Author: Nick Stewart

I create art using fountain pen inks and bleach. My techniques epitomise the whole ethos of ‘less is more’ and demonstrate how much one can achieve using very little. It is also a medium that is very much serendipity led and the beauty of the final outcomes are often dictated by this.

swatch test by Nick StewartMay 9, 20162:53 pm

Caran d’Ache Inks Test – Part 2

I sourced these Caran d’Ache samples from Rachel and Brian at Goulet Pens and Vijay at Stationery Shop stationeryshop.scotland@gmail.com. These are a great range of inks, 18 in total, with plenty of artistic possibilities. I’ll post a couple of test […]

swatch test by Nick StewartMay 9, 20162:33 pm

Caran d’Ache Inks Test – Part 1

swatch test by Nick StewartMay 9, 20162:09 pm

Kaweco Inks Test

These Kaweco samples were sourced from Rachel and Brian at Goulet Pens. This is the full range of 8 inks and a nice set of colours too. Midnight Blue – A deep dark blue handwriting ink that mixes […]

swatch test by Nick StewartMay 6, 201611:21 am

Cult Pens Diamine Inks Test

I sourced these Cult Pen Diamines from Vijay at Stationery Shop. He has an amazing collection of inks (circa 700 and counting). He’s based up in Edinburgh and supplies sample vials of ALL his stock at very […]

NEWS by Nick StewartApr 29, 20163:54 pm

Top tips to help prevent fountain pen inks fading!

Like watercolour paints, fountain pen inks fade too. But don’t let this put you off. This is what I do to enhance and preserve my fountain pen ink artworks: Paper: Use heavy paper stocks of good quality (Bockingford, […]

swatch test by Nick StewartApr 28, 201610:33 am

Platinum Inks Test

These Platinum samples were sourced from Rachel and Brian at Goulet Pens. 15 have been put to the test in total. The 9 you can see as a block are mostly from the Mix Free […]

swatch test by Nick StewartApr 22, 20164:11 pm

Faber-Castell Inks Test

I sourced these Faber-Castell samples from Rachel and Brian at Goulet Pens and they’re quite lovely. Carbon Black – a proper rich black ink. Mixes with water readily with a hint of purple at the swatch edge. A […]

swatch test by Nick StewartApr 22, 20163:30 pm

Monteverde and Montegrappa Ink Tests

It could be that I’ve been up to my neck in the day job for the last 2 weeks and the continuity has lapsed, who knows? I didn’t warm to these inks at all. They […]

INK ART by Nick StewartApr 22, 20162:52 pm

Quink Black and Red Ink – Transformer

One of my favourite images from a truly wonderful album, Transformer. The Parker black and red inks just blend beautifully and their reaction with the bleach is always pure gold. I just hope it does […]

swatch test by Nick StewartMar 26, 20161:13 pm

Blackstone Ink Review 02

Kevin at the JustWrite Pen Company has very kindly sent me 4 more inks to test. So what can they do? Blackstone Black – this is a thicker ink than the Stump. Doesn’t blend that easily with water, washing out in gradations […]