This past weekend I did a post on ink swatching, and walked through how I create the ink swatches that I use both for the shop and to organize my own personal ink collection. Like most people with a lot of ink to organize, a key component of my ink swatching kit is a dip pen. Because I’m a writing enthusiast with an interest in the calligraphy and art sides of things as well, many of the pens that I personally use are on the more expensive side - particularly my glass pens and Drillog metal dip pen.

But what if I told you that an $8 alternative exists, and that in many ways this other pen is just as good and will serve you well for basic ink swatching and even some writing and journaling where you might want to switch up your inks mid-session and don’t want to fiddle with emptying or refilling fountain pens? That solution is the Pilot Iro-Utsushi Dip Pen.

Pilot Iro-Utsushi Fine Dip Pen — I chose the fine since most of my other dip pens range from medium to double-broad.

The Pilot Iro-Utsushi is a very basic product: a standard dip pen with a stainless steel fountain pen nib (fine or medium) attached to it. This pen differs from a calligraphy dip pen in that the nib is tipped for writing, and it can’t be swapped out of the holder. While some might find this “limiting,” I think that’s the point and what makes this product special: it’s intended for one thing, which is writing with fountain pen ink.

Dip Pen Tools in Holder on Desk — While I’m not sure I’ll ever make the Iro-Utsushi a “core tool” in my repertoire - I have way too many fun glass pens to reach for - I see no reason not to have one, since it’s an excellent option to have within reach for travel, meetups, and quick writing samples.

As I mentioned above, you can use the Iro-Utsushi for both ink swatching and standard writing. In my last post, I mentioned how I like to keep small sheets of “micro swatches” that are more portable than full-size swatch cards. This dip pen would be perfect for that, especially in the fine nib. And it offers a nice experience for standard writing too. Despite the lack of a feed, the underside of the nib holds a fair bit of ink and I regularly get 3-4 full lines of writing with the fine nib version. While the holder is a bit narrow for my hand and therefore may not be especially comfortable for longer writing sessions of a page or more, that’s not something I’d typically do with a dip pen anyway.

Pilot Iro-Utsushi Dip Pen with Kobe Ink — Testing out some Nagasawa Kobe Ink #69 (Kikusui Biotope Green).

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I don’t have any problem saying that the Pilot Iro-Utsushi is one of the best basic dip pen options on the market to use with fountain pen inks. Whether you’re a glass pen enthusiast looking for a less-fragile option to take to meetups or away from the security of your desk, or just someone looking for an inexpensive option to finally finish swatching and categorizing all of your ink samples, it’s hard to do better than the Iro-Utsushi, especially at the price point.

And, yes, I know that some of you have probably heard the internet rumors from the Japanese market that the Iro-Utsushi is being discontinued, but other intel has suggested that Pilot is merely releasing new colors and the pen will continue to be offered, at least in the U.S. market. Pilot is a bit different than many Japanese pen companies in that they continue to offer certain products in the U.S. (i.e., the E95s fountain pen) even after they are discontinued in Japan. Stay tuned, but I’m not panicked on this one yet as I can still get them here.

You can pick up a Pilot Iro-Utsushi dip pen in our own shop, starting at $8, in a range of clear acrylic and wood finishes. Nibs come in fine or medium, but note that not every color available in both nib options.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop (an authorized retailer of Pilot pens) and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Our brick-and-mortar store is open Thursdays and Fridays from 1pm-6pm, and on Saturdays from 10am-6pm. Please check our main store page for up-to-date hours and announcements regarding special events.

With the dozens of different colors we stock in the shop and the 100+ bottles in my personal collection, ink swatching and indexing becomes critical because you quickly forget what colors look like, and the color swatch on a bottle label can be inaccurate. Since I found myself working on new shop swatches this morning, I thought it might be fun to talk about my personal swatching process and some of the tools I use.

Colorverse Colorvent Ink Swatches — I had to add ink swatches of the recently released Colorverse Colorvent “Top 3” inks from last year’s Colorverse Colorvent Calendar, and thought it might be fun to document the different techniques used.

Each ink swatch that I do (for both the shop and personal collection) has two components: (1) a darker “swab” that showcases different tones in the ink as it pools on the paper, and (2) a writing sample. My format hasn’t really changed much since the early days, but my tools have evolved. I currently have three main setups and techniques that I use, depending on my mood and the type of ink that I’m working with.

Colorverse Colorvent Christmas Star with Kakimori Dip Nib — Colorverse Christmas Star, a glistening gold orange, shown here with a Kakimori brass dip nib.

Primary Setup: Glass Cocktail Stir + Dip Pen (Glass or Metal)

For most inks, I use a glass cocktail stir to create an ink swatch, and then a medium-to-broad nib dip pen for the writing sample. The actual writing sample is the most important for me, since I generally use pens for work or personal journaling and I like to see what the ink will look like on the written page with my everyday fines and mediums. As discussed above, the ink swatch is used more to see the underlying tones, which will come out in wetter nibs like broads and stubs.

Colorverse Colorvent Christmas Star with Glass Rod — Many thanks to Lisa at Olive Octopus, who tipped me off to the glass stir technique! She also recently did a post on her own ink swatching tools and techniques, and comes at things from a different perspective as she sketches a lot and also uses brushes and water to bring out the different ink properties.

I have a couple different dip pens that I love, but my current favorite is this broad glass pen by Glass Studio Aun that I picked up at this year’s San Francisco Pen Show. Up until recently my tool of choice was the Kakimori brass nib - which is still a great option that allows for plenty of line variation - but that was before I had written with a really nice glass pen, and to be honest this broad glass nib makes everything else feel like writing with a nail on a chalkboard.

Colorverse Colorvent Milky Way Glistening with Glass Studio Aun — Colorverse Milky Way Glistening, shown here with my broad Glass Studio Aun Glass Pen.

Alternative Setup No. 1: Folded Nib Pen

If you have an ink that benefits from having a LOT of ink on the page, you can choose to do an ink swatch or writing sample with a folded metal nib. These can be a lot of fun to play with if you enjoy highly stylized writing that will not necessarily result in clean lines. (The “splatter effect” is a feature, not a bug!) I enjoy using folded nib pens when I’m doing a full-on ink review, not just a simple swatch, and I’ll do a full page of writing on multimedia paper and really get a sense of how the ink looks when it’s REALLY wet, especially those inks with heavy shimmer and sheen.

Colorverse Colorvent Top 3 Folded Nib Writing Sample — Colorverse “Pulsar Pulse,” a super sheener. You can do an ink swatch card with a folded brass nib, but it’s much harder to write smaller text. That said, folded nibs can really bring out the sheen in super sheening inks simply because they apply a LOT of ink in one stroke.

Folded Brass Nib with Colorverse Pulsar Pulse — A folded metal nib in action. You can also really see the color shift that occurs in high-sheening inks like Pulsar Pulse. Here the ink is fresh, but the red/purple really comes out once the ink dries.

Alternative Setup No. 2: Plotter + Drillog

While larger card-sized swatches are often the most practical, especially for comparing colors under washed-out fluorescent lighting in pen shops and pen show hotel ballrooms, I also like to keep a second set of swatches for personal use in one of my Bible-sized Plotter binders. Most of these are what I internally think of as my “micro swatches”: small color swatches followed by a writing sample that are portable enough to carry with me for quick comparisons. For these, I’ve been using my recently acquired Drillog .5mm dip pen. As I mentioned in an earlier post-San Francisco Pen Show Post, the Drillog 2.0 fixes many of the issues with the original Drillog, including issues with consistency of ink flow and smoothness. I’ve found this to be an excellent ink swatching tool and can see myself using it for most of my personal ink samples going forward.

Colorverse Colorvent Top-Three Ink Samples on Midori MD Cotton Paper — My micro swatches. Eventually this will be a full page of Colorverse.

Plotter Bible Size Micro Ink Swatches — My micro swatch sheet of Taccia standard inks, done with the Kakimori brass nib. This would have been much easier with the Drillog, as the Kakimori pen can sometimes drip and it can be difficult to write consistent thin lines.

A Note on the Ink Swatching Paper

For my ink swatches, I use two papers. The first is Col-o-ring Paper made by the Well-Appointed Desk, which is sold in a wide array of convenient formats that can also be trimmed down or adjusted to however you would like to store them. The cards shown here are sold as part of a set with card holder pages and a Bible-sized Binder, which is what I use in the shop because without the plastic sleeves the swatches tend to smear from so many different people handling them. For my personal ink swatches, I typically use Midori MD Cotton Paper, since it’s my preferred paper for personal writing and I like to see my ink samples on paper I use on an almost daily basis.

The TGS In-Store Ink Swatch Album — The TGS in-store ink swatch album. Yes, we sell these. They are made by Papier Plume. The ink cards included with the album set are Col-o-Ring, though you can also use the Iroful paper cards.

Fountain pen ink preferences are highly personal, and swatching is no exception. I tend to be a lot less strict in terms of things like format and technique than some people. For example, I have hundreds of ink swatches that I’ve accumulated over the years, many of which were not even done by me as they were gifts from friends, and none of them look the same and are on different-sized paper or even in a Rolodex. For my purposes, this is perfectly fine, but many prefer to have a uniform format that they can easily search. If you feel like sharing your technique, please do drop a comment or send a message.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’re interested in shopping fountain pens, inks, and more in person, come see us at our brick-and-mortar shop located in Nashville, Tennessee.