To be perfectly honest I did not know if I should put this topic in pens or inks because the challenge is which one is important first?
So my question for you is do you choose a pen and then find the right ink or do you have a favourite ink and then pick out a pen for that ink?
I know it gets complicated when the nib and feed and paper all play a part, but if one does a top ten ink list and then a top ten pen list do they match up or does that just complicate the problem more. And if some inks are drier than others that adds another area of choice as well.
I was trying to do a top ten inks lists for a pen pal and that was hopeless as I listed 25 inks not ten! Then I thought I would look at a top ten pen list and see if that would help. It did not! Then I thought maybe one should take a colour category and work with that. Like what are my favourite blues etc. Did not help. I like so many blues.Same with other colours too.
All I know is that I want to have the same ink for the same pen and that it writes well with its nib and I can sort the paper as I go along. As an example I have always liked the grey ink called Pilot Iroshizuku Fuju Syogun or Old Man Winter. It has been in a Monteverde Mountains of the Word K2 from the start. I have never changed it and I think I might have bought them about the same time.
Last thought. Some say that one does not have to colour match the pen or ink at all! Well that makes it interesting. My final thought is matching the pen and ink makes sense to me. When I put Pelikan 4001 Turquoise in the new Pelikan M205 Star Ruby I did not like that at all. But when I put DeAtramentis Red Roses in it I was really happy. Both inks wrote well but the colour match won in the end. Your thoughts?