In Which I Learn That Bottled India Ink Is Dangerously Non-Portable
Let me say this up front: I love to draw with my Crow Quill and India ink. There's something about the Crow nib that no other writing implement can equal. Nothing else is the same. The trouble is, the Crow Quill is a dip pen. I have to dip the nib into ink in order to draw or write with it. Herein lies my problem.
Thursday I went up to the local church on my bike with pocket watercolour sketchbook et al in tow. No leakage problems on the ink bottle. At least not that I noticed until I unpacked the small bag Friday night and saw that the ink bottle had leaked a bit. Nothing was damaged, but it was a heads-up: be more careful with the India ink.
This afternoon, with the weather still being really really nice, I went up to the church again. This time I was carrying my stuff in a little bag slung over my shoulder. I did take the precaution of putting the ink bottle in a ziploc bag first. It's a good thing. I unpacked the ink and saw it had started leaking again. So I went back home to clean up the ink and consider a solution.
While testing the bottle for leakage in the sink, I managed to splash a few droplets of ink onto my white, irreplaceable Klingon Language Institute competency levels t-shirt. A strategic attack with bleach failed to deter the little black dots, so I rinsed it and left it to hang downstairs. Thankfully it's not all that noticeable.
I now make a plea to any other India ink artists out there: how do you transport your ink safely? I have heard good things about Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pens, but not only are they expensive, they do not have the same Crow nib that I have grown to love. I suppose I should start looking for a watertight container for transporting my ink. Anyone out there have a good solution for this dilemma? I love my Crow quill pen! I don't want to be reduced to drawing with it only when I'm at home!
Thursday I went up to the local church on my bike with pocket watercolour sketchbook et al in tow. No leakage problems on the ink bottle. At least not that I noticed until I unpacked the small bag Friday night and saw that the ink bottle had leaked a bit. Nothing was damaged, but it was a heads-up: be more careful with the India ink.
This afternoon, with the weather still being really really nice, I went up to the church again. This time I was carrying my stuff in a little bag slung over my shoulder. I did take the precaution of putting the ink bottle in a ziploc bag first. It's a good thing. I unpacked the ink and saw it had started leaking again. So I went back home to clean up the ink and consider a solution.
While testing the bottle for leakage in the sink, I managed to splash a few droplets of ink onto my white, irreplaceable Klingon Language Institute competency levels t-shirt. A strategic attack with bleach failed to deter the little black dots, so I rinsed it and left it to hang downstairs. Thankfully it's not all that noticeable.
I now make a plea to any other India ink artists out there: how do you transport your ink safely? I have heard good things about Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pens, but not only are they expensive, they do not have the same Crow nib that I have grown to love. I suppose I should start looking for a watertight container for transporting my ink. Anyone out there have a good solution for this dilemma? I love my Crow quill pen! I don't want to be reduced to drawing with it only when I'm at home!