Lexington Gray Is Mushy

My two, new Pilot 78G fountain pens, fine nibs, along with a bottle of Private Reserve Chocolat arrived today! New toys!

When I tried the one I filled with Noodler's Lexington Gray, I noticed the line is soft or mushy and wider compared to Noodler's Black. This is the reason why the ink in my Lamy Safari looks like it is from a pen with a medium nib instead of an extra fine nib.

You can see by my samples that the Pilot fine nib is finer than the Lamy Safari extra fine nib no matter the ink, and the Lexington Gray has a wider line than the black no matter the pen. The scan with web resolution does not show the differences well, but it's enough to show there is some.

The Private Reserve Chocolat ink is a beautiful dark brown. It's not waterproof like the Noodler's inks, so it can be used for washes by picking up the ink from the line.

The Pilot pens and the Private Reserve ink were purchased from His Nibs. He doesn't carry the Noodler's inks.

Last Page of First Moleskine Sketchbook

Dumb drawing, but it's the last page of the Moleskine sketchbook I started in February. During this time I've completed one Moleskine watercolor book with only EDM challenges, and I've almost completed another Moleskine watercolor book.

I used my new Lamy Safari pen with Noodler's Lexington Gray ink. This is my second Lamy Safari, and I'm really disappointed. Though the nib is EF (extra fine), it's more of a medium point. My first one also has an EF nib, but it's not smooth. This one is smooth, but I prefer a truly fine nib.

The Noodler's Lexington Gray is interesting. It's the color of graphite. I'm ordering another Pilot 78G with a fine nib so I can have the extra fine line I'm after with this ink. I think I will enjoy this ink. Sometimes black ink seems too stark for my mood at the time.

Enough with Roses

Just couldn't get into one more rose. I'm sure the practice is good for me, but I don't like the results of my efforts. One day I will be more comfortable with ink and shading, but not today. At least my new Pilot pen from the previous post is more comfortable in my hand than my previous pens.

If anyone is interested, here are the links where I purchased my pens.
His Nibs
Pilot 78G, Fine Nib, $25
Hero Account, XXF Nib, $10

New Fountain Pens

My only interest in roses is that they confuse me so drawing them is good practice. The first was drawn with Micron pens. Since I learned to write with a fountain pen, I find the angle needed to use technical, roller, ballpoint, and disposable pens difficult.

I have a Lamy Safari, EF nib, but its shape near the nib does not suit me, and the Noodler's ink in the pen took hours and care to dry. Even then it would sometimes smudge.

Today's mail brought me two inexpensive pens: a Pilot 78G, F nib, and a Hero Accountant, XXF nib.

The second rose was done with the Pilot 78G with a fine nib. Do not blame the skill of the drawing on the pen. It was a pleasure to hold. It's a Japanese pen, and the F nib equates to our XF nib. The Noodler's ink from this pen dried within minutes, so less ink must be coming through the nib. The nib is much smoother than that of my Lamy Safari. This may be the pen for me!

The Hero Accountant pen is also nice, but I've only used it to write a few words. The ink line seems close that of the Pilot F nib. It's also a smooth writer.