With the inability to put any decent individual/self drawn picture or painting to paper, it is an interesting experience to use these nibs……and dream of being able to use one with decent outcomes. Produce something fit for purpose. When you have the lines and squiggles drawn and produced in front of the eyes, it is interesting to try to envisage something unique to apply the results to.
Please tap on the smaller photograph images to enlarge.
Got no idea of what to personally use them for actually. Not large ‘poster’ calligraphy. Not for myself as an artist. I’m no free expression artist! Believe me. I have tried. My Aphantasia condition (https://graysummerstwo.com/2021/06/17/aphantasia/) allows me no production of imagery. No self produced visual inherent pictorial imagination. And these are certainly not for writing. The obvious volume and resulting wetness of the ink on first presentation/application of the larger nibs to paper is based on the fact that there is an ink reservoir on top of the nib. It collects a decent amount of this shellac based ink. The nib gets all over zealous and rushes to show what it can do. Basically, it tries to show off, but fails in it’s over exuberant nature by producing a volume that could spread on the paper and make a mess. On drying, this wetter ink gives a nice satin sheen though. As the ink becomes lesser on the nib, a dryness produces dull results.
The smaller nibs are easier to control. So in artwork, I suppose the larger nibs would be excellent washes and the finer used for the detail work. Tilting and using for line thickness could be applied for decent results in these examples of art here above in the ‘Chinese Folk Designs’ book by W. M. Hawley. However, on past use of various nibs, the Rotring and Pelikan Graphos nibs had a nicer control to them. See link below. More ‘fountain pen’ in nature with a controlled inherent ink delivery. Filled into a chamber within the pen’s barrel. They have a variety of art and italic nib designs with double nib layer that means drawing on the ‘open edge’ of the nib to allow ink release. The thickness of lines produced by angle presentation to paper and not pressure……as produced with fountain pen flex nibs.
Here above then, in the photographs, is a simple routine example of the nibs. This may be if help to someone out there who is an artist and not seen these before.
Gray Summers 