Noodlers Ink
Jan 22, 2019
Hello True Art Believers,
Lately, I have been experimenting with inks for my watercolor pieces. At first I was simply using micron pens, sharpie pens and various other pens to get the line work that I wanted. I was running into issues using these pens, first I could not get the line quality that I was looking for, second, the cold press water color paper was wrecking havoc on my pens. The paper would slowly file away the felt tips on my artist pens.
Thus began my quest for Ink. I wanted to have a fountain pen that I could use permanent ink and not have to worry about the ink drying on the nib of my pen. I did not want to use the "Higgins brand" ink because I was worried I would make a mess and since I was doing my watercolors in the kitchen I wanted to avoid that at all cost. Higgins is great for permanence, but they don't work well with portable fountain pens unless you can clean them right after use. I was trying to avoid that as much as possible.
After much scouring the internet I came across the Noodlers Ink brand. It was just the thing I was looking for, a water based ink that is also permanent on paper, it is almost like alchemy. Before I was coming up with water based brands that literally dissolve when exposed to water. That is an archival nightmare, but you sacrifice it for being able to have a fountain pen. But in Noodlers you get the best of both worlds, easy clean up, and nigh permanent ink. This stuff has been through the works, bleach, acetone, blasted by the sun rays of the Arizona Desert, it is quite impressive.
Their specially designed pens are nice as well. I was worried I would have to spend some big money buying a nice fountain pen, but artist can't have nice things, we use our tools constantly. A nice fountain pen would just get beat up through basic use by an artist. I prefer function or form. So I got a nice Pink Noodlers Fountain Pen. Funny thing is I didn't get the Pink Pen because I liked the color. I got it because it was the cheapest. The thing about Amazon is you can get the same brand of something for cheaper if you select the most unpopular color of that item.
Thank you for taking the time to read my rant about fountain pens. I have attached a link to Noodlers Ink's website below for those who are interested in their products. Unfortunately you can not buy directly from them, you have to go to there licensed distributors. I would buy from them direct if I could. Enjoy the rest of the week True Art Believers.
Thank you for all your support and most importantly your time.
-Matt
