In the past four years on Hive, I've mentioned here and there that I'm a fountain pen user, so some of you may be aware, but I have never done a post about it.

No big reason. I just enjoy them. I read an interview with Neil Gaiman a while ago and he probably put it best. For those who don't know, he writes the first draft of every one of his books in longhand, in his notebook, with a fountain pen—well, two actually, as he alternates between ink colors everyday so he can easily see how much he wrote on any given day.

Anyway, when asked why he uses them, he said:

I like the feeling of fountain pen. I like uncapping it. I like the weight of it in my hand.

And that's a large part of it. It's a very tactile experience. To what he said, I'd add that a good fountain pen will flow so smoothly that you can write with no pressure at all. Try that with a ballpoint or gel pen. Hold it lightly with two fingers at the top and guide it gently up and down. A ballpoint or gel pen may write a little that way, but also will have a lot of gaps, but a good fountain pen with a tuned nib will write thick and smoothly even with that little pressure.

Anyway, this isn't really about that. This is about an ink someone just sent me the other day, which I rather dislike. I posted this on a FB group and figure why not waste the photos, so I'll share here too.

(Yeah, FB groups.... The only good feature of Facebook. If we could figure out how to set up something like that here on Hive, that would be great.)

Anywhere, about the ink. It is called Tesla Coil and is from a company in the States called Birmingham Pens. The ink is very very wet, meaning it flows easily, so easily that it makes the nib appear to write at a broader size than it is. The nib I used to write these samples was an M, by the way.

The base color of the ink is a dark blue with purple tones. It's nice. But the distinguishing feature of the ink is this incredible sheen. When the light catches it, it turns a very intense reddish-violet. So intense that it appears to sparkle and is difficult to read in direct light.

In the fountain pen world, a lot of folks love sheening inks. I am not one of them. Some very light, understated sheen can be nice, but anything more is distracting. Although I do find it amazing that inks can change color like this, it's not really something I want to use on a regular bases.

Anyway, having said that, samples:

(yes, I set the f-stop just a little too wide. I'd like to say I was going for an artistic effect, but the truth is I just wasn't thinking too much beyond trying to get the light just so to capture the sheen. Also, product photography is something I have no experience in.)

With no direct light, you can see it is is a pleasant dark bluish-purple. Oh, but if we shine some light directly on it...

Argh—my eyes!

The paper is a no-name notebook I picked up at Muji (as are all their products). The notecard is from Daiso (a ¥100 shop).

This isn't really a review, so let's just close by putting up some pros and cons.

Pros:

• Base color is lovely
• Flows very well
• drys quickly
• no feathering nor bleed-through (but this is on Japanese paper which is in general fairly high in quality. Your typical cheap US paper—the Mead spiral notebooks—may not do as well)

Cons:

• Too much sheen - it sparkles!

So I guess that's that. Overall it is a pretty nice ink. If not for the super sheen, I would like it. And that con may be a pro for many.

No, I won't be giving the ink away. It was a gift, and also I will keep playing with it to figure out if I can reduce the sheen. I am going to try diluting it a little with water.

By the way, if you like what you see, you can purchase it here if you are so inclined. It looks like the company makes several dozen varieties, most of them with similar super sheen.

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	David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.