u/diminitri

Super fun for both writing and drawing (though my hand cramps up a lot more with this pen).

Recently got the art collection v.3, my first pelikan pen! But after spending some time with it I noticed that the pattern on the body is poorly aligned in a lot of places…especially the back. In the picture tou can see a lot of unjoined lines.

Is this normal or is this worth going back to my local shop and asking for an exchange? Its something thats been at the back of my mind and bothering me.

The number will help me choose which one of my inked pens to use 😆 (i have too many inked). I’ll try draw through all the numbers at least once!

I wanted to try a flex nib fountain pen, and settled for this Elabo! It has a brass body with a shiny brown finish, in the <SF> nib size.

It was a struggle learning to use it at first since I realize I have a feather touch when it comes to writing/drawing ahaha but I really love the varied line weights!!!

Also question: do you guys peel off the sticker on your pilots or do you tend to keep them on?

Ended up making a test mix with some inks i had: a 1:1 blend of Taccia Benitsuchi + Tag Stationery Kyo no Oto Yamabukiiro. I think the results are pretty close to what I was looking for!

I enjoyed the recs, some that I might still look into are:

- Pelikan 4001 brilliant brown

- Mitasanshodo hana ink black tea

- Lennon Tool Bar sun moon lake black tea

Wanted to see my whole collection of pens together but I couldn’t get good lighting so I “graphic design is my passioned” all my pens. They bring me so much joy every day ☺️

I got around to testing the glass pen with a variety of different inks. I used Midori MD blank notebook paper in A4:

Sailor Manyo Haha

- I believe this ink is relatively known for being on the dry side, maybe due to this I found the ink to be the easiest to control of all four inks tested today.

- Very easy to wash out of the glass pen.

J. Herbin Vert Olive

- Very wet and runny ink, I found I had to draw a lot quicker and decide my marks faster than with Haha. Though maybe because of the color (one of my favorites XD) I did enjoy drawing using it.

- Very easy to wash.

Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoku

- Extremely wet and runny, though I expected this since pilot inks are generally wet inks.

- Very hard to control, I was constantly blotting the pen every other stroke, had to draw very very fast.

- Very easy to wash.

Platinum Carbon Black

- I expected this to run a little slower, its the only pigment ink I tried (and own), but it was just as runny as the pilot ink.

- I experimented letting it dry for a few seconds and seeing if the flow would be more controllable, it helped a liiiiittle bit.

- Was ok to wash, maybe using distilled water would be a better idea to flush it out because there was the thinnest layer of pigment stuck to the inside of the pen which i mostly cleaned with a qtip and tweezers.

Bonus Experiment - Using a ‘stopper’ (2nd pic)

I experimented using a bit of kneaded eraser (similar to blutac/stickytack) to plug the hole. What happened was: the flow of ink became gradually slower, there was a sweet spot of finer control and a thinner line width, and then the ink flow started stuttering and marks could only be made using a strong stab to the page. It was very frustrating, but it makes me think if theres some kind of stopper with the tiniest pin hole that might be the ideal as opposed to completely plugging the hole. It needs some degree of airflow.

Other notes/Overall comments

- In terms of drawing: suitable for drawing bigger, if you enjoy the challenge of sketching quickly and making snap decisions, this can be a very fun tool. Despite the frustrations, it was fun to use and a nice break from how I might usually draw. But if you’re the type to prefer drawing tiny, with fine detail and with precise control, definitely not for you.

- In terms of writing: I actually quite enjoyed writing with it in a loose/fast sense. Print might be harder to write because of flow control difficulties. I’d compare the ‘nib size’ to range from B-BBB in broadness. Maybe it would suit people who like writing big?

- Dry inks seem to work decently with it (anyone have recommendations?), whereas wetter inks are very hard to control.

- I would avoid using pigment inks with this because it isn’t a pen you can disassemble, so if a major clog happens it may cause permanent damage.

- I might look into making a more sophisticated stopper (if I ever bother XD).

Just received this glass pen in the mail, couldn’t wait to try it out. Im just going to ramble my first impressions:

The pen definitely has a learning curve - since the ink flows via gravity i can see that there’s some skill involved finding the right tilt. For the most part, maybe because my pen strokes are pretty slow, i could keep a consistent line weight maybe equivalent to a broad or double broad nib size. I would like to explore more and see the diversity of marks that can be made with the pen.

I found that the amount of ink you charge matters a bit too. When its too full the ink tends to flow a bit faster and becomes uncontrollable, and there seems to be a sweet spot when the level of ink is right above all the glass balls. The flow in general is pretty tricky, and I definitely need more time to get used to it/figure it out XD The ink i used is pretty wet, so perhaps the ink has a more controlled flow with a drier ink?

Cleaning it was generally quite simple, just flush with water and shake.

Personally, i think this pen suits drawing much more than writing, and its just pretty fun to use in general. There’s something to be said about enjoying the chaos of a completely new tool XD

I’ve recently been looking to buy a Sailor PG, and stumbled upon this gorgeous pen in a local shop from the 2016 Cocktail series called “Blue Lagoon”!

Other descriptions I have for it:

- earth 🌎

- tennis on a bright summer’s day

- battery acid by a swimming pool

- “ahh, goo lagoon”

It’s such a refreshing color combo, and looks so delicious. Considering how it was named after a cocktail, and I happened to have blue curaçao in the fridge, I decided to make one (though its not a proper blue lagoon).

Added lime jellies to the bottom to mimic the bright green finials on the ends, and the drink is just a mix of lemon-lime soda and blue curaçao!

Was looking for blue/red colored pens for a spider-man theme XD i love these two, they are my babies.

1. Lamy Al-Star in Denim <F>

2. TWSBI Diamond 580 Mini in Red/Blue <B>

I decided that my ink collection is getting out of hand, so to use it more im throwing a dice to help me decide what colors to draw with XD

This page uses Pilot Iroshizuku’s Hotaru-Bi on Midori MD paper!