Dipping pens and ink wells hmmm is this my old art class yup it is??!!!???? I flunked the class because yup my spelling sucked even back then but me I didn't want any part of fancey writing Mom said she did that when she was 5 years old she didn't go to school like us here in the states she was home taught at home the schools were stil being built after the war so mom knew all her letters and spell her name at an early age and when they were bomed at another house they had to go to the basement under the buildings and Oma would read to mom and my aunt or Oma friend did that helps the kids kinda get distrated from the boms and so ilsa taught mom how to write at four befor the war ended then the fancey pen dipping inks well

Poke berry ink will fade in sunlight and does not age well. You might try indigo. 

We did that one year as a homeschool project...i think we used blueberries for the ink, it worked great!

my DHis a surveyor ... not to many years ago he drew with India Ink  I used to do the lettering on a plat for him  now every thing from the computer. We still have the India ink set,, every so often he'll hand draw againg .. for our anniversary he drew our family place its beautiful ,  

I filled in our family tree by hand it a lovely way to write

I really like the idea of writing with a fountain pen, but sadly, I just can't get the hang of it. People who use them (like my sister-in-law) keep telling me that they're perfectly easy to use and don't leave blots all over the page--but they do when I use them. :-J So in the long run, I probably waste less ink and paper by using a roller-ball.

I was required to write with a fountain pen in elementary school, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth.  My granddad's business used ball-point pens, and I got into trouble more than once for telling the teachers that they were backward and too cheap to let us have the good stuff.  

Blots, smears, and little ink-stained wretched hands.  Now that arthritis is freezing up my right hand, I find that a rollerball gives me more control over left-handed writing.  I can make blots with a Bic, as well as the fountain pen.  That's versatility!