Dip Pens Part 2: Ink and Watercolour

This time I decided to combine testing out a new (to me) India ink, a new (vintage) nib and watercolours. The ink is US made Higgins Black Magic. The bottle shape is unique, and it’s a plastic bottle, not a glass one like my British made inks. While the very wide base of this bottle does cut down the possibility of you accidentally tipping it over, I don’t like the bottle design. The bottle opening is too narrow and tall, and it’s very easy to get ink on your nib holder and hands this way. The ink itself is less shiny and flows wetter than other India inks that I’ve tried, but that’s not a bad thing.

The nibs are Waverley Pen nibs, made in Birmingham (a British steel producing city), and made by Macniven and Camron Ltd.

The tin itself is a delight, with the Waverley Pen advertising doggerel on it (the Pickwick, Own and Waverley were all nibs made by the Macniven & Cameron company). I bought it for a few pounds at Spitalfields market, London, and would have bought the tin even if it was empty:

It’s not empty, but rather filled with dozens of Waverley nibs in excellent condition. I took one out, tested its flexing properties (medium flex), and then primed it as described here. To test a nib for its flexing properties you gently push the tines against your thumbnail (don’t ever do this with fountain pen nibs!).

Here’s the nib. It has a bit of kink to it that helps it hold more ink than it otherwise could hold:

I took one dip and tested out how much ink it holds. It’s quite a lot:

I decided to use it on a Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook. The paper isn’t ideal for dip pens (it’s not smooth and the properties that make it watercolour friendly mean that the ink will spread and feather no matter what), but I wanted to use it with watercolours. As in this case the line sketch wasn’t crucial to me (i.e. it didn’t need to be particularly accurate), I decided to accept some level of feathering and spread for a decent watercolour wash.

Here’s the ink sketch:

A closeup on the onion sketch shows how much line variation you can get from this kind of nib, just how expressive these nibs are, and some of the feathering and spread that I talked about earlier:

Watercolour brings these sketches to life, and makes the ink compromises worth it:

A closeup on the sketches:

The second page:

The group thumbnail:

There are a few things that you need to remember when combining dip pens and watercolours:

You must let the ink completely dry or you’ll have a ruined drawing, and potentially a ruined brush (if this happens immediately wash your brush well, as India ink will destroy it if left to dry).
The more cotton content in your paper the better the watercolour washes will be, and the worse the India ink will behave. I wouldn’t go over 25% cotton content.
The rougher the paper the better the watercolour washes will be, and the worse the ink sketches will be.
Hot pressed watercolour paper will give you washes with more sharp edges and hard transitions, but will be best for the India ink in terms of smoothness.
Mapping nibs provide less dramatic lines, but they also lay down less ink and so the ink will dry faster and spread less. On the other hand they will snag more easily on rougher watercolour paper.

Have you tried combining the two mediums? If so, let me know how it went.

Dip Pens Part 1: Some Basics

It’s been a while since I used my dip pens, and since I had a project in mind for them, I thought I’d document parts of it here.

I was looking to draw a map, part of a series of maps for a D&D game. Since I was trying to get a certain look to these maps, I pulled out a mapping nib and a mapping nib holder, and some Sennelier Sepia ink.

The ink is shellac based and meant to be used in dip pens only. If you use it in a fountain pen it will destroy it upon first use. You only need to see how sticky these inks are once to understand that, but most of them helpfully provide warnings on the bottle.

The nib is a Leonardt 801 mapping nib, made in England by the British company Manuscript and purchased, together with the mapping nib holder at Cornelissen & Son in London. They have the largest and best variety of dip nib supplies that I’ve ever seen, and are used by many illustrators and cartoonists. The beauty of dip nibs, however, is that they’re pretty easily and cheaply obtainable. Speedball sells a kit that includes a wide variety of nibs, including a mapping nib, and two holders (a standard one and a mapping one, known as a crow quill).

What’s the deal with a mapping nib? It’s a small, round nib with an end that’s actually a cylinder, and you pop it onto the little peg at the top of the holder. Mapping nibs allow for very thin lines, and yet also a good line variety as the tines are sensitive to pressure.

If you’ve used a fountain pen before and then try to use a dip pen, you’ll likely be surprised by several things. The first is that most dip pen nibs, and mapping nibs in particular, are very sensitive to pressure. The slightest push down will give you more line variation that you’ll get from even the most flexible of flexible fountain pens. The second is that there’s no tipping material. That means more feedback from the page, and that you need to be aware of the directionality of the nib if you don’t want it to snag and spray ink everywhere. This is also why the paper you want to use will be smooth. Smooth surface cartridge paper is your friend.

India ink (the shellac based ink used for dip pens) lays on top of the paper and retains a level of gloss and a dimensionality that you just don’t get with fountain pen paper. You can feel the ink lines with your fingers once the ink dries. The ink dries quickly, and is sticky and staining when wet, so beware of nice clothes and wash your hands well once you’re done.

You can see the line variation and shiny properties of the ink.

The nib itself needs to be prepared before you use it for the first time. New nibs are coated in oil and sometimes with wax before being packaged. This prevents them from rusting, and helps them not stick to each other too much as they’re being packaged. If you use a new nib without preparing it, you’ll be disappointed. It will carry little to no ink, and you’ll find yourself dipping the nib again and again. The map above was made with 4-5 dips only, using a new nib, but one that I prepared.

How do you prepare a dip nib? The simplest and safest way (no, don’t take a lighter to it) is as follows: gently clean the nib with water and dish soap (you can use a soft toothbrush if you want, but it doesn’t really require scrubbing) and then put it in cup with boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Then fish the nib out and dry it very, very, very well with a paper towel. You don’t want to air dry the nib at any point or it will rust.

You can see that the ink is raised above the paper and retains its shininess

You can use fountain pen ink with dip pens, but I don’t recommend it. Fountain pen ink is thin and water based, so it doesn’t cling to the nib like India inks. You’ll be dipping a lot more often, and your results won’t be as good. If you plan on using a dip pen to test out fountain pen inks, know that your test will only show the colour properties of the ink but not its flow (wet/dry). Also don’t use a mapping nib for that – mapping nibs are best used for small sketches, maps, things that require very thin lines and some line variation.

When I work with a dipping nib I keep the nib constantly wet with ink (not water!), and immediately when I’m done I either wash the ink from the nib and dry it very well, or I wipe the ink off with a cotton rag if I just plan to take a short break. Ink left to dry on the nib may clog it (particularly with mapping nibs), and soaking a nib in water will cause it to rust.

You may find dip nibs in flea markets for very cheap, usually in a pile in a little box. Check if they aren’t rusted (don’t buy rusted nibs), and then clean them as you would a new nib (water, soap, heat).

I’ll be going over various kinds of India inks and various kinds of nibs in future posts, but in the meanwhile if there’s anything that interests you in dip nibs let me know in the comments.

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Summary

Diamine Inkvent 2023 is over and what an Inkvent it was! This year’s calendar was my favourite by far, mostly because of the break from the usual red-green-gold run of inks, and the very low volume of “filler inks”. This lineup is strong and interesting:

Grouping the inks by colour family you can see how different this year’s Inkvent is compared to previous ones (2019, 2021, 2022).

Pinks: I think these are the most pink inks we’ve had in an Inkvent Calendar and I’m all for it. The scented ink was terrible, but as there were only two scented inks out of 25 and only one that was really bad (Sweet Dreams) I’ll give Diamine a pass. Both Cashmere Rose and Masquerade were stand out inks, worth considering full bottles of.

Blues: It was a stand out year for blues, with not a boring ink in the bunch. Glacier brought all-of-the-glitter, all of it, and Early Dusk, Nightfall and Blizzard are all interesting inks even though they are blue (one of the more standard of ink shades).

Greens: This Inkvent had only three green inks, with Velvet Emerald more of a teal colour. Of the three Diamine Sugar Snap stands out.

Reds: The first Inkvent calendar to feature just two red inks, but both of them solid choices. Go for Bah Humbug for a darker take or Tinsel of a brighter one. As I don’t really use red inks, the choice to include only two red inks this year was a boon for me.

Oranges: two oranges this year, one utterly unusable (Buck’s Fizz) and one wonderful (Fireside Snug).

Purples: Who’s surprised that this year the purple Inkvent calendar featured no less than four purple inks? Nobody. All of these are great but Jacaranda is my favourite.

Browns/Earth Tones: There are four of these this year if you include Atral (which is a black/brown ink) and Weeping Willow (which is a duo-chrome ink). Weeping Willow is stunning and the number one ink that I’ll purchase from this year’s Inkvent.

Outliers: the only yellow ink this year is Diamine’s Fortune’s Gold and that’s fortunate as I don’t use yellow inks. Sadly Diamine Moon Beam is the sole grey ink in the lineup, but at least it’s a very pretty one.

Which inks are my favourites? These seven:

They all have interesting base ink colours and oftentimes something else going on. I have too many inks already so I won’t be buying 7 more bottles to add to the collection, but of the 7 the top three are Weeping Willow, Jacaranda and Fireside Snug, and I may buy bottles of those.

What did you think of this year’s Inkvent? Do you plan on purchasing any of the Inkvent 2023 inks?

If you haven’t purchased the Inkvent 2023 calendar it’s likely that you’ll be able to purchase it at a discount now. It’s a great way to get some cool inks to play around with, particularly if you like shimmer inks but don’t see yourself getting full bottles of them.

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Day 25

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2023 day 25 door:

Day 25’s ink is Diamine Raise a Glass.

It’s the final ink of Inkvent, and as usual it’s a 30ml bottle of ink in the colour of the calendar: purple.

Diamine Raise a Glass is a dark royal purple with green sheen and what I think is chameleon shimmer (the bottle isn’t marked so it could just be regular shimmer, but it looks like a chameleon shimmer to me).

This ink is Diamine throwing everything it has on this ink: a super saturated, rich, dark purple base with a lot of green sheening and then the chameleon shimmer on top. The base ink is so dark it often appears to be black, and the chameleon shimmer works well with it. This is an ink for wide nibs and patient people as it takes a looong time to dry.

I smudged this sketch because I forgot how long this ink takes to dry and wasn’t careful enough. This is Arthus and he’s my favourite bear. I bought him 20 years ago at Hamley’s Toy Store in Regent street, London. They have a rather hidden display for collector’s bears and once I saw him I knew I had to have him despite his high price tag. The seller at the till was so taken with him she held him in her arms and had trouble letting him go. The sketch was done from an above angle that doesn’t do him justice, but look at his photo later on and you’ll see why the lady reacted as she did: Arthus is a bear that begs to be picked up and cuddled.

Here’s Arthus, my absolute favourite, in all his cute glory:

This brings this year’s Inkvent to a close. I will post a summary post with all the inks side by side as well as in colour groups tomorrow. In the meanwhile: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Day 24

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2023 day 24 door:

Day 24’s ink is Diamine Sugar Snap. It’s a shimmer ink.

Diamine Sugar Snap is a sap green ink with silver shimmer. One of the few green inks in this year’s Inkvent, it’s an elegant take on a natural hued shading green ink with a bit of pizzaz.

Diamine Sugar Snap shows a good amount of shimmer but something about the combination of the silver shimmer with the mid green ink reminds me of the silver hair found on certain plant leaves (it’s unattractively called pubescence, but the effect itself is both attractive and useful). This is a shimmer ink with class.

This Dean’s Bear (English, of course) is called Truffles, and there’s something about him that makes me think of him as an elder bear. He’s from Mary Shortle‘s of York, and was made on Dean’s Bear’s Centenary. Dean’s Bears is now part of Clemens Bears, which is sad, but at least they’re still manufacturing bears. Truffles has the classic Dean’s Bears look with the elongated snout and the oversized nose.

Here’s the original bear, Truffles:

Diamine Sugar Snap was a surprise to me – I was expecting a brighter green ink with a flashier shimmer effect. The choices Diamine made here elevate this ink and make it more interesting than some of their previous green-inks-with-shimmer inks, and Diamine Sugar Snap also has a name that isn’t really holiday themed. This makes this ink a solid new addition to their regular shimmer ink lineup, unlike inks like Merry and Bright. What do you think? Would you buy a bottle of Diamine Sugar Snap to use not in a holiday setting?

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Day 23

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2023 day 23 door:

Day 23’s ink is Diamine Fireside Snug. It’s a standard ink.

Diamine Fireside Snug is a dark orange standard ink with a lot of great shading. It’s one of the few inks in the Inkvent calendar that would make for a great everyday ink. The dark dot on my swab is due to an ink drop on the Col-O-Ring card that I didn’t notice before swabbing the ink.

The base ink colour is a reddish orange that is dark enough to be readable even with a fine nibbed pen, and the shading it provides is pretty spectacular. I have very few orange inks in my ink collection, and this one is definitely one that I would add to it.

You can see the ink shading in this sketch of Mud Pie the teddy bear. He always appears a bit “squashed” and that’s part of his charm.

The original bear (purchased at Stonegate Teddy Bears in York):

There’s only a handful of standard inks in this year’s Inkvent and they’ve all been solid inks, but Jacaranda and Fireside Snug have been a cut above (I’ve decided that it’s completely unfair to call Diamine Weeping Willow a standard ink, and so I’m putting in into a separate category). If you’re looking for an alternative to Noodler’s Habanero, this is it.

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Day 22

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2023 day 22 door:

Day 22’s ink is Diamine Tinsel. It’s a shimmer ink.

Diamine Tinsel is bright red ink with red shimmer and a lot of shading and it’s gloriously Christmas appropriate.

It took 22 days for Diamine to pull out the red Christmas ink but they knocked it out of the park with this one. It dries darker than it writes on the page, with the base ink being a bright red ink with orange shading. The shimmer renders it darker and richer and really makes it something special. In previous Inkvents Diamine leaned too heavily for my taste on the red inks, but this time they picked them carefully and sparingly. While Bah Humbug goes for the dark red theme, Diamine Tinsel is the full on festive bright red with shimmers on top.

I probably should have sketched today’s bear with blue ink, but Diamine Tinsel it is. The reason I bought him is because of those eyes. I just couldn’t say no to them.

Here’s the original bear (what do you think of his eyes?):

Diamine Tinsel was the festive red ink that this Inkvent calendar needed. Whether you use it to write Christmas cards or letters to Santa, this ink definitely has “Christmas” written all over it.

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Day 21

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2023 day 21 door:

Day 21’s ink is Diamine Tranquility. It’s a chameleon ink.

Diamine Tranquility is a magenta ink with chameleon shimmer in silver, gold, green and blue. It’s a very party ink with a very un-party name.

There’s a bit of shading in Diamine Tranquility, despite it being on the saturated side. It’s the kind of ink that I envision Barbie using in her correspondence, and I have no idea why it was named “Tranquility”.

This isn’t an artist bear, but it was unusual enough for me to purchase it. It’s a German bear, which I think I purchased six or seven years ago in Berlin.

Here’s the original bear:

What do you think about Diamine Tranquility’s name? I’d name it something like Diamine Festive Cheer or Holiday Fun or something along those lines. A “Tranquility” ink for me evokes a blue or lavender ink, maybe even without chameleon shimmer at all.

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Day 20

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2023 day 20 door:

Day 20’s ink is Diamine Astral. It’s a chameleon ink.

Diamine Astral is a chameleon ink with a brown-black base. As the base ink is dark, the chameleon effect is more pronounced. The result is a very readable ink with blue, green and silver glimmers in it when viewed in certain angles.

Diamine Astral is a dark, saturated ink, so there’s little to no shading with it. What interest it provides is all down to the chameleon effect.

In certain angles the writing glows with chameleon shimmer:

And in others it all but disappears:

I was sick when I sketched this, so it’s not my best work. I thought about sketching in the fur, but Diamine Astral is so dark it would have turned the whole sketch into a black glob of ink.

Here’s the bear, one of the more unusually shaped ones in my collection:

Diamine Astral is a bit of an outlier in this year’s Inkvent. The base ink colour isn’t what I’d call festive, and the chameleon effects were seen better in other Inkvent inks. Would you see yourself using it?

Diamine Inkvent 2023 Day 19

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2023 day 19 door:

Day 19’s ink is Diamine Cinnabun. It’s a scented ink.

Oh no, another scented ink. Did I mention I don’t like scented ink?

Diamine Cinnabun at least has a more subtle and less artificial smell than Diamine Sweet Dreams. The ink smells of cinnamon and is a cinnamon coloured ink. Like Diamine Sweet Dreams it’s very, very wet, so choose your nib wisely.

If Diamine Cinnabun wasn’t scented then it would be a useful sketching ink. As it is scented, it has the same flow issues that I’ve experienced with other scented inks in the past. On the other hand, without being scented it would be just another brown filler ink in the calendar, so I guess I understand Diamine’s choice here.

This ink feathers and spreads even on fountain friendly paper with a Lamy Fine nib. If you’re planning on using it, choose your nib and paper wisely.

Today’s bear is from my favourite teddy bear makers, Dean’s Bears. It’s a British company, and this is their Centenary Bear. You can see the shading in Diamine Cinnabun, even if you can’t smell the ink.