Preparations for Inktober - Part II

I found the fountain pen I had been looking for! (It was really in a drawer at work, between other rarely-used pens and pencils.) It didn't even need cleaning; the ink inside was still fresh! Really surprising, considering this thing has been lying around unused for a year now. I'm actually very happy with the quality of this pen, especially since it was really cheap (less than 15€) and I didn't expect much. I'd actually bought the thing (online, from China) mostly out of curiosity because this concept of "fude nib" was completely foreign to me and I like trying out new stuff. I was positively surprised I actually received a very (!) good pen, solidly manufactured with a nice weight (on the heavy side with a body made of bamboo, resin and metal, which I prefer to the flimsy light plastic most cheap pens consist of) and very smooth, regular ink flow, which is a rarity even among more expensive fountain pens... (And it must have been a real technical challenge to design ink flow without drying up or dripping for a pen like this that has such variability in ink flow velocity depending on line width! I appreciate the engineering there!) The nib hasn't corroded during the time of disuse either; a very good sign. (The black stuff on the nib is dried ink, not rust. I checked.) I still have some difficulties controlling the width of the lines I'm producing (it goes from ultra thin to broader than 3mm!) but I that's a matter of practice I can't blame on the producer.

So now Inktober can come; I'm almost prepared! I say almost - I still need good paper to go with it. The one I've been testing the nib on has a bit too much grain for my taste. I suppose I'll go and buy a pad of something that's marketed for ink drawings specifically. That's something I've always avoided so far since I so rarely use fountain pens for drawing (they're for writing and programming, LOL) and my experiences with quills for dipping into the ink are disastrous (including not only several ink wells being knocked over but also an incident of accidentally ramming the nib into the paper and breaking it in the process) but I think in this case I'll really need something with a smoother surface.

[Edit for collectors: the pen is called Duke Confucius, and I found out later that its normal price is around 35-45€. Guess I was very lucky getting it cheap!]