Developing Preferences - The Creature Comforts of Calligraphy

Man, I love stuff that makes my life easier...

And it doesn’t hurt if it looks nice too!

Last time, I wanted to share my birthday-gifts-to-me, but they hadn’t exactly gotten to me. This time, I have them both and you’re about to get a good look at them.

I’ve found that the equipment the calligraphy community has is typically meant to make getting to the writing easier. It’s no wonder since in the beginning, it’s difficult enough just getting a nib to write at all. Who needs the added pressure of keeping the ink stirred evenly? Or organizing a bunch of nibs? Or separating out cards all over the table for them to dry properly?

With that in mind, first up, is my new nib holder.

Nib Holders

If you read the last post, you know I got a new hourglass adjustable oblique. I love it for practicing! It just feels so nice in my hand. So, now I’ll have one with me almost all the time.

And there are nibs at the end of those holders. They just happen to be covered by some nib caps from Creative Ink Holders.

These things are awesome! They can’t protect my whole nib. But, they can help with giving the flange and nib some extra support for any mishaps on-the-go.

I took mine to work and made a few notes for some work friends. I call these “art room specials” since I make them with whatever we happen to have in the art room that day lol.

The nib caps come in a few different sizes for various nibs. I have one of each in the first two sizes which will fit the nibs I currently use.

I originally got some Mobliques to use at work because of how they carry nibs safely in their shafts…and I will still use those for larger nibs with additional features like ink cages (see below). But, now, I have more options.

Inkwell

Next up is an inkwell by the same creator.

The packaging was pretty enough in and of itself. I find calligraphers do like pretty things. Who wants to try to make something beautiful when you have a eyeful of ugly to get through?

But take a look at what was inside this box…

If that inkwell doesn’t beat all?

That thing is a little slice of heaven on earth!

Now, I have other containers that hold ink and stir them for metallic inks or white ink. Love those! But, I didn’t have anything for regular practice ink like walnut ink or sumi ink that doesn’t need to be stirred frequently-but definitely needs to stop turning over on my desk…or needing to be picked up, mid-sentence.

I ordered this inkwell with an integrated pen rest that has my initials. It’s beautiful! But, the thing that I like the most about it is that it tilts as little or as much as I need to load my pen with ink, without spilling.

So functional and smart!

And did I say how pretty it was? 😍

Nibs

In other news, I started my calligraphy journey using the Blue Pumpkin…I didn’t like it much. It may have been the fact that I didn’t know that it had a coating on it…But, either way, at the time, it was a hard pass.

Then, I tried the Zebra G…It just seemed to finicky for me at that time (which was still around the time I had no idea I had to remove the coating from new nibs).

The Brause EF66 was nice-even before I removed the coating. But, it was considered an advanced nib and I wanted the whole beginner experience.

I finally settled on the Nikko G because the writing was smoother for me-once I had figured out the whole prepping of the nib first. It became my favorite when I discovered caged nibs. An ink cage is a spring that is attached to the underside of a nib. That little addition holds a great amount of ink. It makes a Nikko G Ink Cage nib write for days without needing to be re-loaded.

I still like the Nikko G with the ink cage. But, once, I started using the Hunt 22B, I rarely picked up another until this past week. For me, my Copperplate is still eerily similar to what I produce with the Nikko G, although a little less smooth. But, when I write, there’s a bit more feedback between the nib and the surface of the paper…and for some reason, I prefer that.

I swung past the Blue Pumpkin again and it works a lot better for me now that the coating is removed from it.

I also still love the Nikko G with or without an Ink Cage (but mostly with). It can’t fit any of my new nib caps though. So, it will have to stay inside of my Mobliques.

Nope. I still think I prefer the Hunt 22B.

That said, I still have a few other nibs to try out in my stash that I haven’t gotten around to yet…

…and I heard the Hunt 101 has an Ink Cage too.