A new (and old) favorite ink: Noodler’s Zhivago.

There’s something about ink that’s not quite this or that color. Greenish-grayish is delish. That’s Noodler’s Zhivago; it is not straightforward black, or dark gray, or dark green. It is blackish-greenish-grayish, and delightful because of it.

Noodler's Zhivago
Noodler's Zhivago

I must say I was underwhelmed by it at first. I used it in a plain fine-nibbed pen, and to my eyes, it looked like a weak black.

I filled a newly-rinsed pen with Zhivago yesterday. The little remaining water in the sac diluted the Zhivago just enough so I could see its hints of murky green, and suddenly, it was the new favorite. In a wet-writing pen, it’s best used diluted. Surprisingly, it doesn’t need dilution when used in a relatively dry stub, like the one on my Waterman Carene.

Writing samples, from top to bottom:

1) Stipula Etruria Volterra, 1.1 mm nib
2) Moore with Maniflex nib
3) (slanted upwards) Waterman Carene, stub nib
4) Tachikawa-G nib
5) Smears courtesy of the Carene stub nib, feed facing up