Push/Pull | Elderberry Fountain Pen Ink | 20ml Vial

A deep, fruity red-violet.

Elderberry is a deep, fruity red-violet: darker than a purple, softer than a burgundy. Push/Pull suggests it for fountain pen and calligraphy work, and it’s dark enough to read comfortably over a full page.

Push/Pull is an artist co-operative in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood: an art supply shop, gallery, and small press that started in a basement studio in 2013. They mix their own watercolors, gouache, and fountain pen inks in the store, a batch at a time. That’s the appeal and the caveat in one: these are small-batch, hand-made inks, so the color can drift slightly from one batch to the next.

20 ml vial. Works in fountain pens, dip pens, and with a brush. Hand-mixed in Seattle.

• Color A deep, fruity red-violet
• Water resistance not rated the maker doesn’t rate it, so treat it as not water resistant
• Fountain pen, dip pen, or brush one vial covers writing, lettering, and illustration
• 20 ml vial roughly twenty converter fills
• Small-batch and hand-mixed made in Push/Pull’s shop in Ballard, Seattle; color can vary slightly between batches

How to fill a pen from the vial

1. Fit a converter to your pen and twist or press it all the way down to push the air out.
2. Dip the nib into the vial until the whole nib and a little of the section are under the ink. The vial is slim, so tilt it slightly as it gets low, or use a blunt-tip syringe to draw ink straight into the converter.
3. Draw the ink up slowly, then hold the pen nib-up and turn the converter back a touch to push out any air bubble.
4. Wipe the nib and section with a paper towel, cap the vial tightly, and write.

How to clean your pen

1. Flush whenever you change colors, and always before a pen goes in a drawer.
2. Empty the converter back into the vial or the sink, then draw up cool water and expel it until it runs clear.
3. Let the pen dry nib-down on a paper towel before refilling. Cool water only: no hot water, alcohol, or solvents.