or...
"all inks are not created equal"
with a footnote:
*and that matters, especially when you're taking the time to test things before taking them to the actual work
thankfully the "work" in this case is in my sketchbook
the long and short of it is I did a collage in my sketchbook that was to have a wide band of calligraphy running vertically across the page
curly cursive text in black with white on top
a wide band, growing denser in the centre, then visually lifted with very loose white calligraphy in the centre area
I found a failed print made the same day as the one that was used in the collage
first I tested scribbled writing with the white posca pen
good
then a scribble of black using a Calligraphie black marker
also good
then in succession I tried a number of other different black writing tools
good, good and good
as a final test, white posca pen on top of all the different blacks
good again!
testing over I moved on to the collage
and began with my Lamy fountain pen
writing with it is smooth and effortless and I easily did the five initials rows, then began laying in the next ones in the centre area, moving closer and closer to the centre with each subsequent layer
the outer edges were nice and loose with some gentle curves and swirls
I waited for 7 - 8 minutes, picked up the Posca pen and began
expecting a line of flowing letters running through the centre space I was surprised to see nothing on the page other than the odd blue smudge here and there
hmmm...
I hadn't waited for anything to dry on the text piece but maybe a few more minutes would do the trick
and so I waited for almost two hours and tried again
garbled blueish writing
it hit me then it was not the fault of the white pen...
I realized in all the pen trials I had done, not once did I pick up the Lamy
and that pen does not have permanent ink in it
all the others I tested did
sigh
normally I would keep fiddling with this, looking at ways of redeeming it, gluing something else over top, trying this, that and the next thing to make something successful
this time, I'm leaving it as it is, knowing that's the best hope of me remembering to make notes when doing tests, keeping track of what I use and what I don't
it appears testing and sampling are two different things!
lesson learned
take care,
Jillayne
