Fountain Pen + black ink = true love
I was feeling low on energy and very depressed. Going into the bookstore didn’t help, neither did buying a new white journal with a cover print that looks like lace. You can not buy happiness, it comes in strange and unexpected ways. I know this but I still try every now and then.
Then I splurged on a gray Parker pen too but even that didn’t make me smile. I was thinking of going into a cafe to write in my journal, but I walked home instead and went to bed. Maybe it was sleep that I needed most. I seem to be suffering from sleep deprivation right now.
It wasn’t until later when I pulled out the plastic ink cartridge and placed it (with a little click) inside the pen that I started smiling inside. Then I let the pen nib touch the paper and a feeling of joy came to me. Like a rush of old memories it came; the joy of writing with a real fountain pen! The joy of creating those connecting lines that say something. How it swirls over the paper as I write, how the ink flows out of the pen without pressure… It’s a pen that is made for falling in love with! It makes me fall in love both with writing and my own handwriting!
Most people hate their own handwriting, and that is just too sad. I think it’s time that we all learn to love our penmanship because it is uniquely our own and perfect as it is!
I think the script style was created with a fountain pen and should be done with a fountain pen. The flow of the letters comes so much more easily with a pen like this! It’s made for writing long letters to your friends or pouring out your brain into your journal!
I have had several cheap ones but I don’t know where they are – it’s been years since I wrote with them. This Parker pen is expensive for being a tool to “just scribble with”, but it’s very cheap in comparison with what you can get if you’re a pen addict with lots of money! I couldn’t afford a pen that gets reviews and are loved for years and years… But a fountain pen that writes well right now doesn’t have to cost a fortune. This one didn’t and I love it!
The paper needs to be of good consistency (porous) so a fountain pen will not be great on magazine clippings or glossy pages. Though I’ve tried it on gesso in my Art Journal and it works fine (though the black tend to become gray as the gesso does soak up a lot of the ink!), but don’t let it come near glue or crayons of any kind!
My pen came in a little plastic “box” that makes it feel a bit like everyday luxury! It’s not a classical flat-nibbed calligraphy pen that I’m talking about here. I think those often get stuck in the paper grain as they are made for slow angled lines. Mine are crocked (destroyed) from eager writing and quick thoughts. This is a round-nibbed one for scribbles! I ♥ that!
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Hanna I read everything you write and have so many interesting projects and thoughts running through my brain because of your writing. You are such a huge inspriation and I appreciate your links too. I know how a fountain pen can make you fall in love with life. I have a very old “Waterman’s” that belonged to my husband’s dad and it still works miracles. My journal loves it and so, I hope, do my pen friends, who are true “pen” friends. Keep blogging dear Hanna. You are the “wind beneath my wings”.
I have a Papermate (the ones that write upside down). My mum bought it for me when I started secondary school and I think it cost her about ?3. Today, 27 years later, I still use it everyday. It’s my work pen, journal pen, letter writing pen… everything. It’s never needed any repairs or a new nib, just some cheap refillable cartridges and the occassional wash through with warm water.
I agree that a good fountain doesn’t have to be expensive and can improve how your thoughts flow onto the paper. And as an added bonus, almost anyones writing looks smarter in real ink!
Oooh I haven’t used a “fancy” pen in years. Now I’m going to hunt for one!
I also think it’s the natural time of year to get a little sad with less and less daylight. It’s hard to find energy. But keep your chin up Hanna. Your handwriting is wonderful and I always love how your bring together your languages using words in both Swedish and English. It’s lovely!! xoxoxo tj
When I was in 5th grade, my teacher required that all of our work (besides math) be done in fountain pen. Genius idea! I still have my lovely purple flowered pen bought for the occasion… though I haven’t used it in ages, it would be nice to get it out, buy a new cartridge, and let the words flow. Hope you’re having a great Friday.
xox,
Linnea
My mother collects pens. I am a ballpoint Bic kinda girl. Well thank heavens for her pen habit because she was able to make one of the most important moments in my life a little bit more special. When my husband and I were to be married, we had a small ceremony with just immediate family and two witnesses to sign our ketubah (Jewish marriage contract), prior to the whole big 120 guest ceremony. We were going to sign the certificate with a cheap-o ballpoint pen, and my mother pulled out her gold Cartier pen from her handbag. Wow, what a pen. It added gravitas and class to one of the most important moments of my life – my wedding.
Your words transport me back in time to when I wrote letters in longhand and pen! Fountain, ball point, fine points…sent by snail mail states and countries away… My MIL has saved every letter I wrote her (30 years worth!!!). She wrote me back also using pen and usually long yellow legal sized pads, sometimes white note paper…writing in all directions especially at the end. MIL as my last by hand mail recipricant and sender…now she has dementia and no longer writes…probably what got me to blogging to have people to share my life with in this way if not in longhand or by fountain pen.
enjoy yours!
Hi Hanna, I can identify with how you were feeling today. I have days like that too. I haven’t used my fountain pen in ages – my husband bought me a beautiful pen set for my 30th birthday – I can’t remember when I last used it. Maybe it is time to get it out. It was interesting that you mentioned that it writes over gesso – I never thought of that, I’ll have to give it a try. I hope your spirits are lifted as you use your new pen!
This made me smile. Maybe because I have black dogs following me sometimes, just left of I don’t know where. But also because I know how a fountain pen can help. When I got the advance on my first novel, the first thing I did was go out and by a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck. A big fat pen!
I’m left handed and always smudge when writing in ink but ten years later it’s still the object I most love. It even beats my Apple MacBookPro.
I’m so pleased to learn that you have discovered the therapeutic qualities of a fountain pen! I’ve have a pencil case with several very nice ones – each of which I purchased as a “CHEER UP”! I also have bittersweet memories of my favourite ever Schaeffer, black laquer, gold nib, which I lost (foolishly, I took it everywhere with me!) and have never been able to replace.
But, Hanna, if you can find a cheap enough “calligraphy” fountain pen, with the flat nib you mentioned, PLEASE treat yourself to one. Although these nibs do scratch if you’re trying to write free-flowing prose, they are wonderful stress relievers when you’re practising (or making up) alphabets. To avoid scratching the paper, always form your letters using downward strokes. Doing this makes you slow right down and concentrate really hard on the formation of individual letters. Just writing the alphabet becomes an exercise in stress relief, whilst simultaneously being the creation of something beautiful.
Try it!
Your website is lovely, interesting, inspirational, and many other adjectives. To use a line from Mr. Shakespeare in a rather different context, it “shines like a good deed in a naughty world”. For those of us feeling the naughty world nudging us rather too sharply at the moment, your good deed is a gift from heaven. Thank you!
I always come across posts like these long after they’ve been posted. It’s a shame there aren’t more low-cost fountain pens. Most people see the price tag attached and are convinced that the Bic sticks they prefer to use and lose and throw away are cheaper in the long run, never doing the math.
My first fountain pen was a Sheaffer cartridge pen that the gentleman behind penhero.com doesn’t think is a very good one, but I liked it (and still do) just fine when I bought it to use as a sketching pen.
That was a bit over 10 years ago and now I have three Sheaffers (not counting the calligraphy pens), three Pelikans (again, not counting the Pelikan calligraphy pens I have), two Parkers (one of which is the much-maligned “21”–mine’s been a great pen in the time I’ve had it), an Esterbrook J, a Waterman 12 1/2 and a few no-name pens.
If there were still a company like Esterbrook (Pelikan’s M200 series is the closest to that right now), maybe fewer people would be allergic to writing with a fountain pen. :)
Note for lefties out there: my sister’s a southpaw who’s never had any trouble with ink smearing. She holds her pen and writes like the mirror image of a right-handed person, so her hand never crosses over wet ink. And she’s got much better handwriting than I do.