Ooooh, you forgot to mention that you have a paper sampler, too. I bought one when I was just starting out with fountain pens, and it was really helpful. 😊
Am I using the wrong paper? Yes Have I tried the nice papers? Yes Do I currently own pads/packs of fountain pen friendly papers like Rhodia & Clairefontaine? Yes Will that stop me from writing in $0.50 composition notebooks? Nope :)
Well, some cheap composition books have very good paper. Other bleed, feather, and everything else. Bad paper can also be very, very, very hard on the nib. This probablt doesn't matter on a really cheap pen that's almost disposable, but if the nib costs enough to worry about, crappy paper is a horrible idea. And good gold nib? no, never.
@@jamesaritchie1 For real, I have been getting really lucky with cheap paper lately, bought a whole stock of pads and notebooks from my local stationery shop and all of them handle my 1.5 Opus 88 like a champ, I guess that it's not that hard to get make fountain friendly paper afterall.
I'm super new but I've decided to do a test on some of the main papers in my life (including a 100% recycled one) every time I ink up a pen and it's been so interesting! I definitely want to find one good pen/ink combo for an every day carry that can handle the most absorbent of papers
Wooo, nice editing on this one. :D And I'm gonna forward this to my husband. He was just telling me that he wants a better notepad -- he'd dig this analysis. Great work, Drew!
My favorite paper is a brand of composition books called Unison, I think made in Vietnam. I keep finding them in local thrift stores and always snap them up. Absolutely STUNNING for high sheening and shading inks, and super cheap! Editing to add: This is the only paper I've found that turns my Manyo-Ume ink from a very pretty red to an even prettier red and gold. Maybe some expensive papers would do it, but the Unison composition books make it shine so beautifully!
I know not everyone loves Leuchtturm paper but I do get some shading with Diamine Eau de Nil on it and it dries quick enough for my needs. Clairefontaine being that nice bright white, however, shows off bolder colors so well. Navajo Turquoise looks lovely on it!
Very good video! My favorite papers have been Rhodia for work, leuchtturm for journaling and sometimes Midori MD. I still don't mind writing with regular paper if I don't have those other papers handy, but one of the things that makes me love using fountain pens is that good ol' feeling of looking back at what I wrote and appreciating the look even if there are spelling errors lol.
It's amazing what difference high-quality paper makes. All semester I use my Rhodia notebooks and everything is all right, but then the finals come around and suddenly anything broader than a western F bleeds and feathers like crazy. I once accidentally brought a pretty juicy 1.1 mm stub, and the recycled exam paper wasn't happy about it all.
54th Massachusetts is such a diva! It can be a beautiful dark blue ink, even with a slight red sheen if it has a good day, but only on Tomoe River Paper! If I dare to use it on other papers, it loses the sheen, turns into a depressed blue-gray and punishes me with feathering. But I love it anyway :)
I keep a "naughty list" for bad pen, nib, ink, paper combinations. That way I know that I tried it and it didn't work. It saves cleaning out pens and wasted time and ink. If I find a really good combination I keep track of that too, although I seem to remember that easier.
I started using Cosmo Air Light for drawing recently and I am hooked. It creates a really satisfying feedback with EF pens that I don't get with TRP. I still love TRP for writing, but for something with a bit more body that is going to stand up to more handling, the Cosmo is my paper of choice.
Have you tried Yamamoto Premium Bank Paper? I think it's made by the same folks who make the lovely and dependable Cosmo Air Light, one of top 4 papers.
Drue!!! Great video!! Keep them coming. My next buy for paper will be from you guys. Oh by the way you have a large blob of...ink? On your shirt. Just trying to help. Thanks for the great video.
Thanks for the Drew, I agree paper makes such a HUGE difference. I love my Tomoe River paper, but with the shortages it may be time to find alternatives!
Paper makes a HUGE difference. Great topic for a video!! Thanks Drew! I'm currently using Tomoe River, which I love but isn't always the best for shading and can be too slippery for some pen + ink combinations; Rhodia, which is a bit blah for my taste, and whatever paper they use on Rettacy notebooks, which is just great. Never slippery though quite smooth, great for shading and still shows some sheen, though not as much as on TR. Perhaps you guys would consider carrying these?
@@arapaimagold8088 I've just got the Galen Leather Everyday notebook with Cosmo airlight. Waiting for it to get here. But am now very curious about the Apica. Thanks for the tip!!
Have you tried all the Rhodia paper? It varies greatly. Some is coated differently, some is 80gsm, and some is 90gsm. I'm not fond of Rhodia journals, but the high end Rhodia tablets are spectacular.
I use Rhodia Dot pad for my own use, which, AIUI, is basically a Clairefontaine paper. At work, I've found Red & Black notebooks are the most FP friendly paper among the 'regular' brands you might find on the High Street.
Well, last time I checked, Rhodia still uses the same paper they did before Clairefontaine boght the company. The two papers certainly act differently to me.
Nice video! If you're looking for ideas for future projects, a video covering all the different papers you sell, demonstrated with some popular, standard inks as a benchmark and some special inks to show their features on those different papers (but maybe no repeats of ink manufacturers unless there is something special about that particular line of inks). I don't know all the different varieties of paper you sell, but Tomoe River, Midori MD, Rhodia, Cosmo Air, Elias Paper, New Chiffon Cream, Clairefontaine are all ones I'm interested in and have heard about. This would be a great way to broaden people's exposure to both inks and papers, and maybe get us to explore outside of a comfort zone/rut we may be in. Keep up the good work!
54th Massachusetts is one of the least favorite inks I’ve tried. As a nurse, at work, I write on terrible paper and my pen stays in my pocket. That ink is the only one that I own that not only writes bad but it also leaks in the cap from the heat of being in my pocket. No matter what pen it’s in. It’s really a mess in a pilot VP. None of my other inks do that. Glad to see I’m not crazy and it’s a common issue for it to feather. I hate it because it really is a nice color.
I love fountain pen friendly paper especially from Clairefontaine. While I'm perfectly fine with using regular paper on a day to day basis. Where I really notice it improving the writing experience is with stub nibs! I ve only tried the Pilot Plumix with it's 1.0 stub, but I really want to try it with 1 .5 stub
Great video. My go to paper has been Oxford 90gsm Optik paper. It’s affordable, and is great with sheen and shimmer inks. My wettest pens don’t bleed through it either.
I use Oxford Black n' Red A4 casebound notebooks for my journal. I have for more than fifty years. These contain the Optic paper, and I love it. Oxford Black n' Red, as opposed to the much cheaper but identical lookung Blank n' Red, also has a varitery of notebook styles. For some reason, the spiral bound notebooks contain some of the best paper I have ever used, and I think I've used ninety percent of what's out there.
Love the papers for fountain pen and ink. Great job on your demonstration of both ink and paper. I love the Clairefontaine paper and have bought a bit from you guys.
Paper is so important. I have some pen, nib, ink combinations that I love on one type of paper and hate on another. Just because you're using "fountain pen friendly" paper doesn't you'll enjoy its "friendships" with all the pens, nibs and inks in your collection.
The machines for the 52gsm are (almost) antique and about to break down. 68gsm is manufactured at a different facility and not affected. But 52gsm is available reformulated. I hear it performs slightly differently than the old one. Not everyone likes the new one.
that's true. I find that X-feather performs well on cheap paper and badly on good paper. It works well on mead paper but use it on Rhodia, Midori or any other good paper and it's awful.
It has really caught me off guard how random and strange some of the various combinations can feel! For most of my pens and inks my Leuchtturm1917 gets thicker lines than other papers like Tomoe or Midori, but then when I tried out a new E95S with Noodlers Black Swan in Australian Roses it was way thinner in the Leuchtturm. Fountain pens always manage to surprise me and keep me on my toes and its part of what I love about them!
In the past, I really had issues with paper but over the last few years I find that most papers work for me. It is a massive pet peeve of mine when the paper causes the ink to bleed.
Drew, nice vid now do it again using 'school' inks that will behave very well on paper like Meads notebooks or printing paper: Pelikan Brilliant Black, a very dry ink Pilot Black or Black/Blue Noodler's Black
@@alvinscott1331 Yes, if you like those nibs. But I don't want to use anything other than my favorite nibs. I'd rather just buy better paper, some of which is actually very cheap.
@@jamesaritchie1 I agree with you, I prefer to find paper that works best with my pens and inks. Unfortunately, there are times I have to deal with forms, handouts or those blue exam bookets that aren't high quality paper. That's when the fine and extra fine nibs and a quick drying ink have worked best--at least for me, a lefty.
Currently using Miquelrius paper with Noodler's Heart of Darkness! Minimal ghosting, hardly any feathering, even with my Faber-Castell Loom in Medium. Miquelrius notebooks are priced well too!
My favorite paper is Yamamoto's Premium Bank Paper....2nd only to the disappearing Tomoe River. Every new paper I get, I write with every inked pen I have in order to see how each pen and ink act on that paper. My daughter calls it my "scientific experiments" lol.
Drew, your example of slow dry Apache Sunset on Clairefontaine, resulting in pooling and shimmer, at the risk of smeaing. What if you use blotter paper? Will that eliminate the shimmer? Risk of smear if you are not careful placing or removing blotter paper? If blotting is good, is a roller blotter a better choice?
Great video, Drew! Got some Triomphe paper yesterday and as almost expected, I don't like it at all. It feels so plasticky. Now I am looking forward to testing Crown Mill Vellum and Crown Mill Cotton. I love inks in subdued colours like Herbin Vert Empire and such a colour looks much better on a creme coloured paper.
What Drew says at the end is also true for inks you might just not like because of how the behave on most things you write on. Say for example Noodler’s Blue Nose Bear which will feather horribly on most paper I had access to which made me dislike it. But when I found paper on which it doesn’t? It is strikingly beautiful! Which is saying something when it comes to me because I normally dislike blue inks in general.
I use a lot of it for some big projects where thick, heavy paper is a good thing, and since I always have a couple of reams at hand, I print lines on some and use it with fountain pens, too. I even print a fancy letterhead on some of it, and write letters with it. It''s pretty good fountain pen paper and I use a lot of it.
Current major brand copy paper seems fine for fountain pens. I am using Diamanté , Wordsworth,Private Reserve, Varsity and Goulet samples with no issues on 75gsm 20lb. Have seen issues on spiral and 3 hole notebook stock (cheap stuff sold at start of school). Copier companies teach heavier weight 24lb for duplex color prints: see through with black print is aggravating, but color is additive on paper and your apple picture might look purple with a blue cover on the back side of the page with good lighting. I filled out many service logs, writing without ruled lines is no issue.
At work I have paper that really hates fountain pens. They just refuse to work properly most of the time, until I discovered that particular rough paper is kind of hidrophobic, so the ink refused to come out of the nib, resulting in hard starts and skips. Then I put Rhorer and Klingner Sketch ink in my pen, an ink that tents to be really wet and soak into the paper (A very bad ink for crappy paper) and... one crappy property cancelled the other and now it works! I can even flex the soft fine nib in my custom 74! Also, Rhorer and Klingner Sketch inks are pigmented and probably the most resistent inks I've ever tried.
How funny that this video shows up in my feed some two years after it's creation. Nonetheless, it's interesting that Clairefontaine Triomphe shows up here: their Triomphe stationery (A5 pads and envelopes) have been my go-to stationery for *quite* a few years, and their expanding the Triomphe line to notebooks has been a godsend to me, as my all-time fave notebook for journaling (Apica Figurare) has apparently vanished from the scene. (It also appears Goulet is one of the *very* few sources for the Triomphe notebooks.) In terms of pen/ink compatibility, it was a matter of choosing the pen first (Pilot Custom 823 and Vanishing Point), ink second (standard-issue Pilot Blue, Black, and Blue-Black, with a side helping of Iroshizuku Kon-Peki), and paper last. The "synergy" with Triomphe just sort to happened, and all's well.
Add in the ink stone, and you've covered the four treasures of the writing room. Yeah, Western writing doesn't use it, but it's nice to see that what we hold dearest in writing has been relatively common for over two millennia. Wonderful video!
I usually going well with Fabriano and Rhodia; also Moleskine works fine to me. The nib size factor is cardinal in the equation; I am definitely a fan of fine to extra fine stroke size nibs because they work well with a pretty rage of papers, including photocopy paper.
I find Moleskoine to be terribly inconstent. One notebooks works perfectlt with my fountain pens, and the neb bleeds like a stuck pig. I suspect this is because Moleskine sources its paper from several countries, and there is no way to be consistent when this is done.
I like Midori paper, Optik paper which can be found in Black n’ Red hard bound and spiral notebooks + some of the Oxford spiral notebooks, Life Noble paper, Graphilo fountain pen paper and the now defunct (it looks like) Tomoe River Paper 52gsm (my favorite) and 68gsm. A couple of journals which surprised me were Paperblanks and some of the Peter Pauper Press; sheening properties of fountain pen ink really showed up. I found other types of paper or label paper which show ink properties really well which I won’t mention because they aren’t available for consumption as notebooks… Clairfontaine disappoints, but that’s just me…
I really enjoyed this video but, based on the title, I thought you would discuss how gsm paper weight affects the fountain pen writing experience rather than how three different inks react on the same two papers. (Maybe the title should have been titled, "Why Ink Matters"...because it does!) For your consideration...can you please create a separate video on how one fountain pen/one ink is affected by different paper weights? I've been considering journals with heavier papers, e.g., 100gsm, 120gsm and 160gsm (the last for artwork) because I don't want bleed through, but I don't know what the actual writing experience would be like. As an example, heavier papers can clog a Rotring Isograph nib, but can a paper ever be too thick for fountain pen use? Thanks for your consideration!
Paper weight doesn't play as much of a role as you might think! For example, Tomoe River 52 gsm paper is VERY fountain pen friendly, while Field Notes paper is 90 gsm and is not nearly as friendly. In fact, Clairefontaine paper is also 90 gsm and it's incredible! It really depends more on sizing agents and coating that the actual weight. I hope that helps! - Drew
I've been looking for an acceptable inkjet paper for fountain pens. I print and bind my own notebooks/journals that are specific to my work. My favorite ink is Noodler's Burgundy, but I've been known to also use Heart of Darkness and Lexington Gray.
I used a white heavy weight inkjet paper by HP, almost a cardboard it was so heavy. I can’t remember the exact weight and I packed it away when I moved. What was rather spectacular about this paper is not that it showed off any of the sheening or shading properties of the fountain pen ink, but the colors looked absolutely amazing on this paper. Almost like velvet, where your eyes would sink into the beauty of each color. They were all so pretty your eyes couldn’t stop looking at the colors. I love color, that is probably why I got into fountain pens, because of the ink colors and ink effects. I’m not an artist; no talent at all, but I can at least write, although not very well. Sigh… In my previous life, part of my job was working with color; not paint or ink, but Swarovski crystal, Peciosa crystal, 2-cut crystal from Korea and many colors of anodized aluminum. I had posted on this video all the paper I discovered to be pretty good, although nothing is as nice as the now defunct Tomoe River Paper, 52gsm being my favorite. I swear, it’s like magic for effect ink. I don’t include shimmer ink cause the shimmer effect works on any paper cause a finely ground metallic or pearlized mica is added to the ink. If an ink is both shimmer and sheening then you need fountain pen ink paper to make your ink happy. I wrote a comment on this video naming alot of the fountain pen ink paper I’ve discovered in the last 2 years besides Tomoe River, but my comment is gone. Oh well…
Mass 5th was one of the first inks I used when getting into fountain pens. This caused me to think EF was for me. I really struggled with dry EF nibs before I realized mass 54th had my views wrong. That ink should come with a warning,
I have one ink (Octopus Fluids Bronze) that will feather in any nib on anything. Supposedly they fixed the formula since, but I don't think I can even get it in the US if I wanted to. TR (68gsm; haven't tried 52) is the only paper I've put it on so far that works. Problem is that I like the color and the way it shades, and I've been looking but I haven't yet found anything quite like it. And I also still have most of a 30ml bottle and I really don't want to pour it down the drain. So I guess I'll have to go and buy more TR paper to use it on!
Thank you Drew, from one point of view the Meade didn't do to bad for being a cheap paper. I love quality fine paper, but what do you say to the argument that back in the days, let's say 1920s and 30s, they weren't to fussy about the paper they used, they just used whatever was at hand, and they did just fine, Would be interesting to know what that was.
I have found myself dissatisfied with the Mead Notebooks, but the Pen and Gear notebooks work really wonderfully and are super affordable. I also am a fan of the Exceed notebooks if you're looking for more affordable options. I get sheen/shading/and no feathering. The GSM is really what I look for and find under 100gsm and you're going to be at risk of poor behavior from Inks.
Mead paper is just crap, and why it was used in this video puzzles me. You should NEVER write on Mead paper with a good nib. Pen and Gear has some terrible paper, and some extremely good paper. It depends where the indiividual notebooks are made. But the good Pen and Gear really is very good.
IDK if you have done anything on the Tomoe River paper history, machine # 7 and #9 and the sale of the formula and changes in the sample pages that are being sent out for 2024,…the sulfite vs. Kraft process or if anyone would even be interested in that stuff at all. I find it very interesting.
I use the aurora borealis ink and it only really sheens with a wide enough nib and only on certain notebooks. Got some kokuyo campus notebooks and it doesn't really work on those, it does work on some regular one subject notebooks.
I'm missing the old Tomoe River 55gsm. The new version works, but it doesn't have that luxurious feel in the hand. Sure, it crinkles, but so does pure linen, but we still wear it cos it feels good!
I may wear linen, but I don't write on my clothing. I hated the feel of Tomoe River, whether 52gsm or 68gsn. It doesn't just crinkle, it creases if you look at it funny, it ghosts horribly, it takes bulletproof and archinal document inks forever to dry on it, and many such inks still smudge after many weeks, or even months. Many inks ghopsted so badly that you could only use one side of the paper, which made it twice as expensive, and it was also a terrible choice for writing you wanted to last for many years or decades. I never feel my paper, anyway, because that isn't what I care about.
DREW: trying out our ink samples is a wonderfull way to try out a bunch of inks super affordably without filling your home with inks. ME: but sir, I want to fill my home with ink.
I’m trying to find a replacement for Tomoe River’s dearly departed A4/A5 loose-leaf dot-grid no-holes paper-especially something that can show off sheening inks along the lines of Colorverse Supernova, Robert Oster Fire and Ice, and the like. Does anyone have any suggestions?
@@arapaimagold8088 Oh, thanks for the tip! And if I might ask, do you have any leads on where one might be able to buy Cosmo Air Light loose sheets in for grid? From my brief googling, I seem to be able to find dot-grid notebooks or blank loose sheets-but I can’t seem to find dot-grid loose sheets?
As a lefty, I've pretty much accepted feathering because it's the lesser of two evils compared to smearing. So my combo of Noodlers and Blueline lab notebooks does the job... for now!
Parker Quink Black is the only ink I've got for now, but it does write pretty well on my school notebooks, so I'll just stick with it P.s. It's horrible on printer papers
It's not the exact same size, but I really love this one! - Drew www.gouletpens.com/collections/maruman-mnemosyne/products/maruman-mnemosyne-n192-b7-notepad-lined?variant=11884719079467
You Should have also focused on bleeding issue for these 2 pages, also the noodlers X Feather would be an ideal candidate for this video so I feel like you missed out on that
I use my fountain pen for drawing... So far the best paper I found is Arches Aquarelle Hot press paper (300gsm). Obviously not the paper you would use on a daily basis
I have a handful of pens and inks and while I want to keep buying new "toys" my next goal is to find which papers I like for showing off my inks since I use Staples TruRed for general note taking
I'm not a fan of mead paper. I've always had bad results on that one, regardless of the ink and pen used. I wrote that brand of completely from my usage
I put a cheap off-brand light turquoise ink cart into a disposable Olika EF pen already proven to be fantastic with its own ink. The cheap ink sucks on Rhodia, skips all the time, but on a cheaper office paper...? Chef kiss! It looks like done by a F or M nib, though. It's like the undesirable qualities of the paper fix the shortcomings of the ink. It's okay. I'll buy a proper bottle of Lamy Turquoise some day.
Nice video, but i was expecting some consistency by using 3 different papers, How about Tomoe River as the extreme? That will give you some long drying, shading and smearing...
And let's not forget bleedthrough! I bet the Meade notebook could only be used on one side of the page, unlike the Triomphe which could probably be used on both sides, even with 54th Massachusetts
Weeellll, whether or not Tomoe River can be used on both sides depends on how you feel about ghosting. The 52gsm Tomoe River ghosts like crazy. Even the 68gsm ghosts more than I can tolerate. But some people don't mind ghosting. I hate serious ghosting, so, for me, this makes Tomoe River twice as expensive because I can only use one side.
I simply love the 54th ink; however, not only does it run through paper...it also bleeds through pens! You have to find that right pen and paper for that one.
for some reason the only ruled paper that doesn’t get on my nerves is a standard store brand yellow legal pad. that’s my standard « work » notepad. otherwise, i prefer maruman paper to rhodia & maruman has so many different lines under their belt. i also use paper and notebooks from muji which are great as well (dots or grid only). one of the best paper i’ve used is (another !) standard issue non branded grid notepad that i bought in an emergency a couple of years ago in paris. the paper is thin, i would say around 60gsm but incredibly tightly woven so no bleedthrough & not blindingly white or overly smooth. it was incredible. unfortunately, it’s totally brandless so i guess i have to return to the shop to do some detecting !! i use predominantly a sailor 1911S in MF & my favourite ink is chusu.
We're the opposite. I simply refuse to use any kind of grid paper. I want blank for my illustrated journal, but I generally used mixed media paper for this, and I use rules/lined for EVERYTHING else. To me, lined paper is for writing. Everything else is for other things, such as bullet journals or scientific work.
Please please please do a video on colorverse sunspot and black hole!!! They DOUBLE SHEEN!!!!!!!!! After a week or two of drying...a second sheen appears!!!!!!!!!
I have never had any success with Noodlers inks and I have tried a few. I tend to use Diamine, Sailor or Pelikan inks, As for the paper - Rhodia is much too heavily sized and doesn't suit me at all. Tomoe River is nice but hard to get here in UK, Oxford stationery pads work nicely, Leuchturm notebooks are good and so is straightforward HP printer paper for everyday notes etc. I have a heap of Rhodia paper that I got a couple of years ago when everyone said it was the one to get - and I dislike it immensely - it also manages to make some of my nibs "squeal". As always, your mileage may vary.
My mileage definitely varies, at least to a degree. If Rhodia makes a nib squeal, it's almost certainly because of what you have under the paper. If not, you need to work on the nib. I find that Oxford Blank n' Red paper is excellent, and I use the Oxford A4 casebound Blank n' Re as my journals. I have for more than fifty years, and I have no complaints. I've tried dozens of other brands over the decades, and none worked as well for a journal. But I use Rhodia pads often, and it IS some of the best paper out there. Really, if your complaint is sizing, you shouldn't like many fountain pen friendly inks, including Tomoe River. Especially Tomoe River. What do you mean by no "success" with Noodler's inks? If there's a better ink brand out there, I haven't found it. But Noodler's makes more types of ink, and with more properties and behavious, than anyone. You just have to know what you want. Noodler's has it.
While I do agree that all portions of this equation are inter-related to some small degree upon ones own success, most will rarely ever think very long, nor hard enough in regards to fountain pen use, only acting entirely on recommendation rather than investing their time and money finding the ideal materials. Its the reasons consumer's only know brands or names, and never the constituents nor the level of expertise required in making truly consistent, and easily handled ink or any wet media on paper. Paper is actually first considered when ever making any effort to choose a wet media for its final result with many nibs presently available. The enthusiasts buy the pen first, and later stake the reputations of the ink maker's to make up for the pen or papers limitations. Its entirely backwards from the reality that many calligraphers / cartographers, or even artist ever approach this sort of thing. I get its a hobby, and few care to know how anything is made as long as you have a debit card to buy personal distinction.
That sounjds very elitist, and in my experience, completely wrong in every way. In fact, I'd say it's complete BS, and that's being kind. It sounds like you're drastically underestimating the intelligence of consumers, and perhaps even more drastically overestimating your own. As an artist and a calligrapher, I can say you have it assbackwards. Choosing the paper first would be idiotic. Every artist and calligrapher I know usually chooses the writing instrument first, and then choose the paper that best matches it. Yes, there are times when I say I want to use this paper or that paper, and what instrument is best for it, but that is very, very rare. I almost always want to use a give instrument, whether it's a fountain pen, a mechanical pencil, a metal dip pen, a goose or turkey quill, or a river reed pen, and then I look for a paper that will work with it. You have no clue at all what "most" will or won't think long and hard about. You're too busy wrapped up in yourself. I know a LOT of artist, calligraphers, and three tons of fountain pens users, and just about all of them think very well indeed. And only a complete dimwit invests time and money BEFORE getting recommendations from experts in any field. That kind of thinking is as backward as anything I've ever heard.
Ooooh, you forgot to mention that you have a paper sampler, too. I bought one when I was just starting out with fountain pens, and it was really helpful. 😊
I forgot about that, need to add it to my next order lol
Great point! Thank you! - Drew
Am I using the wrong paper? Yes
Have I tried the nice papers? Yes
Do I currently own pads/packs of fountain pen friendly papers like Rhodia & Clairefontaine? Yes
Will that stop me from writing in $0.50 composition notebooks? Nope :)
Well, some cheap composition books have very good paper. Other bleed, feather, and everything else. Bad paper can also be very, very, very hard on the nib. This probablt doesn't matter on a really cheap pen that's almost disposable, but if the nib costs enough to worry about, crappy paper is a horrible idea. And good gold nib? no, never.
@@jamesaritchie1 If the paper is too toothy for your nib, you know immediately, making it not an issue at all.
will I ever use my fancy paper? no, because I dont wanna waste it with why inevitable scribble and doodles and signature practice... lol
@@jamesaritchie1 For real, I have been getting really lucky with cheap paper lately, bought a whole stock of pads and notebooks from my local stationery shop and all of them handle my 1.5 Opus 88 like a champ, I guess that it's not that hard to get make fountain friendly paper afterall.
This was a great video! Do you think you could cover some of the best inks to use if you need to write on “normal” paper during the next Pencast?
I regularly use Van Dieman's Inks on normal paper and they work a treat
I was going to ask the same thing! I'd love to see a whole batch of inks tested on just that cheapo Meade notebook or even cheap 20 lb. printer paper.
This is something that I am interested in as well.
Waterman inks
I'm super new but I've decided to do a test on some of the main papers in my life (including a 100% recycled one) every time I ink up a pen and it's been so interesting! I definitely want to find one good pen/ink combo for an every day carry that can handle the most absorbent of papers
Wooo, nice editing on this one. :D And I'm gonna forward this to my husband. He was just telling me that he wants a better notepad -- he'd dig this analysis. Great work, Drew!
Agreed! As always 😎🔥✒️!!!
Thank you, Ashley! - Drew
My favorite paper is a brand of composition books called Unison, I think made in Vietnam. I keep finding them in local thrift stores and always snap them up. Absolutely STUNNING for high sheening and shading inks, and super cheap! Editing to add: This is the only paper I've found that turns my Manyo-Ume ink from a very pretty red to an even prettier red and gold. Maybe some expensive papers would do it, but the Unison composition books make it shine so beautifully!
I know not everyone loves Leuchtturm paper but I do get some shading with Diamine Eau de Nil on it and it dries quick enough for my needs. Clairefontaine being that nice bright white, however, shows off bolder colors so well. Navajo Turquoise looks lovely on it!
Very good video! My favorite papers have been Rhodia for work, leuchtturm for journaling and sometimes Midori MD. I still don't mind writing with regular paper if I don't have those other papers handy, but one of the things that makes me love using fountain pens is that good ol' feeling of looking back at what I wrote and appreciating the look even if there are spelling errors lol.
It's amazing what difference high-quality paper makes. All semester I use my Rhodia notebooks and everything is all right, but then the finals come around and suddenly anything broader than a western F bleeds and feathers like crazy. I once accidentally brought a pretty juicy 1.1 mm stub, and the recycled exam paper wasn't happy about it all.
54th Massachusetts is such a diva! It can be a beautiful dark blue ink, even with a slight red sheen if it has a good day, but only on Tomoe River Paper! If I dare to use it on other papers, it loses the sheen, turns into a depressed blue-gray and punishes me with feathering. But I love it anyway :)
I keep a "naughty list" for bad pen, nib, ink, paper combinations. That way I know that I tried it and it didn't work. It saves cleaning out pens and wasted time and ink. If I find a really good combination I keep track of that too, although I seem to remember that easier.
That's a great idea!
Great idea! I'm going to start doing that as well.
Great idea!
Hahaha, you say “without filling your home with ink” like it’s a bad thing. 😂
I started using Cosmo Air Light for drawing recently and I am hooked. It creates a really satisfying feedback with EF pens that I don't get with TRP. I still love TRP for writing, but for something with a bit more body that is going to stand up to more handling, the Cosmo is my paper of choice.
Have you tried Yamamoto Premium Bank Paper? I think it's made by the same folks who make the lovely and dependable Cosmo Air Light, one of top 4 papers.
I’m w you. I actually love both. Not so much into the bank paper.. love onion skin though.
Drue!!! Great video!! Keep them coming. My next buy for paper will be from you guys.
Oh by the way you have a large blob of...ink? On your shirt. Just trying to help. Thanks for the great video.
LOL Thanks for that! - Drew
Thanks for the Drew, I agree paper makes such a HUGE difference. I love my Tomoe River paper, but with the shortages it may be time to find alternatives!
I think we'll have a good alternative soon! - Drew
Paper makes a HUGE difference. Great topic for a video!! Thanks Drew! I'm currently using Tomoe River, which I love but isn't always the best for shading and can be too slippery for some pen + ink combinations; Rhodia, which is a bit blah for my taste, and whatever paper they use on Rettacy notebooks, which is just great. Never slippery though quite smooth, great for shading and still shows some sheen, though not as much as on TR. Perhaps you guys would consider carrying these?
Try Apica C.D hardcover notebook. The paper is heaven. Anothe one is Cosmo Air Light.
@@arapaimagold8088 I've just got the Galen Leather Everyday notebook with Cosmo airlight. Waiting for it to get here. But am now very curious about the Apica. Thanks for the tip!!
Have you tried all the Rhodia paper? It varies greatly. Some is coated differently, some is 80gsm, and some is 90gsm. I'm not fond of Rhodia journals, but the high end Rhodia tablets are spectacular.
I use Rhodia Dot pad for my own use, which, AIUI, is basically a Clairefontaine paper. At work, I've found Red & Black notebooks are the most FP friendly paper among the 'regular' brands you might find on the High Street.
Thanks for the advice
Well, last time I checked, Rhodia still uses the same paper they did before Clairefontaine boght the company. The two papers certainly act differently to me.
Drew you always explain things so well. Thanks!
Nice video! If you're looking for ideas for future projects, a video covering all the different papers you sell, demonstrated with some popular, standard inks as a benchmark and some special inks to show their features on those different papers (but maybe no repeats of ink manufacturers unless there is something special about that particular line of inks). I don't know all the different varieties of paper you sell, but Tomoe River, Midori MD, Rhodia, Cosmo Air, Elias Paper, New Chiffon Cream, Clairefontaine are all ones I'm interested in and have heard about. This would be a great way to broaden people's exposure to both inks and papers, and maybe get us to explore outside of a comfort zone/rut we may be in.
Keep up the good work!
Always such a wonderful presenter!
Thanks for watching! - Drew
54th Massachusetts is one of the least favorite inks I’ve tried. As a nurse, at work, I write on terrible paper and my pen stays in my pocket. That ink is the only one that I own that not only writes bad but it also leaks in the cap from the heat of being in my pocket. No matter what pen it’s in. It’s really a mess in a pilot VP. None of my other inks do that. Glad to see I’m not crazy and it’s a common issue for it to feather. I hate it because it really is a nice color.
I love fountain pen friendly paper especially from Clairefontaine. While I'm perfectly fine with using regular paper on a day to day basis. Where I really notice it improving the writing experience is with stub nibs! I ve only tried the Pilot Plumix with it's 1.0 stub, but I really want to try it with 1 .5 stub
Great video. My go to paper has been Oxford 90gsm Optik paper. It’s affordable, and is great with sheen and shimmer inks. My wettest pens don’t bleed through it either.
Thanks, Donny! - Drew
Hiya, It's a great favourite over here in Great Britain.
I use Oxford Black n' Red A4 casebound notebooks for my journal. I have for more than fifty years. These contain the Optic paper, and I love it. Oxford Black n' Red, as opposed to the much cheaper but identical lookung Blank n' Red, also has a varitery of notebook styles. For some reason, the spiral bound notebooks contain some of the best paper I have ever used, and I think I've used ninety percent of what's out there.
@@jamesaritchie1 I switched to the same ones this year for my journals as well. They check all the boxes for me.
Love the papers for fountain pen and ink. Great job on your demonstration of both ink and paper. I love the Clairefontaine paper and have bought a bit from you guys.
I always enjoy these highly professional videos.
Thank you! - Drew
Rhodia notebooks for me at work. It's the only one that I can write front and back while using Graf von Faber-Castell Midnight Blue.
Paper is so important. I have some pen, nib, ink combinations that I love on one type of paper and hate on another. Just because you're using "fountain pen friendly" paper doesn't you'll enjoy its "friendships" with all the pens, nibs and inks in your collection.
Hey Drew, Great info there.
Could you tell me why Tomoe River stopped producing their paper? and, If another company will pick it up?
Thanks
The machines for the 52gsm are (almost) antique and about to break down. 68gsm is manufactured at a different facility and not affected. But 52gsm is available reformulated. I hear it performs slightly differently than the old one. Not everyone likes the new one.
@@yuklimka7251 Thank You for your time.
I think we'll see them make a comeback. Stay tuned! - Drew
Great information to know. Paper is one of the great parts of the fountain pen hobby!
Now show me some X-Feather on that Meade notebook...
that's true. I find that X-feather performs well on cheap paper and badly on good paper. It works well on mead paper but use it on Rhodia, Midori or any other good paper and it's awful.
It has really caught me off guard how random and strange some of the various combinations can feel! For most of my pens and inks my Leuchtturm1917 gets thicker lines than other papers like Tomoe or Midori, but then when I tried out a new E95S with Noodlers Black Swan in Australian Roses it was way thinner in the Leuchtturm.
Fountain pens always manage to surprise me and keep me on my toes and its part of what I love about them!
Thank you for yet another informative video!
In the past, I really had issues with paper but over the last few years I find that most papers work for me. It is a massive pet peeve of mine when the paper causes the ink to bleed.
Drew,
nice vid
now do it again using 'school' inks that will behave very well on paper like Meads notebooks or printing paper:
Pelikan Brilliant Black, a very dry ink
Pilot Black or Black/Blue
Noodler's Black
Noodlers Heart of Darkness is the best for notebooks
To add to what CatnamedMittnes said..besides using Heart of Darkenss I also found a F or EF nib to also help.
@@alvinscott1331 what's great is it works with my medium nibbed metropolitan
@@alvinscott1331 Yes, if you like those nibs. But I don't want to use anything other than my favorite nibs. I'd rather just buy better paper, some of which is actually very cheap.
@@jamesaritchie1 I agree with you, I prefer to find paper that works best with my pens and inks. Unfortunately, there are times I have to deal with forms, handouts or those blue exam bookets that aren't high quality paper. That's when the fine and extra fine nibs and a quick drying ink have worked best--at least for me, a lefty.
Currently using Miquelrius paper with Noodler's Heart of Darkness! Minimal ghosting, hardly any feathering, even with my Faber-Castell Loom in Medium. Miquelrius notebooks are priced well too!
You didn't show the bleed through. I assume the Meade paper bled through more, but was it different with the different inks?
Correct! I'll go more in-depth next time! - Drew
My favorite paper is Yamamoto's Premium Bank Paper....2nd only to the disappearing Tomoe River. Every new paper I get, I write with every inked pen I have in order to see how each pen and ink act on that paper. My daughter calls it my "scientific experiments" lol.
Educative as usual
Drew, your example of slow dry Apache Sunset on Clairefontaine, resulting in pooling and shimmer, at the risk of smeaing. What if you use blotter paper? Will that eliminate the shimmer? Risk of smear if you are not careful placing or removing blotter paper? If blotting is good, is a roller blotter a better choice?
Great video, might want to flip the page over on the cheaper paper to show bleed-through, if any.
Yes, true. A review of paper is meaningtless without showing ghosting or bleeding. The Mead paper I have bleed like a stuck pig.
Great video, Drew! Got some Triomphe paper yesterday and as almost expected, I don't like it at all. It feels so plasticky. Now I am looking forward to testing Crown Mill Vellum and Crown Mill Cotton. I love inks in subdued colours like Herbin Vert Empire and such a colour looks much better on a creme coloured paper.
Thanks for watching, Anja! - Drew
Great coverage. Still waiting to see the video you do on Cosmo Air light paper. When will you start carrying this paper?
No plans at this time, but thanks for asking! - Drew
@@Gouletpens Thank you for the speedy reply. Do you have a suggestion as to what other paper would be as good?
Drew + beard= ❤️🔥
What Drew says at the end is also true for inks you might just not like because of how the behave on most things you write on.
Say for example Noodler’s Blue Nose Bear which will feather horribly on most paper I had access to which made me dislike it.
But when I found paper on which it doesn’t? It is strikingly beautiful! Which is saying something when it comes to me because I normally dislike blue inks in general.
I buy HP 32lb premium paper and print my own lined paper. Works great
Yes! There are some really great printer papers out there! - Drew
I use a lot of it for some big projects where thick, heavy paper is a good thing, and since I always have a couple of reams at hand, I print lines on some and use it with fountain pens, too. I even print a fancy letterhead on some of it, and write letters with it. It''s pretty good fountain pen paper and I use a lot of it.
Current major brand copy paper seems fine for fountain pens. I am using Diamanté , Wordsworth,Private Reserve, Varsity and Goulet samples with no issues on 75gsm 20lb. Have seen issues on spiral and 3 hole notebook stock (cheap stuff sold at start of school). Copier companies teach heavier weight 24lb for duplex color prints: see through with black print is aggravating, but color is additive on paper and your apple picture might look purple with a blue cover on the back side of the page with good lighting. I filled out many service logs, writing without ruled lines is no issue.
Tomoe River paper fan here!
At work I have paper that really hates fountain pens. They just refuse to work properly most of the time, until I discovered that particular rough paper is kind of hidrophobic, so the ink refused to come out of the nib, resulting in hard starts and skips. Then I put Rhorer and Klingner Sketch ink in my pen, an ink that tents to be really wet and soak into the paper (A very bad ink for crappy paper) and... one crappy property cancelled the other and now it works! I can even flex the soft fine nib in my custom 74!
Also, Rhorer and Klingner Sketch inks are pigmented and probably the most resistent inks I've ever tried.
How funny that this video shows up in my feed some two years after it's creation. Nonetheless, it's interesting that Clairefontaine Triomphe shows up here: their Triomphe stationery (A5 pads and envelopes) have been my go-to stationery for *quite* a few years, and their expanding the Triomphe line to notebooks has been a godsend to me, as my all-time fave notebook for journaling (Apica Figurare) has apparently vanished from the scene. (It also appears Goulet is one of the *very* few sources for the Triomphe notebooks.) In terms of pen/ink compatibility, it was a matter of choosing the pen first (Pilot Custom 823 and Vanishing Point), ink second (standard-issue Pilot Blue, Black, and Blue-Black, with a side helping of Iroshizuku Kon-Peki), and paper last. The "synergy" with Triomphe just sort to happened, and all's well.
I was hoping there would be a review and comparison of more paper brands.
Add in the ink stone, and you've covered the four treasures of the writing room. Yeah, Western writing doesn't use it, but it's nice to see that what we hold dearest in writing has been relatively common for over two millennia. Wonderful video!
What pen did you use? The nib looks like a Goulet nib, but it looks like a nice green resin pen.
It's a Goulet nib on a Jinhao. - Drew
I'd be interested to see how Van Dieman's Inks do on the different papers you have. They're handmade inks from Tasmania.
I usually going well with Fabriano and Rhodia; also Moleskine works fine to me. The nib size factor is cardinal in the equation; I am definitely a fan of fine to extra fine stroke size nibs because they work well with a pretty rage of papers, including photocopy paper.
I find Moleskoine to be terribly inconstent. One notebooks works perfectlt with my fountain pens, and the neb bleeds like a stuck pig. I suspect this is because Moleskine sources its paper from several countries, and there is no way to be consistent when this is done.
I like Midori paper, Optik paper which can be found in Black n’ Red hard bound and spiral notebooks + some of the Oxford spiral notebooks, Life Noble paper, Graphilo fountain pen paper and the now defunct (it looks like) Tomoe River Paper 52gsm (my favorite) and 68gsm. A couple of journals which surprised me were Paperblanks and some of the Peter Pauper Press; sheening properties of fountain pen ink really showed up. I found other types of paper or label paper which show ink properties really well which I won’t mention because they aren’t available for consumption as notebooks… Clairfontaine disappoints, but that’s just me…
I really enjoyed this video but, based on the title, I thought you would discuss how gsm paper weight affects the fountain pen writing experience rather than how three different inks react on the same two papers. (Maybe the title should have been titled, "Why Ink Matters"...because it does!) For your consideration...can you please create a separate video on how one fountain pen/one ink is affected by different paper weights? I've been considering journals with heavier papers, e.g., 100gsm, 120gsm and 160gsm (the last for artwork) because I don't want bleed through, but I don't know what the actual writing experience would be like. As an example, heavier papers can clog a Rotring Isograph nib, but can a paper ever be too thick for fountain pen use? Thanks for your consideration!
Paper weight doesn't play as much of a role as you might think! For example, Tomoe River 52 gsm paper is VERY fountain pen friendly, while Field Notes paper is 90 gsm and is not nearly as friendly. In fact, Clairefontaine paper is also 90 gsm and it's incredible! It really depends more on sizing agents and coating that the actual weight. I hope that helps! - Drew
I've been looking for an acceptable inkjet paper for fountain pens. I print and bind my own notebooks/journals that are specific to my work. My favorite ink is Noodler's Burgundy, but I've been known to also use Heart of Darkness and Lexington Gray.
I used a white heavy weight inkjet paper by HP, almost a cardboard it was so heavy. I can’t remember the exact weight and I packed it away when I moved. What was rather spectacular about this paper is not that it showed off any of the sheening or shading properties of the fountain pen ink, but the colors looked absolutely amazing on this paper. Almost like velvet, where your eyes would sink into the beauty of each color. They were all so pretty your eyes couldn’t stop looking at the colors. I love color, that is probably why I got into fountain pens, because of the ink colors and ink effects. I’m not an artist; no talent at all, but I can at least write, although not very well. Sigh… In my previous life, part of my job was working with color; not paint or ink, but Swarovski crystal, Peciosa crystal, 2-cut crystal from Korea and many colors of anodized aluminum. I had posted on this video all the paper I discovered to be pretty good, although nothing is as nice as the now defunct Tomoe River Paper, 52gsm being my favorite. I swear, it’s like magic for effect ink. I don’t include shimmer ink cause the shimmer effect works on any paper cause a finely ground metallic or pearlized mica is added to the ink. If an ink is both shimmer and sheening then you need fountain pen ink paper to make your ink happy. I wrote a comment on this video naming alot of the fountain pen ink paper I’ve discovered in the last 2 years besides Tomoe River, but my comment is gone. Oh well…
Mass 5th was one of the first inks I used when getting into fountain pens. This caused me to think EF was for me. I really struggled with dry EF nibs before I realized mass 54th had my views wrong. That ink should come with a warning,
I have one ink (Octopus Fluids Bronze) that will feather in any nib on anything. Supposedly they fixed the formula since, but I don't think I can even get it in the US if I wanted to. TR (68gsm; haven't tried 52) is the only paper I've put it on so far that works. Problem is that I like the color and the way it shades, and I've been looking but I haven't yet found anything quite like it. And I also still have most of a 30ml bottle and I really don't want to pour it down the drain. So I guess I'll have to go and buy more TR paper to use it on!
Thank you Drew, from one point of view the Meade didn't do to bad for being a cheap paper. I love quality fine paper, but what do you say to the argument that back in the days, let's say 1920s and 30s, they weren't to fussy about the paper they used, they just used whatever was at hand, and they did just fine, Would be interesting to know what that was.
Yeah, it wasn't as bad as I expected! - Drew
Weeeell done Drew !!! 😃
Thanks for watching! - Drew
My fav Ginger Snap!! Hey Drew!
I have found myself dissatisfied with the Mead Notebooks, but the Pen and Gear notebooks work really wonderfully and are super affordable. I also am a fan of the Exceed notebooks if you're looking for more affordable options. I get sheen/shading/and no feathering. The GSM is really what I look for and find under 100gsm and you're going to be at risk of poor behavior from Inks.
Mead paper is just crap, and why it was used in this video puzzles me. You should NEVER write on Mead paper with a good nib. Pen and Gear has some terrible paper, and some extremely good paper. It depends where the indiividual notebooks are made. But the good Pen and Gear really is very good.
IDK if you have done anything on the Tomoe River paper history, machine # 7 and #9 and the sale of the formula and changes in the sample pages that are being sent out for 2024,…the sulfite vs. Kraft process or if anyone would even be interested in that stuff at all. I find it very interesting.
Thanks for this!
Thanks for watching! - Drew
I'm so hyped for my Midori MD
I wish there was a notebook that was a balance between Rhodia and absorbant
Why? That sounhds like many of the very cheap notebooks out there. Rhodia is about as absorbant as fountain pen paper should ever be.
does the toothiness of the fountain pen change depending on the quality of the paper?
I use the aurora borealis ink and it only really sheens with a wide enough nib and only on certain notebooks. Got some kokuyo campus notebooks and it doesn't really work on those, it does work on some regular one subject notebooks.
I'm missing the old Tomoe River 55gsm. The new version works, but it doesn't have that luxurious feel in the hand. Sure, it crinkles, but so does pure linen, but we still wear it cos it feels good!
I may wear linen, but I don't write on my clothing. I hated the feel of Tomoe River, whether 52gsm or 68gsn. It doesn't just crinkle, it creases if you look at it funny, it ghosts horribly, it takes bulletproof and archinal document inks forever to dry on it, and many such inks still smudge after many weeks, or even months. Many inks ghopsted so badly that you could only use one side of the paper, which made it twice as expensive, and it was also a terrible choice for writing you wanted to last for many years or decades. I never feel my paper, anyway, because that isn't what I care about.
You should do another video with different paper types like tomoe river, MD, cosmo air light etc. :)
Great idea! - Drew
Is Moleskine not good for fountain pens?
DREW: trying out our ink samples is a wonderfull way to try out a bunch of inks super affordably without filling your home with inks.
ME: but sir, I want to fill my home with ink.
I’m trying to find a replacement for Tomoe River’s dearly departed A4/A5 loose-leaf dot-grid no-holes paper-especially something that can show off sheening inks along the lines of Colorverse Supernova, Robert Oster Fire and Ice, and the like.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Cosmo Air Light
@@arapaimagold8088 Oh, thanks for the tip!
And if I might ask, do you have any leads on where one might be able to buy Cosmo Air Light loose sheets in for grid?
From my brief googling, I seem to be able to find dot-grid notebooks or blank loose sheets-but I can’t seem to find dot-grid loose sheets?
As a lefty, I've pretty much accepted feathering because it's the lesser of two evils compared to smearing. So my combo of Noodlers and Blueline lab notebooks does the job... for now!
Have you tried learning to underwrite? We have two lefties in my family who taught themselves how to underwrite. No more smearing.
Very good to know Noodler's 54th is the bane of all paper. Nothing like enjoying the write while the ink destroys the paper.
I wouldn't go that far. Many people love 54th and have no problems with it. I'm one of them.
Parker Quink Black is the only ink I've got for now, but it does write pretty well on my school notebooks, so I'll just stick with it
P.s. It's horrible on printer papers
Thank you!!!!
Drew, can you recommend a FP friendly Fields Notes sized notepad?
It's not the exact same size, but I really love this one! - Drew www.gouletpens.com/collections/maruman-mnemosyne/products/maruman-mnemosyne-n192-b7-notepad-lined?variant=11884719079467
@@Gouletpens thank you!
Id love to give these guys business emailed them and got my PRONOUNS ARE. I WAS LIKE YOURE NUTS.
Excellent video. Let me see what paper you have!
PAPER mmmmmmmm.. I love paper. I love so many different types. Fun vid.
You Should have also focused on bleeding issue for these 2 pages, also the noodlers X Feather would be an ideal candidate for this video so I feel like you missed out on that
I use my fountain pen for drawing... So far the best paper I found is Arches Aquarelle Hot press paper (300gsm). Obviously not the paper you would use on a daily basis
54th Mass (my batch) makes a broad line even on Clairfontaine paper…
I have a handful of pens and inks and while I want to keep buying new "toys" my next goal is to find which papers I like for showing off my inks since I use Staples TruRed for general note taking
I'm not a fan of mead paper. I've always had bad results on that one, regardless of the ink and pen used. I wrote that brand of completely from my usage
I put a cheap off-brand light turquoise ink cart into a disposable Olika EF pen already proven to be fantastic with its own ink. The cheap ink sucks on Rhodia, skips all the time, but on a cheaper office paper...? Chef kiss! It looks like done by a F or M nib, though. It's like the undesirable qualities of the paper fix the shortcomings of the ink.
It's okay. I'll buy a proper bottle of Lamy Turquoise some day.
Nice video, but i was expecting some consistency by using 3 different papers, How about Tomoe River as the extreme? That will give you some long drying, shading and smearing...
I'll do that next time! Kept it very basic to start. - Drew
Any comments on how much these showed through on the other side? I'm guessing the backside of the 54th+Mead is unusable.
Indeed it is! Sorry I didn't show that. - Drew
It may be a bit expensive, but tomoe river is really the best paper.
Any ink recommendations with fast dry times?
I'll see what I can do! - Drew
And let's not forget bleedthrough! I bet the Meade notebook could only be used on one side of the page, unlike the Triomphe which could probably be used on both sides, even with 54th Massachusetts
Weeellll, whether or not Tomoe River can be used on both sides depends on how you feel about ghosting. The 52gsm Tomoe River ghosts like crazy. Even the 68gsm ghosts more than I can tolerate. But some people don't mind ghosting. I hate serious ghosting, so, for me, this makes Tomoe River twice as expensive because I can only use one side.
Great video!
Thanks, Lisa! - Drew
I simply love the 54th ink; however, not only does it run through paper...it also bleeds through pens! You have to find that right pen and paper for that one.
I haven't used 54th in awhile, but I used to lighten it up with Noodler's Blue Ghost. 😏
for some reason the only ruled paper that doesn’t get on my nerves is a standard store brand yellow legal pad. that’s my standard « work » notepad. otherwise, i prefer maruman paper to rhodia & maruman has so many different lines under their belt. i also use paper and notebooks from muji which are great as well (dots or grid only). one of the best paper i’ve used is (another !) standard issue non branded grid notepad that i bought in an emergency a couple of years ago in paris. the paper is thin, i would say around 60gsm but incredibly tightly woven so no bleedthrough & not blindingly white or overly smooth. it was incredible. unfortunately, it’s totally brandless so i guess i have to return to the shop to do some detecting !! i use predominantly a sailor 1911S in MF & my favourite ink is chusu.
We're the opposite. I simply refuse to use any kind of grid paper. I want blank for my illustrated journal, but I generally used mixed media paper for this, and I use rules/lined for EVERYTHING else. To me, lined paper is for writing. Everything else is for other things, such as bullet journals or scientific work.
Please please please do a video on colorverse sunspot and black hole!!! They DOUBLE SHEEN!!!!!!!!! After a week or two of drying...a second sheen appears!!!!!!!!!
I have never had any success with Noodlers inks and I have tried a few. I tend to use Diamine, Sailor or Pelikan inks, As for the paper - Rhodia is much too heavily sized and doesn't suit me at all. Tomoe River is nice but hard to get here in UK, Oxford stationery pads work nicely, Leuchturm notebooks are good and so is straightforward HP printer paper for everyday notes etc. I have a heap of Rhodia paper that I got a couple of years ago when everyone said it was the one to get - and I dislike it immensely - it also manages to make some of my nibs "squeal". As always, your mileage may vary.
My mileage definitely varies, at least to a degree. If Rhodia makes a nib squeal, it's almost certainly because of what you have under the paper. If not, you need to work on the nib. I find that Oxford Blank n' Red paper is excellent, and I use the Oxford A4 casebound Blank n' Re as my journals. I have for more than fifty years, and I have no complaints. I've tried dozens of other brands over the decades, and none worked as well for a journal. But I use Rhodia pads often, and it IS some of the best paper out there.
Really, if your complaint is sizing, you shouldn't like many fountain pen friendly inks, including Tomoe River. Especially Tomoe River.
What do you mean by no "success" with Noodler's inks? If there's a better ink brand out there, I haven't found it. But Noodler's makes more types of ink, and with more properties and behavious, than anyone. You just have to know what you want. Noodler's has it.
What about bleeding?
Nib size and wetness are also contributing factors.
Absolutely! - Drew
Well, to a degree, but bad paper weill always be bad paper.
very helpful nfo
Thanks for watching! - Drew
While I do agree that all portions of this equation are inter-related to some small degree upon ones own success, most will rarely ever think very long, nor hard enough in regards to fountain pen use, only acting entirely on recommendation rather than investing their time and money finding the ideal materials. Its the reasons consumer's only know brands or names, and never the constituents nor the level of expertise required in making truly consistent, and easily handled ink or any wet media on paper. Paper is actually first considered when ever making any effort to choose a wet media for its final result with many nibs presently available. The enthusiasts buy the pen first, and later stake the reputations of the ink maker's to make up for the pen or papers limitations. Its entirely backwards from the reality that many calligraphers / cartographers, or even artist ever approach this sort of thing. I get its a hobby, and few care to know how anything is made as long as you have a debit card to buy personal distinction.
That sounjds very elitist, and in my experience, completely wrong in every way. In fact, I'd say it's complete BS, and that's being kind. It sounds like you're drastically underestimating the intelligence of consumers, and perhaps even more drastically overestimating your own.
As an artist and a calligrapher, I can say you have it assbackwards. Choosing the paper first would be idiotic. Every artist and calligrapher I know usually chooses the writing instrument first, and then choose the paper that best matches it. Yes, there are times when I say I want to use this paper or that paper, and what instrument is best for it, but that is very, very rare.
I almost always want to use a give instrument, whether it's a fountain pen, a mechanical pencil, a metal dip pen, a goose or turkey quill, or a river reed pen, and then I look for a paper that will work with it.
You have no clue at all what "most" will or won't think long and hard about. You're too busy wrapped up in yourself. I know a LOT of artist, calligraphers, and three tons of fountain pens users, and just about all of them think very well indeed.
And only a complete dimwit invests time and money BEFORE getting recommendations from experts in any field. That kind of thinking is as backward as anything I've ever heard.