Originally published at: I have found the ultimate drawing ink | Boing Boing
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Is it good for prison tattooing? Asking for friend in the state pen.<------------
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I was given some hand carved pens in an art class. A fellow student had made them from hydrangea cuttings. Nothing fancy but varying “nib” sizes. Dip and draw fast. Not great for careful lines like in cartooning, but for expressive strokes with lots of happy accidents. Maybe use a cheaper ink at first.
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I like how it’s filed under “useful stu” – only 30ml of black pixels!
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So you can pick it up in hardw.
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Did Stu endorse these? 
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Somehow I think if it’s made by Deleter, it should be…disappearing ink?
Annnnd I imagine I’m only the billionth person to make that joke.
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Honest question- why would anyone use a dip pen over a fountain pen? The former seems identical except even less capacity and even more hipster. Maybe I answered my own question?
I like the volume discount: 1 bottle for $11.16, 4 for $114.40. Watta deal!
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Well, now I understand better why prolific artists buy ink by Deleter.
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Hydrangea? Great, I have a bit more cutting back to do. Any advice on how to do good ones? Just for a bit of fun with my daughters.
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Algorithmic pricing, no doubt.
(The overpriced multi-packs are sold by a third-party vendor)
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Dip pens (aka “crowquill” pens) have more flexible nibs, responsive to pressure, better for an expressive line when drawing. Flexi-nib fountain pens are quite expensive. A flexible dip nib costs a dollar or so & the nib holder (the “pen” part) is almost infinitely re-usable, with a vast array of nibs to choose from. I’ve also used the skinny end of a chopstick with the very skinny superfine manga nibs. Worked fine!
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Great info, thank you!
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Also, using this kind of ink or india ink in a fountain pen would completely clog it up.
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After using lots of different fountain pens for drawing, from a cheap Noodler’s flex pen to the quite expensive Pelikan Sailor, I discovered Ackerman Pens – pens created specifically to work with dip nibs and thick drawing inks.
They’re not perfect – don’t carry them in your pocket! – but they’re kind of magic, 'cuz they make it possible to use dip nips without, you know, the constant dipping.
Ultimately, I decided that I prefer drawing on the go with a marker, and use a Tombow Fudenosuke (hard) marker refilled with waterproof Platinum Carbon ink – the same ink I used with the Ackerman Pens. It’s quick-drying, permanent, and very dark, but formulated to work in fountain pens.
Just in case that’s useful to anybody!
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Sounds like fun!
Remembering my gifted examples…
Choose stems about 3-5 mm;
Cut or whittle the end like a the carrot stick left after the first julienne cut;
Get a shallow angle so they look a bit sharp or jabby,
Or add a little concavity to the angle,
This is so the “nib” is thinnish in profile;
Trim the sides of the nib to get the width you want,
(Make multiple pens with varying widths);
Trim across the nib to clean it up.
And… doesn’t have to be hydrangea, but hydrangea works great. You can use anything. Long Pine needles would be fun to try.
If you do use dark ink, let it dry then paint or draw in colour over top.
Last thing - This will be messy so gloves?
I’ll edit in a few minutes if I can get a photo of my pens. Gotta find them.
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I’m guessing “Deleter” for physical redaction. 
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It is quite a bit cheaper on jetpens.com
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