How to swatch fountain pen ink: 3 easy methods

Are you a fountain pen beginner and want to swatch some ink for the first time? Or are you a veteran ink swatcher who wants to try something new? Either way, this video is for you! I introduce three easy methods for swatching fountain pen ink. I'll also walk you through some tips to get the most out of your ink swatches. Please share your own ink swatch tips in the comments!
CHAPTERS
1:54 Materials you'll need
5:55 Back of the dip pen method
7:46 Paint brush method
9:14 Ink syringe method
LINKS
Instagram: / downthebreatherhole
Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/s...
Email: downthebreatherhole at gmail dot com
Editing Services: www.fiverr.com...

[@highnoon9333]

I use a cheap old t-shirt underneath my cards when i swatch and when I refill pens. I just like seeing the cotton get saturated with the ink and seeing it spread out. It also gets all the different colors on it and it's just fun. No, I don't plan to ever wear the shirt.

[@queenbuzybee4074]

Do it, wear it! Haha. Great idea with the old t-shirt, thanks for that! My wife may even be excited by me “getting rid of an old t-shirt”! Thanks for the idea!

[@fossilimprint2954]

You taught me a lot of methods here, thank you.

[@storge306]

Thank you for sharing, mate. Using the back end of the glass dip pen is a brilliant idea! I too was keeping a list of inks in the back of what-ever-journal I was using at the time. Indeed, this is not a good idea. This is a timely video as I just bought myself a dedicated Rhodia Spiral Notebook to swatch all of my inks in (with a dedicated ink swatch stamp).

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

Nice! A Rhodia notebook is a great idea. I love their paper.

[@fbales]

I use 3x5 index cards cut in half with Q-Tips. Work great. Cheap. I use a dip pen to write.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

Good idea! I used to use Q-Tips all the time with ink. I still do from time to time.

[@phototristan]

I do something similar but with a keyring to attach them all. So I have them all together in a swatch ring.

[@fountainpeninsanity3344]

I’m glad to see you are having fun with the inks! Sorry about any spills in the mail. I wish I could keep that from happening. I enjoyed this video because I have been reconsidering how I do my swatching. I have always swatched several different inks in the same color family on one sheet of paper. This makes the swatches hard to reorganize. I have a new idea for organizing swatches and I am looking for a good time to try it out.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

No trouble at all, Sara. I've had brand new inks leak in the mail too. You packed everything amazingly well. The only real trouble is that one of the labels you added to a Robert Oster ink bottle has been inked over, so I don't know what the ink is. haha If you happen to remember what you put in there, let me know. It's the one that was in with the Troublemakers bottle.

[@fountainpeninsanity3344]

That might have been Leonardo Officina Italiana Black.

[@fountainpeninsanity3344]

I hope the ink didn’t get on everything in the box.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

Nope! Not to worry. It was just a leak in one small bag. Everything else was fantastic.

[@fountainpeninsanity3344]

@@DowntheBreatherHole Oh, good!

[@mayneric]

You can also use a fountain pen as a dip pen. No need to fill it up if you are doing multiple inks. You’ll need to rinse it off but won’t need to fully clean.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

That's a good idea, though even just dipping the nib in ink might draw a slight amount of ink up inside the feed, so before you do a true fill with that pen, you might want to do a good flush, just in case.

[@PenLobster]

I have some of those Wearingeul cards on order to do my first swatching, so this is a timely video for me. :) Love the ink syringe technique - I think that gives a really cool effect.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

Nice! Yeah, I like the effect of spraying the ink too.

[@sherrycohen1824]

Helen Wang of The Coffee Monsterz KZbin channel just posted her ink swatches in a notebook, but she cut up strips of paper from notebooks she typically uses. This way she can see how the ink colors contrast on different papers.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

I looked it up! That's a really creative take on ink Swatching!

[@elainenabors9832]

Welcome to the inky goodness of swatching!!!!! I am in love with your syringe tip!! Thanks!! I’m totally trying that!! I make watercolors with my leftover ink from the syringe.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

Nice! I'm glad you liked that tip. It's a lot of fun, and I like how the results look.

[@queenbuzybee4074]

Hey Brian! I love the splatter idea! Now just to make a plan to not have my office look like Jackson Pollock painted it, although that could be cool as well. Thanks for sharing!

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

Haha it's not too bad. If you do it on a wide table or counter it's pretty easy to wipe up any splatters afterwards.

[@karenholden4740]

Love the back of the pen. Great idea!

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

Thanks! Yeah, I think I got it from a reel on Instagram. Haha

[@herrsteppenwolf]

Unless you're using your inks for artwork, I find swatching inks give you a false impression of the ink on paper written with your fountain pen. For instance, while an ink swatch my show sheening properties, these properties may not appear when written on a page. Yes perhaps with broad or double broad nib but not medium and fine and certainly not extra fine nibs. Swatching can be fun, but look at how many of inks you wrote with with the glass dip pen looked so much different compared to the swatch.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

I don't mind the difference, actually. I find it helpful to have the larger ink swatch, which I can compare to the writing next to it if I need to. The look of a fountain pen ink varies widely depending on the pen and paper you are using, so I'm okay with some variation between what I'm seeing on the swatch and what the ink looks like in a fountain pen.

[@rgcainmd]

Still using Noodler’s?!?!? 🤢🤮

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

I actually don't use them much anymore. Are your problems with Noodler's political/social or related to the quality of the ink itself?

[@rgcainmd]

@@DowntheBreatherHole Both, but primarily Nathan Tardiff's antisemitism.

[@DowntheBreatherHole]

I definitely get that. It was a weird situation. I definitely don't see the world the same way Nathan Tardiff does. But I'm willing to believe that his apology and changes to his company were sincere. That's just me though. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to give him their business.

[@potandpens]

A store near me stopped carrying Noodlers I didn’t realize it was drama with the brand. Idk if that’s why but interesting to know it’s a possibility