A really nice addition to our city, from the perspective of people like me who walk everywhere, is the new pedestrian bridge over the St. Charles River. It provides a direct link between one of the major shopping areas and a path up the hill (big hill if you’re old like me) to the older part of Quebec.
I finally got around to drawing it, approaching it as a pen only drawing. Maybe it would have benefited from color but I like it just the way it is.
Stillman & Birn Alpha, Esterbrook J-2048
Larry,
Are you using a waterproof ink as the De Atrementis Document or Platinum Carbon ink? I am curious as to how the vintage feeds manage these inks and if they need any supra-regular care compared with pens of modern vintage.
Lovely drawing of the bridge and I, too, think that it looks very nice and finished in pen without any colour. I continue to enjoy your blog and always look forward to the next post.
Barry
Hi Barry,
I use De Atramentis Document and Platinum Carbon inks for almost everything I do. So yes, my Esterbrooks and Wahl-Eversharp pens spit it out just like more modern pens. I’m reluctant to give advice about these inks, however, because my views on them seem very different from what the talking heads of the fountain pen community say about them.
I’ll venture into that here, but give me a bit of time to put on my fire-proof undies…… ok, I’m ready. Standard word on the street is that you’ve got to worry a lot about using these inks. You’ve got to clean your pens all the time and still, you may have problems. I haven’t had this experience with them in spite of using them for nearly five years and having these inks in half a dozen pens at any one time. I’ve used them in Lamy, TWSBI, Jinhao, Pilot, Platinum, Esterbrook, Wahl-Eversharp, Sailor, Hero, Noodlers and some lesser-known pens.
Most of that expeience is with nibs as fine as I can get them for any particular brand and my ‘maintenance’ policy is to fill the pen, use the pen. refill the pen, use it some more. I clean my pens under two circumstances – when I switch inks and when I’m going to put a pen away in a drawer. Otherwise they just work.
There is one difference between my use and that of the talking heads, by their own admission. I use my pens all the time. While some will lay around for a couple weeks, it’s rare that they aren’t used more frequently. The people who do all the talking about pens have admitted in videos and podcasts that while they may use their fountain pens for making notes, they are no artists and aren’t writers so they don’t really use them very much. Rather, they are either business men selling pens or they are pen buyers (collecctors?). I am neither, though I seem to have accumulated more pens than anyone needs 🙂
Hope this helps but I’ll add one caveat. I’ve only been using fountain pens for about 40 years so I don’t claim to be an expert. Your mileage may vary. — Larry
Larry,
Just got back into town and was delighted to read your very thoughtful and complete answer to my question. Like you, I have been using a fountain pen since my elementary school days, some 55 years and counting. I have used Waterman or Parker ink until about 25 years ago when I discovered the wealth of other inks available to me. Still, I used the Waterman ink in my vintage pens being comfortable that nothing bad ever happened to them with this ink and being a fountain pen “user”, I did not want to be any more of a sac restorer or repairman than was absolutely necessary.
I, too, have used these inks and others in the same lot of pens that you have although I find that Pilot VIP’s benefit from the more lubricated inks especially as I am fond of very fine nibs. Many other feed and nib combinations are much more tolerant of the majority of inks out there. Pick your brand and colour and go have some fun! I find that it is satisfying using the same instrument to write with and minutes afterword working on a sketch that will later be water-coloured. Truly one of the original EDC – every day carry tools.
I agree with you that there are “experts” and the rest of us being mere users. I think that we users have much to say about the use of inks through our day to day use of them. Later today, I will fill one of my favourite Esterbrook pens with some Platinum Carbon Black, an ink which has never given me problems in any (modern) pen. Like you, my pens are tools to be used regularly and not displayed. I should have no issues with this combination.
Very nice ink pen drawing. I think they present very stunning.
Thanks Connie, for your kind words and for stopping by. — Larry