Artists use fountain pens with interchangeable tips, or nibs.
The art of writing goes back to about 2500 B.C. when both China and Egypt started forming sticks out of lamp soot mixed with gums or glues. Once dried, bits of these sticks could be shaved off and mixed with small amounts of water, creating ink. This mixture is still used throughout much of East Asia in the art of calligraphy, using pens made of bamboo or brushes. Fast forward to the mid-19th century when the fountain pen was invented and along with it a new fountain pen ink.
19th Century Ink
Fountain pen inks of the mid-19th century were ammonia based. These were aniline dyes, created using an oil based solvent that made the inks dry faster. Other ingredients could include tannins, gum arabic and soot, used to make black inks. Inks could be made in a variety of colors and they were not as corrosive to the fountain pens or the paper as previous mixtures. If moistened, the inks would smear. Exposure to light would cause the inks to fade.
Modern Ink
Aniline dye is still used in modern inks. Other materials that have been added to fountain pen ink include ethylene glycol, which makes the ink flow more smoothly; and phenol, which inhibits the growth of bacteria and mold. Sometimes drying agents are added to speed drying time for ink on a page, as are preservatives that keep the ink from corroding or drying while still in the pen. Fountain pen inks tend to have a slight ammonia odor. Some manufacturers add perfumes to combat this. Another invention was the ink cartridge. This keeps a supply of ink in the pen, like a ball-point, but still has the traditional writing feel of a dip-in-the-bottle fountain pen.
Sepia Ink
True sepia inks are made from mixing dried cuttlefish (a marine octopus-like creature) ink with ground shellac. The genuine ink can still be found today in artist specialty stores and most are suitable for fountain pens. Sepia tones are usually used in pen and ink drawings. Most red-brown inks--authentically made or not--are usually called sepia inks.
