I’ve used Leuchtturm1917 (1) notebooks for the past couple years and recommend them. They have nice paper and an array of sizes and grid patterns - my current notebook is their larger master size; big enough to draw in, which is important to me.
At first I bought ruled or grid-pattern notebooks, but have come to prefer blank - with proper writing posture, my writing is straight yet when I want to draw or sketch, there are no lines to get in the way.
As far as pens: I’d call myself a fountain-pen addict with my one beloved FP - my Lamy 2000. It survived quite a lot of travel in Eastern Europe with nary a scratch.
P.S. in the US, Goulet Pens (https://gouletpens.com/) is a family-run online shop for FPs and everything related. They’re very active on YouTube as well. Amazon may be cheaper but I’d rather my money go to a company that encourages their employees to vote by giving them the day off on election days.
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A note on ink: I bought a bottle of Parker Blue ink in 2018 and have written and drawn with it daily from then till now: one bottle of ink lasted nearly 6 years! I can’t imagine how many disposable pens I’d have gone through; a lot.
As you said, the inks last for years. That's when I realized, I need to buy the best of the best quality possible with Inks. I'm going to guess I did not do enough research on Parker Inks as the ones I used wasn't good enough. I bought a Lamy, and I'm itching to either import a few or buy them the Japanese ones.
Ink filling is like a routine I love, especially with my daughter. She likes fountain pens and she inherited some of mine. I love to lay them out -- the bottles, the ink bloting paper, surgical syringe, napkins, and enough space to not spill -- kinda pretending to be like a Samurai taking care and maintaining his Katana. Even with the convertible, I like to treat it with a clean, precise, and smooth movements of pattens to refill it.
I started on the high-quality fountain pen with the Lamy 2000 too -- gifted by Adobe around the time when they bought Macromedia.
At first I bought ruled or grid-pattern notebooks, but have come to prefer blank - with proper writing posture, my writing is straight yet when I want to draw or sketch, there are no lines to get in the way.
As far as pens: I’d call myself a fountain-pen addict with my one beloved FP - my Lamy 2000. It survived quite a lot of travel in Eastern Europe with nary a scratch.
1: https://www.leuchtturm1917.us/
P.S. in the US, Goulet Pens (https://gouletpens.com/) is a family-run online shop for FPs and everything related. They’re very active on YouTube as well. Amazon may be cheaper but I’d rather my money go to a company that encourages their employees to vote by giving them the day off on election days.
——-
A note on ink: I bought a bottle of Parker Blue ink in 2018 and have written and drawn with it daily from then till now: one bottle of ink lasted nearly 6 years! I can’t imagine how many disposable pens I’d have gone through; a lot.
Another reason to love FP inks is that shading adds beautiful variation to what would otherwise be uniform: https://nexus.armylane.com/files/sailor-manyo-yomogi-ink-sha...