New Project for a New Year
Or, how to justify a ridiculous abundance of fancy inks
Back in the late 80’s, my father gave me a blue tortoiseshell Waterman fountain pen for Christmas. I loved writing with it, but fountain pens are not well-suited to the demands of modern writing; the ink is slow to dry and quick to cling to damp fingers even years later, they’re incredibly messy to refill, prone to leaking, and dry out if not used every few days. So I would pull it out every Christmas to write Santa’s gift tags, then regretfully put it away for another year. Then COVID happened, and we all worked from home, and suddenly taking notes in meetings with a fountain pen was a viable option. Then I discovered modern inks, all shimmer and glitter, and an addiction was born (Ferris Wheel Press is my dealer of choice).
Then I discovered dip pens, and sketching with ink.
And learned that if you use a wet brush with fountain pen ink, interesting things happen to the colours.
I can now do very cool things with colour. But I cannot draw. Stick figures are a stretch. So I signed up for a drawing course. A university-credit visual arts program drawing course, VA113. We start drawing lines next week. I’ll never be A Great Artist, but maybe I can justify owning $500 worth of fancy ink.
Updates to follow :-D