Ink swatching is the practice of applying small samples of fountain pen ink to paper in a consistent way — typically a broad brush or a dip pen — so you can compare inks accurately, discover their properties, and build a reference library of everything you own or have tried. It's one of the hobby's most practical tools and one of its most satisfying rituals.
Why swatch inks?
Fountain pen ink looks different in the bottle, on the nib, and on paper. The bottle is often misleading — a deep violet ink may look almost black in the bottle and produce a bright blue-violet on the page. The only accurate assessment of an ink's colour, shading, and sheen is on paper in the conditions you'll actually use it. Swatches create that reference.
Building a swatch library also tells you at a glance which inks you own and what they look like — useful when deciding which ink to put in a pen, when choosing an ink for a specific project, and when browsing inks to decide what to try next.
What you need
Swatching tool: A dip pen or a broad watercolour brush. Dip pens apply ink more consistently and produce cleaner edges; brushes apply more ink and show shading and sheen more dramatically. Most serious ink swatchers use a brush for sheen/shading documentation and a dip pen for colour accuracy.
Paper: Rhodia or Tomoe River for accurate colour reproduction and to show shading and sheen. The same paper throughout your swatch library allows accurate comparison between inks.
Labels: Write the ink name, brand, and date under or beside each swatch. Without labels, a library of swatches becomes a beautiful mystery rather than a reference.
A notebook or cards: Dedicated swatch notebooks (Rhodia DotPad pages work well) or printed ink swatch cards (available from specialist retailers) organise the reference cleanly.
The technique
Dip the brush or dip pen nib into the ink bottle — don't wipe it before applying, you want a generous application. Apply a broad stroke across the paper in one smooth movement. For sheen documentation, apply generously and let pool slightly at one end. Label while the ink is still wet or immediately after drying.
Allow the swatch to dry completely before evaluating sheen — some inks that don't appear to sheen when wet develop sheen as they dry and the ink concentrates on the surface. Twenty to thirty minutes on Rhodia; up to an hour on more absorbent papers.
To assess sheen: hold the page at approximately 45 degrees to a lamp or daylight source and tilt slowly. Sheen appears as a metallic glow in the ink pools, most visible at specific angles.
Testing ink samples before buying full bottles
Many specialist retailers offer ink samples — small quantities (typically 2–5ml) of inks packaged in small vials or sample containers. Swatching samples before buying a 50ml bottle is the most practical way to discover whether an ink's colour and behaviour suit you without committing £15–25 to a full bottle you might not use.
To fill a pen from a sample: use a pipette or syringe to draw ink from the vial and deliver it to the converter or directly to the pen. Clean the pen thoroughly if you're filling with a different ink than it currently contains.
Building a swatch library
Keep swatches in a consistent format — same paper, same tool, same label system — so comparison is meaningful. Date each swatch; some inks fade over months or years, and a dated swatch shows this clearly. Over time, even a modest collection of a dozen or twenty inks produces a genuinely useful reference that informs every ink purchase and every pen fill.
Browse fountain pen inks at The Journal Shop,.
Where to start: browse our fountain pen inks and fountain pens at The Journal Shop.
