Editing The Pen Addict 191/transcript (section)

== Ink Bottles ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Instead of buying gel refills. Now I'm buying bottles of ink.

'''Azizah Asgarali:''' Yeah. And then I do think that exploration phase is is very important. Right. I think without that.

'''Azizah Asgarali:''' You wouldn't realize what you like. You won't be able to find out what you like. And I think it's the same as if you're if your hobby is cooking. I mean, you try everything. You see what kind of food you like. And and so I try to I try to convince myself that this was necessary.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, one of the things that all of your followers and all of your readers and everyone who loves checking out Gourmet Pens knows that you're into is like calligraphy, flex nibs, you know, wonderful handwriting, big. I call them I call them like like show off inks, you know, like samples, just these big, cool. You can see all the ink properties and all the the how the nibs work. And how did you figure out that? Like, you know, you hadn't always been into like this flex style of writing in these calligraphy styles and these huge nibs and fancy inks. How did that kind of happen? When did you decide that? Wow, that's kind of my thing.

'''Azizah Asgarali:''' I think this starts with the fact that I'm quite vain and I like pretty. I mean, I like shiny things. I like pretty things. And I don't really I don't really know how to explain that in any other way. And that's I think that is the reason I was gravitating towards like prettiness. And I you're right, I didn't start it with flex writing. I just I started with regular fountain pen, regular handwriting. And at some point I received my first flex pen was a Waterman 52V. And it has a wet noodle on it. And I had never used a flex pen before. And the gentleman that I had gotten it from was he restores vintage pens and he sells them. And he said, well, you know, be careful with this, because unless you know how to write with a flex nib, it could be a disaster. And I have very few talents or skills. And I think the only thing that I actually knew how to do like innately was how to write with a flex nib. And it just made sense to me. Like you apply pressure on the downstroke and not on the upstroke and what angle to hold the pen at and what it could do if you put it with combine it with the right ink. So it just clicked. And when that happened, I was like, oh, my God. So for me, that was the turning point, like the ultimate moment that I realized, oh, my goodness, flex pens. And and ever since then, I've been exploring. I dare not call myself a calligrapher because I'm not formally trained and I'm not good. And I mean, I'm not like as good as a real calligrapher. So I I just call it my cursive style of fancy handwriting. But it's been exploring these flex nibs and and discovering what inks look good. And as as we like to call it, you know, what serious nibbage can do. Right. It's it's been so much fun and combined with Tomori River paper. I mean, that's perfect. It's perfect. You cannot go wrong with that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So if someone wanted to get started writing, you know, start kind of mimicking your style. I mean, I think that's the best way of like trying to figure out, you know, practicing handwriting is find someone's style as you like and mimic it. And I'm not saying they should mimic yours. You know, everyone has a different like I don't have that innate flex writing style like you do where you can feel the ups and downs and the transitions. How would you tell someone, you know, if they're wanting to get started to at least try this? You know, and, you know, flex is very interesting to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. How do you how would you, you know, propose someone kind of get into this style?