Pens Pencils Plus

While the days are slowly getting longer we are still deep in winter here. February tends to be the coldest month in these parts. We’ve even gotten some good snow recently, which has not been the case the last two years.

I’ve been using dark hues and finer nibs all week for my work notes. I woke up in the weekend feeling the need for change.

I often see post on the Insta of people’s wonderfully thick writing, which they supposedly get with medium nibs. So I brought out the Duke 209 bent nib fountain pen I’d purchased some months back.

So this pen has been interesting. I recall most recently trying it with Platinum Carbon Black, and it did not seem to like it. Hard stops, railroading—the works. And this was even after giving the pen a good cleaning. Frustrated, I left it empty and forgotten for several weeks. Then this weekend I thought what if I try it with another ink? And specifically an ink with a trusted flow and behavior.

So I filled it up with Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki and I’ve been using it all weekend. With it I can get those thick lines I see all over Insta. And the Kon-Peki feels both summery and icy to me—the striking blue of a Puerto Rican sky as well the cold blue hues of water inside ice.

I’ve also used it to journal the last couple days. But the bent nib doesn’t really work for my mixed cursive/print style. I have to write very slowly with it.

Also, it’s an all-aliinum pen with an extremely slippery and thin grip section. It’s not very comfortable to hold for longer writing sessions. I find if I hold it a bit higher up it works better for me. And it’s actually a good thing to do with this type of nib. You can put more of your arm into it and get more expressive lines.

Overall it’s been a great change of pace. And with no hard starts annoying skips. A great change of pace as winter drolls on.