De Atramentis Ink is now available in cartridges in black, brown and blue ink! Most of you know that De Atramentis ink is my favourite waterproof ink for fountain pens.
They are available in the short international cartridge size so they suit many pens but not the ones I’m currently using the most (Lamy, Pilot, Platinum and Sailor). And so I went through my collection of pens to find which pens they would suit.
They are:
- Kaweco pens,
- Super 5 pens and
- Faber Castell Loom.
Notes:
1. The last two are a little heavy for me to use for sketching.
2. Another pen I own which suits these cartridges is the Rotring Art Pen
And then guess what… I bought a few new lightweight entry-level pens that use this size cartridge – from LarryPost – so that I could test them for you all.
They are:
- Faber-Castell 2011 Grip
- Pelikan Twist
- Monteverde Monza
I will start using these pens this week and will do a full review in October – yes, inktober month!
I don’t intend to change from using bottled ink and using a converter and/or refilling cartridges (no need for using the extra plastic), but having De Atramentis Ink in cartridges is a great option for emergencies, for flying or for people who want to start using fountain pen and are initially worried about using bottled ink.
But in the meantime, is anyone using another pen for sketching which would suit these cartridges?
19 Comments
Thanks so much for letting us know about this, Liz (and I’m glad you enjoyed the article on Sydney birds).
I wanted these so much ages ago, but two things make me not as interested now…
I use FP partly for the lack of plastic trash… and so now I can’t see moving toward them when I am so comfortable with converters, even when traveling. I have one pen that I have in my purse all the time, and that is the Platinum Carbon pen with the cartridges. Because it is a fiune point (my only fine point) a cartridge lasts a long time. The rest I ink up to go as i want, for specific drawing days out.
BTW, Monteverde Monza is the first pen in ages I tossed. I’ve heard the same from others. The other two are pretty good little pens. I keep meaning to try a Rotring… I mean, I’ve had their drawing pens for 40 years, so i should buy one of those.
Yeah. I have little use for them but back as a backup they would be handy.
And Kate interesting to hear why you didnt like the Monza
Hiya Liz and everyone *waves*.
I use Travellers Company Brass fountain pen. Mainly because it’s tough. Which is a necessary requirement in my world as I am very clumsy and I prefer non plastic options. On the daily, I use a Kaweco Squeeze converter in it. It will take this size of cartridges I believe.
mmm, interesting to hear. I love the deAtramentis inks but use the converters or refill old disposable cartridges with a syringe. I use a Pilot Falcon, Sailor Fude, Tswbi Eco and a Lamy Joy as my standard pens that I draw with on a regular basis…so none of those would fit my needs either. Can see it being handy but not essential and the single use plastic is an issue for me too.
Yes- totally agree with you Deb. I’m a refill girl too and not sure that these will be useful for me unless I fell in love with one of these pens to use as a spare. then the cartridges would be a useful emergency backup.
Hi Liz, this is Roberto from Italy. First of all thank you for you to posting all your experiences, works and comments. They are very inspiring to me, I returned to sketch (not daily) also thank to your posts.
The availability of De Atramentis standard cartridges is a good new to be considered for emergency, when are on field and the loaded ink has finished.
I do not use DeAtramentis because it is hard to find where I live. I considered to purchase on line but, usually shipping cost are more than the ink value (no comment…). In place of De Atramentis, for my fountain pens, I use the Rotring Document Ink. It is perfectly waterproof when dry and is incredibly cheap: last 50cc bottle was abt 12$ shipping from UK to italy included. The only point, that may not be good for everybody, is that his black is not as deep as other ink. it has a vague blue/gray shade, I like it a lot.
Talking about Fountain pens that accept universal cartridge I use for my daily handwriting at office an old Pelikan Grand Prix. It is a pen made for beginners and children at school but, despite that,or maybe right cause that, it is a real workhorse. It never failed to write even after weeks of leaving (after holidays and despite the cap is not as tight as new) and never lacked a drop of ink. The nib is M and I do not like it for sketching, even if I tried but without satisfaction, on my personal opinion. This is just because I usually do very small sketches and the M nib is too large. I also own a Pelikan Twis. Despite the nib is indicated as M it is narrower compared to the Gran Prix one, and i sometime use it for sketching with water soluble ink. My pen of the day is at the moment a, maybe 20 or more YO, Rotring Art Pen (you also mentioned amongst the pens you own) With F nib, I laod this pen with the mentioned Rotring Document and converter or reuse old cartridges as plastic waste is an issue to me (I use this ink from few years because prior to find it I used simple Pelikan 4001 or, if I wished to dye the sketch with watercolour I used technical pens or dip pens with India Ink). Other fountain pens I own and use are a couple of Lamy Safary with EF and F nib.
Recently I started to test some cheap chinese pens, all of them accepting standard cartridges, with alternate satisfaction: some of them I tryed was very good, other was to be thrown in the bin. It is a little waste of money (the cost of the pens are never more than 5$) but it is the cost of R&D.
Thank you Roberto for sharing your experience with a variety of pens and inks. The detailed information was very helpful to me.
Hi Liz, you can get a cartridge converter for Platinum pens, it fits on a universal cartridge so it works in Platinum pens, I have used it and it works well $2.00 CA for a bit of plastic-but it solves the problem -Sue
Pelikan Twist, my trusted companion from the school days growing up in Germany. Haven’t had one since I moved to the US 30 years ago. Let us know, how it performs.
Romana
I’m using the de Atramentis Document ink cartridges in my Kaweco Liliput fountain pen and loving it. I find the tiny/lightweight Liliput perfect for sketching outings!
Hey Liz,
I´m was about to order some Dokumententinte from the manufacturer directly as I can´t get it here and stumbled over the artist ink. It seems to be waterproof and lightfast and for fountain pens whereas the document ink is … well for documents. That was the clarification De Atramentis gave upon my inquiry. Have you any experience with the artist ink or any idea what the practical difference is between these two for sketchers?
Thanks and a big hug from Spain =)
I would also like to know if there is a difference…
Hi Claire – I’m not sure as I’ve never tried the artist ink
Liz, thanks for sharing the latest and greatest. Unfortunately, I can’t find these ink cartridges in US. Perhaps Larry Post will expand shipping range soon.
so frustrated they don’t fit any of my favourite fountain pens
Hi Audrina – yes the standard cartridge pens aren’t my favourites too 🙂
I use the black document ink cartridges in a Kaweco Sport fountain pen. Never any problems and the pen is left for ages without being used. My only issue is that I prefer drawing in brown ink of late and you can’t get the brown ink cartridges in the UK.
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