Noodler’s Ink makes great fountain pen ink. I like to use their inks because they offer a lot of variety with rich colors that flows well through a pen. The company also has inks that vary between being water soluble to permanent. I personally like using water soluble ink while sketching because you can create a simple wash over your drawing using just water and a brush.

One mistake a lot of people make when they’re new to using a fountain pen is using the wrong kind of ink. You can’t use India ink or liquid dyes in a fountain pen, you must use ink specifically for fountain pens. There are lots of brands of ink out available with different properties. Finding the right ink for you may take some experimentation.

You also need to consider that different inks will react differently to the paper you draw on. Some ink and paper combinations will bleed and create hairy looking lines. Conversely, if you use a slow drying ink on a hot press paper then you have to be careful not to smear it as you work on your drawing. It can be a bit of trial and error to find an ink and paper combination that works for you.

I do much of my drawing with Beaver Brown. Baystate Blue is a really saturated blue that is nice for handwriting. Legal Lapis is unique color of blue (exclusive to Pendemonium) that’s a permanent color so you can use it on legal documents. It’s not easy to change colors in a fountain pen so I have my main drawing pen with Beaver and a couple of inexpensive pens I use for writing or explore different color and paper combinations. One warning I’d give with fountain pens is to make sure to empty out the ink from your pen if you’re not going to be using it for a while. It’s a lot of work to clean out a pen with dried ink - especially if the ink is permanent or semi-permanent.

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