I haven’t been able to attend a pen show this year yet, but I’ve seen some coverage of the shows and one of the new inks that intrigues me are collections from Anderillium Inks. Ana purchased the Cephalapod Series collection and let me play with it. Today I’m taking a look at Flying Squid Blue ($14.50 for 1.5oz).
You know I love a good blue, and if it’s got a hint of teal to it, I’m always in! Flying Squid Blue is a rich, deep, dark ocean blue.
The ink is lovely. It’s very Goldilocks-like, not too wet, not too dry. At points it is very, very dark, but I do think you could get some shading in this one, as you can see a bit in my tests of different dip nib sizes.
In terms of comparisons, there are many that are close, but nothing that is quite right? Robert Oster True Blue is a bit of a match in the lighter sections, but doesn’t have the same depth. Colorverse Supernova is bang on in the lighter sections, but it’s dark aren’t rich enough. Robert Oster Soda Pop Blue is not quite right either. And Organics Studio Nitrogen Blue obviously has the sheen going on, but it comes close. It may be hard to tell, but I don’t have anything that’s exactly the same shade.
The Cephalapod Series has a bunch of other wonderful colors – I’m going to swatch Flapjack Octopus Orange and Bobtail Squid Green before I give them back to Ana. The only color I would love to add is something purple!
- Papers: Maruman Mnemosyne N182A Inspiration Notebook A5 ($10.50), Crossfield Journal ($24.00)
- Pen: Delike Glass Signature Pen ($37.80)
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) and Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
- Inks:Â Anderillium Inks Flying Squid Blue ($14.50 for 1.5oz).
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.
That squid gives peacocks a run for their money. That is a gorgeous, almost extravagant blue.
Pretty. But at $9.67/US ounce, it’s way too rich for me. Try this instead: Pilot/Namiki Blue-Black Fountain Pen Ink. 30 ml (8.45 US oz) bottle, $24.98 with free shipping.[1] That’s $2.95/US oz. or a whopping 327% less than the Anderillium stuff.
Ink 350ml INK350BB (japan import) 4.7 out of 5 stars 121 ratings $24.98 Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime (two pennies more gets you Free Shipping even without Amazon Prime).
https://www.amazon.com/Ink-350ml-INK350BB-japan-import/dp/B001P35A74
David, that is a LOT of ink!!! I don’t think I’m that committed to Blue-Black ink.
Hi Ana. Yup 350 ml is a lot of ink. I’ve sort of outgrown my phase where I was playing with all sorts of different inks. Now I’ve settled into a pretty-much monogamous relationship with Namiki Blue; not Pilot Blue, and not Pilot Blue-Black. I do use the 350 ml bottles of Pilot Blue-Black though when I am working on pens because it is so inexpensive yet still very well behaved. But for general writing I am dedicated to Namiki Blue because of the color, vintage smell (phenol added to prevent SITB), and the shape of the Namiki bottle versus the Pilot bottle (identical inks, different bottles). See the difference in the two bottles at the links below.[1][2] Both the Pilot and the Namiki bottles come with plastic ink reservoir baskets inside. You invert the bottle (while capped of course) to fill the reservoir. The Namiki ink is harder to find in the U.S. The Pilot ink is available everywhere. Neither Pilot Blue nor Namiki Blue is sold in the big 350 ml bottles. The 350 ml bottles only come in Black, Blue-Black, and Red.[3] There are 70 ml and 30 ml bottles of Pilot Black, Blue-Black, Blue, and Red.[4] My work-horse pen is a Pilot 743 with a FA (flexible) 14K gold nib, and an after-market 2 ink-slot black Ebonite feed made by Joey Grasty at the Flexible Nib Factory LLC in Texas.[5]
Namiki 60 ml Ink Bottle
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1397/3773/products/69201_Namiki_Ink_Blue_1024x1024.jpg
Pilot 70 ml Ink Bottle
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Qc0AAOSwGd9dfAm7/s-l400.jpg
Pilot 350ml Fountain Pen Ink Bottles, 3-Colors
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0695/0673/products/CopyrightChoosingKeepingBS202007143531435414355RT.jpg
PILOT Fountain Pen Ink – 30ml Bottles 4-Colors
https://cf.shopee.ph/file/357e312f524165ff7c71226abfd12eb7
Flexible Nib Factory LLC
https://flexiblenib.com