Stationery Pulse: The Paper Test Every Fountain Pen Ink Has to Pass

What's new in analog this week, from Planning Engineered.

Aug 25, 2026

August 24, 2026

Stationery Pulse: The Paper Test Every Fountain Pen Ink Has to Pass

New here? The Stationery Pulse is a short weekly letter for people who still think on paper. Every Monday I round up what's worth reading in the analog world: pens, notebooks, planners, and the people using them well, then close with whatever's new from Planning Engineered. Everything I recommend lives on the Shelf, linked at the bottom. One letter, once a week. That's it.

Are Field Notes fountain pen friendly? This is something I was a little hesitant about in the beginning, and I know there are a ton of videos out there saying Field Notes are not fountain pen friendly, but I have written in all of them.

And honestly, the answer depends on what fountain pen you own, as well as the nib size and ink, obviously.

They use a bright white paper that technically is not fountain pen friendly, so I explored different nib sizes and ink choices and found out whether or not they were fountain pen friendly.

I found that, again, depending on certain pens and certain conditions, if you will, these can be great fountain pen notebooks. There's a green ink and a black ink that I use on these all the time.

This week's roundup runs the same question through a fresh ink review, a piece on keeper inks, and a list of the best notebooks for fountain pens.

What's new in analog

Ink Review: Dominant Industry Leaf Green (Well-Appointed Desk): Dominant Industry Leaf Green ($17 for 25ml) reads as one ink on the swatch card and two entirely different inks once inked into a Kaweco Marble Ocean and a Nagasawa Sailor Pro Gear Slim, brighter and shading in one, darker and solid in the other. If an ink color has ever let you down, this is the fix: switch pens before you give up on the bottle.
Sunday Reading for August 23, 2026 (Gentleman Stationer): This week's roundup covers a DC Pen Show recap, a review of Ferris Wheel Press Scarlett Studio ink, and a pointed piece on AI getting quietly baked into everyday software with no disclosure and no opt-out. It's the fastest way to catch what several other pen writers published this week without opening every one of their sites yourself.
Fountain pen lovers unite! (Stationery Shenanigans): A Pilot Kakuno fountain pen in extra fine turned up on a store shelf, and she bought it on the spot. It's proof that a real deal on a solid starter pen can show up somewhere you'd never think to look for one.
Use a Notebook in Minecraft, here's why! (Gare the Bear): Gare the Bear keeps a single-purpose notebook just for Minecraft sessions, and the first entry is a running list of projects, with getting the farm built at the top. It's a simple case for the specific-purpose notebook: one dedicated spot so a wandering thought, or a wandering parrot, doesn't derail the plan.
Cutting Hobonichi Pages & Mini Workshop Vlog ✒️ Atlas Stationers Sidewalk Sale (The Coffee Monsterzco): This one is part vlog from her Atlas Stationers sidewalk sale trip to Chicago, where she taught two workshops and sold a small collection, and part step-by-step walkthrough of how she cuts down and tabs her Hobonichi Cousin pages before traveling. Two videos in one: a look at sidewalk-sale life and a genuinely useful travel-journal prep method. Shop (affiliate): Hobonichi Cousin.
Three Keeper Inks: Choosing Inks for 10 Fountain Pens (Gentleman Stationer): The post is about picking inks for a "10 keeper pens" collection, and it lands on Platinum Classic's Citrus Black, an iron gall ink that goes on pale yellow and dries down to a dark green-gold. The explanation of why a wet-writing Montblanc stub needs a dry iron gall ink, not a wet one, is worth the read on its own.
When Best Intentions are Not Enough (Well-Appointed Desk): She spent nearly 20 years as a Hallmark graphic designer and has written every word of this blog herself since 2010, and now she's confronting what happened with her Gamify zine. She researched and typed every word and her husband edited it, but months after publishing she learned that one of the licensed stock illustrations she'd used, from a Creative Market illustrator, had been retroactively flagged as AI-generated. She pulled the zine from sale and is planning new illustrations.
Why the blank page still intimidates you (Rachelle in Theory): Rachelle in Theory breaks down why the blank page still feels intimidating even though we know journaling helps: writing is a two-stage process, and the first stage, a term she borrows from V. A. Howard and J. H. Barton, is purely generative, messy dear-diary output with no audience in mind. It explains exactly why "write like no one's watching" works: the moment you sense a reader, you start editing your own thinking.
Your journal should be frictionless, not fancy (Rachelle in Theory): Her advice cuts against the fancy-notebook instinct: pick something frictionless, even a plain black Moleskine, because journaling only works if picking it up is easy. She also resets what "regular" means: a habit tied to every movie you watch counts as much as one tied to every night.
5 Best Notebooks for Fountain Pens (AlexanderWrites): Alexander picks his five favorite notebooks for fountain pens, and the Midori MD Paper Pad makes the list for its smooth, feather-resistant sheets. If feathering and bleed-through are what you're testing for, his shortlist gives you a place to start looking. Shop (affiliate): Midori MD Paper Pad (A4, unruled).
KOKUYO Jibun Techo: A 3-in-1 Planner (JetPens): The KOKUYO Jibun Techo is built as three planners in one: a place to log information, run daily tasks, and set goals for your whole life. Worth a look if your current planner handles one of those jobs but not all three.