Tinterias is a Spanish language podcast run by Jeffrey Coleman who is a professor at Northwestern University who also seems to have excellent taste in ink. He teamed up with Sailor to create a group of exclusive inks – Spicy Chipotle, Homemade Tortilla, Blue Corn, and Agave. Unfortunately, by the time I was able to get to the Tinterias table, they were sold out of one bottle, Spicy Chipotle, but that only means I have one more bottle to hunt down…

The first ink is Homemade Tortilla. This is a beautiful golden brown ink that shades dramatically and is very close to KWZ Honey with a touch less yellow in the mix.

Sailor x Tinterias Homemade Tortilla on Tomoe River (TR7) 52gsm paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Homemade Tortilla on Midori MD paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Homemade Tortilla on Midori Cotton paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Homemade Tortilla on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

The next ink is Blue Corn, a deep blackberry purple. I love how well this ink matches the actual color of blue corn – although I don’t think blue corn sheens at all. I could be wrong, though. Blue Corn is a touch bluer than Robert Oster Claret, but it is close and it is a few shades lighter than Vinta Ubi Mulberry.

Sailor x Tinterias Blue Corn on Tomoe River (TR7) 52gsm paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Blue Corn on Midori MD paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Blue Corn on Midori Cotton paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Blue Corn on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

The last ink today (due to being too slow on Spicy Chipotle), is Agave. Agave is a wonderful blue-grey ink that could be classified as a light blue-black ink. It is close to Wearingeul Mature but is better at shading and is slightly darker than Akkerman Koninginne Nach Blauw.

Sailor x Tinterias Agave on Tomoe River (TR7) 52gsm paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Agave on Midori MD paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Agave on Midori Cotton paper:

Sailor x Tinterias Agave on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

I’ve been enjoying these three inks thoroughly since picking them up. Homemade Tortilla and Agave shade gorgeously! I played around with Agave and a Sailor Fude nib for a while – not artistically, but it was fun seeing what the color can do!

I highly recommend all three inks I’ve shown here today. You can find them on the Tinterias podcast website where they are listed for $30 each (although both Homemade Tortilla and Spicy Chipotle are sold out currently) – I did not find shipping costs, however. The square glass bottles are 50mL each, so you’ll have plenty to play with as well, and at $0.60/mL, these inks are very well-priced for Sailor!

The post Ink Review: Sailor x Tinterias Inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Blizzard Twinkle is an icy, turquoise blue with silver shimmer. It looks cold and icy in the bottle — like the color of those icy pops in the plastic tubes we used to get at the 7-11 when we were kids.

The color does remind me of twilight skies and snowy nights.

On Col-o-dex cards, with a dip nib, the shimmer is very vivid.

The big bonus with Blizzard Twinkle is that it is a trifecta ink: shimmer, shading AND sheening! Depending on how much the ink is shaken or settled in your pen, how much pressure you apply, if you are dipping with a flex nib, etc — all three effects will be revealed. The color will shade from a deep teal to turquoise. Sheen will appear along the edges of letterforms or where ink pools to a red-almost-purple. The silver shimmer can be visible with wider nibs and dip pens. The more ink on the page, the more shimmer will be visible. More is more!

When comparing Blizzard Twinkle to other shimmery blue inks, I pulled a small selection of turquoise-to-teal inks. Some have gold shimmer and some have silver shimmer. I am sure there are more options but these were the ones I could find (Where are all my swatches!?!?).

Pen BBS No. 338 Guardians of Good Fortune and Blizzard Twinkle are similar in color but No. 338 uses gold shimmer instead of silver. Robert Oster Morning Shine is more greenish but does have silver sheen.

I was able to find a few more shimmery blue inks in my Col-o-ring cards. Diamine Jack Frost certainly has more visible sheen but its an entirely different shade of blue. The other shimmery blues I found from  Diamine were also distinctly different hues. So, at the moment, I feel like Blizzard Twinkle is filling a nice gap in the ink color/shimmer rainbow.

Hope you have a shimmery holiday!

Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet and Elia Notebook with 68gsm Tomoe River paper (RM145.00 MYR)
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), Pensive Pens Serendipity hybrid dip pen ($79 AUD)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Scharff 3000 Fineline Round #3 ($34.50 — my favorite paintbrush)
• Ink:  Birmingham Pens Blizzard Twinkle ($29 for 60ml bottle)

The post 12 Days of Inkmas: Day 12 Birmingham Blizzard Twinkle appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

So today I’m making up for it with something special. I know I’m a bit late to the party, but a few weeks ago I watched Mike’s Friday stream in which he showed Taccia Sabimidori. This ink is FUN! It has a few tricks up its sleeve and ends up in my favorite color family.

So I went ahead and ordered a bottle of Taccia Hokusai-Sabimidori (40 mL, $23.00) so I could play on my own. Sabimidori is a rusty green invoke by the opera “The Village of Sekiya on the Sumida River.” The Taccia inks come in gorgeous packaging inspired by Japanese paintings and Sabimidori is no exception.

The surprise is that when you open Sabimidori, it’s all teal blue. And yet, as you watch it dry (and it’s pretty quick) it slowly fades to a rich green with hints of blue and yellow and almost a rust-colored sheen. It reminds me of iron oxidizing, and indigo dyeing in the way it changes colors.

The ink itself is sort of average in terms of the wet/dry spectrum. It goes down nicely with some shading and dries quickly, all without being too dry. I decided it was a good color for my Diplomat Traveler in Flame.

In comparison to other inks in my collection, I did find a few that were close, but nothing quite the same. Diamine Twilight had the right shading but was definitely bluer. Starry Night Silent Corderite has the right colors, but is a bit light and of course also has sparkle, which Sabimidori doesn’t. KWZ Iron Gall Turquoise is a bit similar, but again too blue.

What fountain pen would ink up with Sabimidori?

The post Fountain Pen Ink Review: Taccia Hokusai-Sabimidori appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

• Papers: Write Notepads Dot Grid Steno Pad ($14)
• Pen: Delike Glass Signature Pen ($37.80)
• Swatches: Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Ink: Robert Oster’s Fire and Ice (50mL for #$17)

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post 12 Days of Inkmas: Robert Oster Fire & Ice (Day 4) appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

These colors have been around for decades. Yet, they are still lovely.

The great thing about a classic ink like Sheaffer is that it is safe for your vintage pens. So, having a bottle of Sheaffer ink around is wise just for the vintage pens you have — or might one day have.

Another great aspect of Sheaffer inks is the reasonable price. Compared with a lot of other ink brands, $10 for 50ml is a great deal.

Let’s get into each color. I’ll start with black ink. We should all have at least one bottle of black ink. If you are not brave enough to keep a bottle of Platinum Carbon Black as your “one true black”, here’s a comparison of Sheaffer Black against some other water soluble black inks and Platinum Carbon Black. From top to bottom, left to right: Pelikan Edelstein Onyx, Waterman Intense Black, Sheaffer Black, Platinum Carbon Black, Colorverse 20 Blackhole, Monteverde Raven Noir, Monteverde Coal Noir, Kaweco Pearl Black, Lamy Crystal Obsidian, Colorverse 1 Sunspot, Robert Oster Black is Black.

It’s challenging to see the subtle differences between the blacks on screen but I tried to compare Sheaffer Black to other similar blacks. Sheaffer Black is a rich, dark black. Monteverde Coal Noir is probably the closest black to Sheaffer Black as both feel genuinely neutral black and very dark. Monteverde Raven Noir is close but a little warm with a hint of red. Pelikan Onyx has a hint of green. The remainder of the blacks are definitely warm blacks. It would be hard to tell the difference between these blacks if I didn’t have all these swatches side-by-side to compare. Sheaffer Black is a good flat black.

When it comes to blue-black inks, they run the gamut in the dark blue hues: indigo, midnight blue, deep sea blue, blue-black, and anything else that is not turquoise or bright blue. That said, to find good comparisons for Sheaffer Blue-Black which leans a little more dark greenish-teal, these are the inks I find: Callifolio Olifants, Sheaffer Blue-Black, Sailor Shikiori Shimoyo, Robert Oster Great Southern Ocean, Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris. Clearly, I didn’t find other inks that were clearly described as “blue-black” but really fit the same look-and-feel as Sheaffer Blue-Black. Sheaffer Blue-Black has lovely shading.

Sheaffer Brown is a very warm, brown so it was hard to find a comparable color. Instead I tried to find familiar, popular browns. From top to bottom:  Diamine Ancient Copper, Sheaffer Brown, Ackerman SBRE Brown, J. Herbin Cafe des Iles. All of these browns are warm browns but all feel like they accomplish different things. Sheaffer Brown shades beautifully.

With Sheaffer Blue, it was pretty eye opening that the blue was pretty comparable to so many other blues that are beloved and considerably more expensive. From top to bottom: Sheaffer Blue, Monteverde Capri Blue, Sailor Jentle Sky High, Colorverse 14, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, Sailor Jentle Souton. Looks like there’s no reason to drop twice as much money on the same color anymore, huh? Sheaffer Blue has some rockin’ red sheen.

Oh, turquoise! I have so many bottles of turquoise ink and I marvel at how similar they all are. From top to bottom: Sheaffer Turquoise, J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche, Lamy Pacific Blue, Franklin-Christoph Spanish Blue, Monteverde Caribbean Blue. None of these turquoise inks are crazy expensive but that’s okay. It just means its okay to have more than one bottle. Sheaffer Turquosie has a delicious, pinky sheen.

Sheaffer Green is not a crayon green or Kelly green that you might expect from a basic line of inks. It’s actually more of a teal. For comparison, from top to bottom: J. Herbin Bleu Calanque, Robert Oster Torquay, Sheaffer Green, Diamine Marine, Colorverse #23 Photon. I have recommended Robert Oster Torquay so many times and Sheaffer Green is similar, just a little more green. It’s a really pretty color. Don’t discount it just because it has a simple name. Think of it as “Vintage Pyrex Aqua” instead of Green. Sheaffer Green sheens with a little reddish.

Red ink is a hard color to agree upon. To compare, from top to bottom: J. Herbin Rouge Opera, Diamine Matador, Sheaffer Red, Colorverse 49 Felicette, Taccia Aka Red. Sheaffer Red is a slightly warmer red like Taccia Aka Red but Taccia has way more sheening. There is a little sheening in the Sheaffer Red though. Colorverse Felicette is a slightly pinky red and Diamine and J. Herbin are both a darker red.

Sheaffer Purple is a lovely shading bright purple. Compared to other inks, from top to bottom: Sheaffer Purple, Pilot Iroshizuku Mirasaki Shikibu, Pilot 100th Anniversary Jurojin, Papier Plume Violet. Sheaffer Purple is very similar to Pilot 100th Jurojin which is really surprising. Pilot Iroshizuku Mirasaki Shikubu is a little warmer and Papier Plume Violet is a little cooler.

I hope this overview gives you a little more of an appreciation for Sheaffer Inks. I really think they are a great option. They are reasonably priced, the colors are great AND safe for vintage pens.

Tools:

• Pens: Tachikawa Comic Pen dip nib holder ($8.25) with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack)
• Swatches: Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0
• Ink:  Sheaffer Fountain Pen Inks ($10 for 50ml bottle)

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Overview: Sheaffer Inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Ink is a passion of mine, a passion that rose to a ridiculous level a long time ago. It started out with a small selection of four or five ink samples and has grown into a collection of nearly 2000 ink samples, bottles, vials, swatches… While I completely understand I cannot use up all of this ink, it has become an obsession with color, shading, sheen, sparkle, ink properties, and un-obtainability.

However, one ink line is noticeably missing from this collection. KWZ inks. The reason behind this has always been the smell.

Ink preservatives lend a distinct smell to ink – just open up a bottle of Sailor ink and sniff.  To combat this smell, KWZ adds something or other to the ink that partially masks it and has a pleasant vanilla-like perfume.

It just happens that I have unfortunate memories associated with the smell of vanilla. Many years ago there was a terrible incident with a large amount of vanilla-scented oil being spilled on carpet. I had to smell that for months. I shudder at the thought of those months.

While I love the colors offered by KWZ, I’ve never been able to get over that scent. But I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened up the newest offering from KWZ, Discovery Green, a Dromgoole’s Exclusive color. The vanilla scent in this ink was barely noticeable! Instead, the smell was quite neutral.

I do enjoy sheening inks, but those that cover up the color of the underlying ink are a bit too much. I was expecting a super sheening ink with Discovery Green but was again surprised to find a slightly subdued sheen that looks almost matte metallic and is only obvious at certain angles.

See? Here’s the same card in the same light at two different angles:

The sheen on this ink is beautiful, but not as overwhelming as many I have seen.

I was able to get a good comparison of the underlying color by keeping the Col-o-ring cards at a certain angle – Lamy Crystal Peridot is very close although Discovery Green has a touch more green. Very similar in writing to Robert Oster Peppermint but with more sheen.

I found Discovery Green to be dry in writing, an experience that is common to most highly sheening inks. In the photo below, you can see there was a bit of smearing in the “n” in Green, but I had not yet given the ink time to dry. I did not have a problem with smearing once it was dry.

Dry time was longer with this ink – also common with sheening inks on Tomoe River paper – the ink was dry in 30 to 35 seconds in normal writing but much longer in pools or swatches.

As I said, Discovery Green is a dry ink. I had no problems with it when I first inked up my pen. There were also no problems after letting the pen sit for a week without writing. However, the next week (2 weeks in the pen), I had a difficult time getting the pen to start – I had to wet the nib in a cup of water and also prime the feed before the pen was happy. I would say if you are going to write a pen dry, the experience will be wonderful.

I do love the color of Discovery Green. According to the Dromgoole’s site, “The name comes from the beloved Discovery Green park in downtown Houston, which is filled with interesting sculptures, fun play areas, and grassy hillocks. Perfect for a picnic or throwing a frisbee with your friends. Take a leisurely stroll with all of us at Dromgoole’s through KWZ’s Discovery Green”

I loved the changes in shading between a dark teal and a medium forest green. I also enjoy the more livable level of sheen.

I now have a rule though. Don’t color in block letters with a fine nib.

• Notebook: Musubi Tomoe River Folio (~$35 for 384 pages)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
• Ink: KWZ Discovery Green Dromgoole’s Exclusive (60mL, $15)

DISCLAIMER: The ink in this review was provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purposes of this review. All other items in this review were purchased by me. Except for the Col-o-ring which was provided to me by a wonderful person who pays me to write blogs by keeping me supplied with Col-o-rings. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: KWZ Discovery Green – Dromgoole’s Exclusive appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I wrote Brad Dowdy this question and he didn’t know however thought you might be able to help me understand.

I am looking to find a way to desaturate some of my fountain pen inks.

As an artist I’m looking to add ink lines, marks by drawing on top of my watercolor washes. Most of my inks: Diamine, Noodlers, Birmingham, Faber Castell, Pelikan and Edelstein are great inks yet their values are too saturated. I’m looking for a way to reduce the saturation to create a more muted tone in the line. Birmingham are some of my favorite as Nick and Josh have created inks that are favorable to me by their faded look – yet those are still a bit dark.

Diluted water I have found does little to alter the saturation while it makes the ink obviously wetter – which is a bit defeating as I am also looking for drier inks. A permanent or water resistant quality would be wonderful to maintain as well in those inks that offer this. I love for example Faber Castell Stone Grey and Noodlers Walnut – however both come off severely too dark.

It’s an odd ask I realize. Just thought if any experience has been noted on this. Advise would be welcomed.

Kiera asks:

I’ve been using diamine marine in my hobonichi cousin, but I want to take advantage of the hobonichi’s paper more. Marine is a lovely color, but not a very interesting ink otherwise. Can you recommend some sheening or shading inks that are similar in color? Thank you!

Kiera, most sheening inks tend to sheen because the pigment-to-liquid ratio is considerably higher. As a result, most sheening inks are darker than the lovely aqua Marine because all that pigment doesn’t allow the color to be as translucent. In the fountain pen world, we think of this as an ink’s ability to shade. So, the more pigment, the more sheen, and the less shading.

At least, up until this point. Someone will figure out how to circumvent this at some point, I’m sure.

That said, there are a few aqua/turquoise inks that have more sheen than Diamine Marine.

As you will see in the photo above, the four other ink colors I found that were in the same color family but had more sheen, are Diamine Aurora Borealis, Colorverse Gravity Wave, Robert Oster Marine and Kaweco Paradise Blue. Some of these colors are considerably darker but will have a red, pink or magenta sheen. The sheen will be more or less noticeable depending on how broad your nib is.

Colorverse Gravity Wave probably has the most sheen and I was able to catch the sheen highlights in the photo above.

There are many other sheening ink options available but they are not necessarily in the turquoise or teal color range. I pulled a few for you to consider.

The classic Organics Studio Nitrogen is the first “super sheener” and it will potentially smudge but if you’re looking for lots of sheen, you can’t go wrong with this one. I would recommend a finer nib for less smudging.

Diamine has created many amazing sheening inks. Some were created as exclusives for European pen shops but others are now available directly from Diamine. The colors are not as smudge-y as the Organics Studio and have some unusual sheening. Robert (and the Pen Gallery Exclusive Manggis) is a purple that sheens green. Skull & Roses is a deep vibrant blue that sheens red. Communication Breakdown is a rust red that sheens green. November Rain is a deep teal green that sheensred-violet.

There are many other sheening inks that will pop up in places you might not expect it like this Lamy Crystal Azurite or even in the most unsuspecting inks like Waterman. I often surprise people when I show them the sheen from Waterman inks, particularly Tender Purple and Inspired Blue. Blows their mind.

I decided to swatch the Waterman inks (and some of the inks on some Tomoe River paper) at the last minute just to show more of the sheen. It’s not all the colors mentioned above, but a lot of them.

This morning it’s overcast so I was able to get the sheen better. The Waterman Audacious Red didn’t show but on some papers, it sheens gold.

Kiera, did I give you enough options?

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ask The Desk: Muting Ink & Sheening Ink Colors appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The Colorado Pen Show took place only a few days ago and I was very happy to see the Dromgoole’s table at the show. In fact, I was often seen browsing through the large ink shelves they had set up. One ink that was sadly missing from the shelves was Sailor Studio since they are restricted from bringing the ink to shows, but they did bring beautiful swatch cards of each ink.

So even though the Sailor Studio inks were not present, the colors did make an appearance. And the appearance was enough for me to order more!

Sailor Studio 442 appears from the label to be a light to medium blue that leans towards purple. Nothing on the front indicates a special color.

The small glass bottle is the same as every Sailor Studio ink – a beautiful glass bottle, but one that is quite utilitarian. The packaging also includes several stickers with the ink number and suggestions to place the stickers on a converter so you remember which ink is inside.

My first glimpse of Sailor Studio 442 revealed a much brighter blue ink than I was expecting. A rich blue that contains less purple than the label would indicate.

That rich blue does show well during writing, although fades a bit as the ink dries. However, the ink also shows some of its complex components as it dries – purple and a faint teal halo. This separation helps the ink from fading into the pack of blue inks available.

Color classification was tough with Sailor Studio 442, since the separate colors aren’t present in other inks. The lightest color in 442 is close to Diamine Prussian Blue. In-person, 442’s darker sections are close to Montblanc Petrol. While wet, 442 looks much closer to Penbbs #85. Like I said, a complex ink.

In writing, Sailor Studio actually shows as close to a blue-black ink which makes it a possible work-safe ink. Dry time is good (about 20 seconds) and it doesn’t smear after it dries. However, it is not water-resistant, so keep that in mind at work!

Studio 442 shades well, from a blue-ish lavender to a midnight blue. Below I was writing with an extra-fine SIG nib from Franklin-Christoph – even in this narrow stub width, the ink had no problem shading.

To see the beautiful shading in this ink, I got up close to a larger swatch. Incredible.

One characteristic of Sailor Studio 442 that wasn’t present in other swatches was a very faint sheen. It’s actually more of a halo than sheen, though. Very dark with just a hint of green. Since receiving this ink, it has been in constant use.

If you have ever tried to purchase Sailor Studio inks, you know how tough it can be to find a store selling it, pay for the shipping and wait for the slow boat to make its way overseas (unless you are lucky enough to live in Japan). Good news! Sailor has recently started allowing sales of these small bottles of sunshine by select retailers in the US. However, Sailor did put a restriction on these sales – orders for Sailor Studio inks can only be taken over the phone. Dromgoole’s was kind enough to provide this bottle of 442 for review and you can find ordering instructions here. The entire staff is great to talk to when ordering and if you are able to stop by their store, the inks can be purchased in person! Here’s a glimpse of that book full of Sailor Studio swatches:

Tools:

• Paper: Musubi Tomoe River Refill ($30-35 USD)
• Pen: Franklin-Christoph 66 Prototype with an extra-fine SIG steel nib ($175)
• Ink:  Sailor Studio 442 ($18 for 20ml bottle)

DISCLAIMER: The ink included in this review was provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: Sailor Studio 442 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Penlux is not a common ink company in the US, although they have been creating ink for some time now. The ink is made by Sailor and sold on the Taiwanese market – six colors are commonly available and three were reviewed last year by our own fabulous Ana. Recently, Penlux released two limited edition inks in their Mo line: Tangerine and Plum ($24 each at Pen Chalet).

The first thing I noticed about both inks was the packaging – the colors used have a deep, rich color and are well-matched to each ink. That wasn’t all, though. The boxes are each one piece and use no adhesive at all.

Not something I expected!

Next, the bottle size was impressive for a limited edition ink. I’ve come to expect the smaller 15-20mL bottles (thanks especially to Sailor Studio), but Penlux has lavished us with 50mL heavy glass bottles with Tangerine and Plum.

So now for the real test of these inks… The color.

Just like the colors on the packaging, both Plum and Tangerine are rich, saturated colors that feel luxurious. The names fit each color perfectly – Plum is a deep, dusty purple that is close to burgundy, shades very well and has a bit of green sheen. Tangerine is a bold orange that leans heavily toward red with a hit of gold and brown sheen. It shades from a dusty coral to dark, rusty orange.

I took the comparison photos outdoors since the studio lights were not showing the sheen at all. Plum falls somewhere between Callifolio Bourgogne and Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses (the older version), but the sheen falls between the gold-green of Sailor 653 and the green of Krishna Anoki.

Tangerine is a bit of a hard color to compare. The closest is Taccia Aka Red, but the shading can range from Diamine Pumpkin to Akkerman #9.

Writing samples help to show this color range. Both inks felt slightly to the wet side of normal, did not feather and only showed through when I had pools of ink to show sheen. Plum shows a bit of water resistance although much of the color is lost. Tangerine was not legible after meeting with water.

Taken separately, Tangerine and Plum are each beautiful, rich, saturated colors. Taken together, these inks would make a fabulous halloween pairing! If you do decide to purchase these inks (and I highly suggest you do), make sure to do it soon. Out of the 999 bottles produced of each color, only a small percent are available to purchase in the US.

The post Ink Review: Penlux Mo Plum and Tangerine appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Purple inks.  Purple inks are by far my favorite. When I hear about another purple ink, it’s only a matter of time until I have it in my pen.

I heard about Purple Rain from Diamine when it first came out, but I only came into possession of my bottle recently; this ink belongs to a line that was only released in Germany.  Other inks in the line are Calligraphy Passion, November Rain, Skulls and Roses and Smoke on the Water which can all be found at Fountainfeder in 30mL or 80mL bottles (3.70 Euros and 9.70 Euros).

Of course, I couldn’t help but get the larger bottle!  Shipping from Germany was not bad at 4 Euros and the packaging kept the ink bottles quite secure.

I inked up a new pen (Online Calligraphy pen, also from Fountainfeder) immediately and fell in love with the dark purple ink. Purple Rain feels a bit on the dry side of normal when writing, but I never found it bothersome.

If the purple wasn’t enough, a change of the angle of the light to the ink reveals a beautiful gold sheen.

This gold sheen is somewhat subtle and at times cannot be seen until the page is moved around under the light.  I love that characteristic since I get the colors of both the ink and sheen – this also helps with the office appropriateness!

In the two photographs below, I tilted the paper first towards me and then towards the light to give an idea of the level of sheen.

The sheen did make color comparison difficult, however.  Below, Purple Rain seems to contain more red than the other swatches, but the main ink color is very close to Private Reserve Purple Mojo.

I am quite happy to have added Purple Rain to my collection. The ordering was easier than I had imagined it would be – don’t worry about ordering overseas for your ink! While the shipping may take slightly longer, expanding your search will greatly benefit your collection!

• Papers: Birmingham Pen Company A5 Slim Notebook ($8.99)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
• Ink: Diamine Purple Rain (30ml for $16)

Disclaimer: All items in this review were purchased by me.  For more information, visit our About page.

The post Ink Review: Diamine Purple Rain appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.