned how many pads and tampons end up in the landfill (ahem, 14 billion?!)– and the thought of all those piling up somewhere made me a little sick.

Anyways, take a second to think about it: almost every single item in the school supply aisle ends up in the trash after a year. Multiply that by the number of stores that carry school supplies, even just in the US, and that’s a pretty overwhelming number.  Even if you don’t lose your pens (bless your little heart), you still throw them away when the ink is gone– because they’re designed that way. Up until a hundred years ago, all pens and pencils were reusable because, heck, they were expensive! Better yet, if you lived in a time that used quills, you weren’t putting any pollution into the environment through the production of your pen. That Shakespeare knew his natural recycling, aye?

Rick Conner has a good history of the pen on his site, which documents the transition from quality pen-making to a disposable industry based on cheap labor, high production, and chic packaging. The industry often promotes economic inequality through the quest for cheap labor, puts a ton of pollution into the environment, and hey! all of the goods end up right back in the landfill. Seems like a stupid plan in the big picture, right?

The fountain pen community offers lots of opportunities for frugality, despite the actual pens costing up to hundreds of dollars. For example, Fountain Pen Network members can swap pens or even ink samples on the site’s Trading forum. There are several good online resources that specialize in pen restoration, so a broken fountain pen never means that it’s lost forever. I feel fairly confident saying that most fountain pen users would never throw away a fountain pen.

What Prompted This?

So basically, I got a little peeved when The Pen Addict reviewed a disposable fountain pen. Of course I’m not peeved at the writer, or even the blog in general (which offers great reviews, and which I totally read). No, mostly I was annoyed that disposable fountain pens seem to be increasing in popularity, and let’s face it: they make no sense. They completely collapse the distinction between a quality-made, environmentally-responsible pen and the cheap, disposable pens that are destined for the dump.

I was also annoyed at myself, for being curious about how the pen would write. Most of the time, my political and social beliefs align with my small-scale interests, i.e. I eat a delicious heirloom tomato because I believe in preserving healthy agriculture. But in this case, I’m most certainly at odds. Disposable fountain pens defeat the purpose of a fountain pen. And certainly, they give us one more excuse not to invest in the future, but simply to buy for the moment.

And hey, I know that it’s a little silly making a whole post about a pen. There are “bigger political battles” out there, after all. But quite frankly, I’m not going to end sexism or racism or big industry on this blog (though I can help confront it). The bright side is that making small decisions–like not buying a disposable fountain pen– helps me create a more sturdy, more genuine, big-picture belief.

Recommended reading:

The Non-Consumer Advocate

Disposable Containers for a Disposable Environment

Refillable vs. Disposable Pens

Flickr image credits:

Real Quill Pens by GeorgieR

Trash Slope by Roadchubbs

Fountain Pen by Bright Meadow

Uni-ball Style Fit

The Uni-ball Style Fit is actually a “Multi Pen System”, which sounds like it should perhaps have an infomercial and help you to lose ten pounds. Nonetheless, I ordered it on a whim (…as opposed to, uh, the times when I’m in desperate need of a pen and there’s not a one in sight)

A writing sample:

(As always, click on the images to view a larger version)

The Review

(some of this may be repeated from the written sample)

I didn’t really have the funds to purchase another handful of Uni-ball Signo DX’s, so I figured this was a way to cheat the system. Apparently, the cartridges for the Style Fit are the same cartridges for the Signo; thus, three-for-one! I’ve always thought that multi-pens were rather clunky, but I think I may be remembering cheapo-versions from my childhood.

In any case, the Style Fit is decidedly not clunky:

The problem I’ve had with some 0.28 pens is that the body of the pen is too skinny for my hands. Even though I do have small hands, I also have big problems with tension/carpal tunnel in my writing hand, so I’ve had to transition to fatter-bodied pens that require less pressure on the page (i.e. fountain pens). I’ve also had to alter my tight, architectural handwriting to the more loopy version you see above 😦

I do think I should have chosen darker color cartridges with such a fine line– the lime green and light blue feel a little too gossamer for note taking. I also had some trouble with the blue cartridge skipping, though I might have left some wax on the tip when removing it from the package. Hopefully it’ll smooth out, but I included a detailed scan to show the skipping anyways:

Another handy thing is that the cartridges come in teeny cartridge cases. So, if I decide to get a darker-colored cartridge to replace either the blue or green, I can keep the older one stored away until I want to use it again.

Oh, p.s. the dark cartridge is brown-black, not black. I don’t think I mentioned that in the written review.

In Which She Admits to Having Whittled a Pen

It’s not that I’m bored, honest. But a girl can only read so many books before she needs to do something with her hands. And given that I’m redeveloping my farmer’s calluses, it felt natural to take up a hardier hobby. There’s something artful and meditative about shaving off curls of wood, weighing the gentle balance of a knife in your hand. 

It appears that whittling has its own website, even appearing above the Wikipedia article in the google results (I figured that if I was going to admit my newfound love of whittling, I had better do my research). In any case, I remembered this post over at Leigh Reyes’ blog and knew my first project would have to be a pen. After a somewhat-successful but highly unattractive first try with a piece of stale bamboo, I came up with this beauty:

To be honest, I’m not even sure what type of wood this is, or if I went about it the “right” way. I just grabbed a piece of scrap from the wood pile, whittled it down to a shape I liked, sanded, and carved the reservoir. After sanding, I oiled the top half to keep the ink from absorbing into the wood. I left the bottom rough because I liked the look of it. The shape fits well in my hand.

early phase

Obviously the wood has absorbed some ink, and I noticed a discoloration when I tried to write with a lighter ink after using a darker ink the night before. But in general, I’m shocked that it writes so well. After figuring out all those angles, it was really a matter of imagining the capillary action of the ink itself, and how it would react to the surface of the wood. As my hippie kindergarden ballet teacher used to say, “be the tree” …

Coming Soon…

I received two ink sample sets from Pear Tree Pens a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been meaning to write up a review. I’ve also begun to experiment with dip pens and italic nibs, so I’ll post with those soon as well.