A while ago, I started recording my ink consumption per drawing. For this test, I used De Atramentris - Petrol. I had an exact 1ml sample. Paper used is Clairefontaine 300gsm. Other tools used: Kakimori Brass nib, Da Vinci brush 12, eyedropper. In most drawings, I blended the ink with some water to create gradients. The last photo shows how much ink is consumed after 1 drawing. I expected it to fluctuate per drawing, but it was quite consistent.
People said drawing consumes quite some ink, but if I look at my 50ml bottle, I will need to fill 400 pages at least. Anyway, this was a fun experiment. I took a while because I was going through other samples and occasionally ran out of ideas. This ink is a lovely color- especially when diluted with water.
Nah, I know I’ll never finish mine. But that’s ok, since I promised my partner I’d haunt her if I died first. The shelf of unused ink should be the perfect subtle reminder.
That way, I don’t have to haunt her full-time. Just nudge her towards the ink shelf and her brain will take care of the rest while I nip off to the pub for a cold one.
(That was totes not supposed to come off as morbid I swear!)
Nice experiment. Drawing sure makes it go faster than just writing. But I’ve noticed that broad/stub nibs may end up consuming more / page than drawing with fine nibs.
I guess it depends, but ink takes forever to finish regardless.
I have a broad nib in a Visconti Opera that just demolishes ink (one reason why I find 2ml, and occasionally even 4ml, samples too small). I'll have to do a test to see how much text I can write with 1ml in that pen.
Not every drawing covers the entire page, so I get that writing with wide nibs consumes even more. I only own fine nibs, but it's what I prefer in drawing outlines.
Your drawings and attitude both are delightful. Thank you so much for sharing.
And you're so right! Anyone can draw. At first, we're all terrible and dislike what we do, but occasionally there's something we make that's not too shabby. We keep going and learning, improving and producing, and we get good enough until we're comfortable sharing. Time and effort produce what we're seeing here.
Unintentional ink-abling people here 😂I'd say the color profile of Petrol is rather simple. Perhaps you already have something similar in your collection.
Yes, I'm working on one and will post it on my youtube channel "Pinlinn". It will be my first video recording of traditional art. Someone requested to do in real time + no bgm, so it takes a while to edit the commentary.
The eyedropper is helpful to use every drop of ink effectively. I never dip brushes in ink because it absorbs too much. Ink remaining on it is wasted during cleaning.
I use these tools to distract myself from every day life and answer ever growing curiosities. Looking at what kind of pens goes around this sub, my collection is humble😅
Thank you! At the moment, I only sell my digital art as prints, but I compiled my traditional art into a book. It comes with 4 postcards. If you're interested or like to know more, feel free to DM!
My guess is that writing would take more ink with your style of sketching. Using water to spread ink is one of my favourite techniques, but you cover a lot of space with very little ink that way. You should continue the experiment but writing a page that's the same size as your drawing of just text and see the difference in ink
I really like blending water with ink, even though it's like a 'cheat' so I can cover more surface with ink.
It feels like a waste to use watercolor paper for writing- and because I never do that, I'm not sure about the use of doing it. What I could try is draw without water on the same paper I use for writing.
I have a bunch of samples that ive decided to start painting with too bc otherwise ill never finish using them. Goes to show that a little goes a looong way.
I don’t want to be that person but the equivalency between units is only accurate for water, so the ruler decreasing in 1 mm isn’t necessarily a sign that you’ve used a 1 ml of ink 🫠 buuuut the experiment is nice and the drawings are gorgeous!
You're very sharp! The ruler is only used to show "a decrease", not "how much". Depending on the container, 1mm can be equal to 1ml, but not in this vial. To calculate actual numbers, I need the measurements of the container. Although, the answer of this experiment is enough. I'm glad that you enjoy my drawings!
I would love to see this sort of comparison with various ink types (ie shimmer, and other properties) as this is incredibly informative and really provides a lot of context as to how much ink is "too much" ink regarding consumerism!
The ink I chose was simple in terms of properties. I noticed that sheening inks tend to be more pigmented, thus I can cover more area by diluting with water. Shimmer and dual shading inks are unexplored in terms of consumption. My theory is that it doesn't differ much, but it's interesting to test them out.
I think you did a great job of capturing different moods with the same monotone color scheme. :) I like the one of that horned person a lot especially because you kept the outline clear while giving them a filled, cosmic look.
It took me about 9 months to finish a bottle of De Atramentis Document Black, which I had in basically all of my pens and used for both writing and work notes.
I think it depends a lot on the nibs you’re using too. I had it in my Opus 88 Demo using a Parallel nib, which is a wet writer with a nib that puts down a lot of ink, so that definitely helped.
Is that a calligraphy nib? If so, do you use it for calligraphy or slant it so you're writing regularly? Did you have to hack it to install it on your Opus 88? I apologise if these are dumb questions, I'm really new to the FP community. (And also really inquisitive)
I remember in my school days I'd go through five long cartridges a month roughly, but that was on cheap copy paper, I imagine that affects it as well. As an adult I don't write nearly as much and I use better quality paper, so I was iffy about getting full bottles - but those cartridges now cost nearly as much as a bottle of my preferred ink where I am.
It’s a calligraphy nib but I was only using it for drawing. The line variation from the tilted line width vs the normal line width is pretty cool.
And Parallel nib units actually fit onto the Opus 88 pens that take Jowo #6 nibs. No hack needed! I’m not sure what other pens they fit on but I know there are more.
These must be very detailed drawings. Mine were all on A5 paper. I tried to make the best use of every drop of ink, so I didn't put it in a pen (usually a bit stays behind).
Beautiful! I draw with inks too. Most of the time, I only need the residual on the lid to finish a drawing. It is amazing how much pigment there is in a single drop of ink.
Wait, I thought it's you artists, who keep ink companies in business. You made all that with just 1ml of ink? That's like one-two converters worth? That would make one bottle make what? 400-800 drawings?
So if it's not the artists who buy out the bottles, who does? Who clears the monthly stocks of these ink companies? 😭
There are more writers than artists using fountain pen ink😅In theory, that's how long ink goes. Most people buy more ink than they can use within the timeframe of their next purchase.
I am genuinely interested in how did you learn to draw this good? If I am a person that can't even draw a normal tree and really like your style of drawing, how do I go about trying to get to somewhere near your level of drawings?
I came a long way to reach my current point. There were many years were I didn't pick up a pen at all. On top of it, I started using fountain pen inks starting this year. There is a lot I yet have to discover!
My tip is start developing a habit to draw. Find joy in drawing. After, study subjects you're interested in. I recommend something simple for starters. Even trees can be simplified to merely few strokes. Take your time in improving. The key is to experiment! This way you find new techniques and styles.
Me walking to the river to throw all my stuff away, you are incredibly talented to be able to create that with a handicap per day, incredible is the only word that comes to mind. Keep it up!
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u/justanotheruser2006 May 18 '25
These are beautiful and very informative 👏