Vintage Inks: Green and Parker Super Quink Inks

Here are the two vintage inks I found last month when I joined fellow FPN-P members on a pen/ink/paper hunt in Recto and Avenida, in Old Manila. I love to call them my Christmas inks because of their color combination: Red and Green.

Ink No. 1: Parker Super Quink Permanent Red with Solv-X

I got this bottle of red ink from Conanan's at Recto. The bottle contains 2fl oz of ink, and against bright light, the contents appear to be brown rather than red. I used the black Hero 221 to try this ink, a pen I got from Corona, a shop full of Hero, Youlian, and Youth pens, still in Recto. As I wrote, I noticed that the ink starts out pale and almost pinkish, while it is still wet. Once it dries, it becomes a bright, happy, beautiful red. It's not as bloody red as Camel Scarlet, my other red ink from India, but I like the red it becomes on white paper when it dries. I love this kind of red and I'll try it on my medium-nibbed pens later on.

Ink No. 2: Parker Super Quink Permanent Green with Solv-X

This ink I got from Merriam and Webster along Avenida. The bottle contains 2fl oz of ink, and while so much ink has been lost to evaporation, there is something very special with this ink: it's made in the Philippines. I used another Hero 221 from Corona to test it. As I wrote using the Hero, I noticed that this green ink starts ever paler than the red one. It looked washed-out or even watered-down when it's wet. Surprisingly, it turns an impressive green as soon as it dries. I'm not a fan of green inks, but I particularly like the way this green turns out on white paper. Not too dark, for me to even mistake it for green-black ink, and not too light, to make it appear watered-down. It's green as I want green to be.

Writing sample and review of inks on Cattleya paper:

I'm not sure if it is the pen I used, but both inks showed feathering and bleed through. I'm surprised to see it as the Cattleya has proven to be almost feather- and bleed through-resistant in the past. Nevertheless, both Red and Green inks showed impressive and bright colors once they have dried on paper, and looking at them, no one would ever think they're vintage inks we scoured from dust-laden cabinets, inspected meticulously for molds and sediments, and sniffed carefully for acidity. *Winks.*

(For an XL view of the writing sample, click here. The red ink is here, and the green is here.)

GPW #4: Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball

Here's (a super late) GPW #4: Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball medium black.

GPW has been out for too long, and today, it's back with another non-Pilot pen: a Zebra. This pen, together with a blue Foray gel pen, was given to me as payments for fixing someone's computer a while back. :) When I got this pen, I thought it's just another gel pen. Together with the Foray gel, I placed it in my plastic box of gel pens, ballpoints, and mechanical pencils. But while I was sorting through that box looking for a pen for GPW, I was brought to face the Jimnie again, for which I am thankful for.

Here's a writing sample of the Zebra Jimnie (The XL view is here):

As I wrote to test the Zebra Jimnie pen, I was suprised at its smoothness and the wonderful consistent medium line it lays on paper. The ink also dried up fast, and though I didn't do a water-resistant test, I am fairly satisfied at the amount of drying time it required. The ink did not feather or bled on the Cattleya paper I am using for pen and ink reviews, and this made me very happy. :) The pen's plastic barrel, section and cap do not bother me at all. In fact, the rubber grip installed is very helpful as the pen stays on my grip comfortably as I write.

But among other things, the Zebra Jimnie's black ink is its winning mark. I realized through the Jimnie's ink that the degree of darkness of black ink (for gel pens or fountain pens) is equally important. Black is not enough, if it is not dark enough. Period. The darkness of the Zebra Jimnie's ink is what I really like, and I hope I could find an ink as black as it is for my fountain pens, too. *Winks.*

The Second Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

The second Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper is out! And The Archer is overwhelmed and proud to make it to the Editor's Choice again. :)

In this edition of the Carnival, The Archer's review of the red Scribe notebook is featured as the top Editor's Choice, together with other articles on ink projects, back-to-school crafts and rollerball pens.

Hurry! Run over to the Pen Addict's site to read more on pen, pencil and paper here: http://www.penaddict.com/2009/09/the-second-carnival-of-pen-pencil-and-paper.html

To read about the First Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper, head out to Notebook Stories here: http://www.notebookstories.com/2009/08/04/the-first-carnival-of-pen-pencil-and-paper/

More information about the Carnival can be read here: http://www.notebookstories.com/carnival-of-pen-and-paper/