Thank you to Dromgoole’s for letting me review this set and feel like I can be part of the cool crowd.

I never did have those markers. Either I was too old when they were introduced to the market or I wasn’t cool enough – I’m not sure. However, now I can relive that disappointment with a new set from Monteverde – Color Changing Inks.

The set comes in a nice magnetically closing box that looks great on a bookshelf, saving you space in your ink drawer. It consists of 9 colorful inks and one clear color changer bottle.

The color changer ink is a bit thicker than normal inks but has little to no odor and leaves no trace of a mark on paper.

I decided to start with filling up a few Kakimori refillable felt tip pens, but I swatched the following cards as I normally do – paintbrush and a dip pen.

This part was so fun! Each color changes differently with the addition of the color changer ink. Some, like the black and brown, change rather slowly and can take several minutes to fully change. Others, especially the Green and Blue, change as soon as the color changer touches them.

I learned through trial and error that you should let the first ink totally dry before adding the color changing ink. Also, be careful if you go back over your clear ink with a second coat as it can spread.

The color changer ink acts almost like a bleach pen, but not as harsh to the paper.

You can see in the swatch below that the color changer pushed slightly to the edges of the heavier swatch. A fun effect to watch.

As a graduate from Virginia Tech, I deeply appreciate the Burgundy to Orange color since it is the school color combination.

You can see a dark version of the color changed pink haloing the entire swatch of the Dark Blue ink below – almost like the deep blue portion shrank back to reveal the color underneath.

The Fuchsia ink was nearly bleached to white with the color changing ink, but the ink itself feathered quite a bit in the swatch below – Cosmo Air Light paper.

The Pink that came from the color changing ink on Green ink is a unique combination – the pink comes through as rather dark at first but lightens over time.

I also loved the Purple to Yellow combination – a very dark ink that lightens dramatically to Yellow.

The Red ink seemed to be closer to orange than actual red.

You can see on a few of these swatch cards that some colors performed poorly in the feathering department, although this is not enough for me to not use the ink.

Below is the Monteverde Color Changing lineup on Midori MD paper:

The Monteverde Color Changing lineup on Tomoe River (TR7) 52gsm paper:

Finally, the Monteverde Color Changing lineup on Cosmo Air Light paper:

The set as I have shown it is available at retailers who carry Monteverde inks for $124 or $13 per ink bottle and $7 per bottle of color changer.

Which color duo is your favorite combination?

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items in this review were provided at a discounted rate for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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In the make-up and cosmetics world its referred to as a “dupe”. This term is often used when trying to find a. cheaper version of an expensive item or one that might have only been available in a limited edition kit. While the ink I want to dupe is neither expensive nor rare necessarily, I was hoping that I could use an ink I already own rather than buying yet another bottle of ink.

As you may have already guessed from the photos or if you have been following my daily writing journey this year, the ink I have been using is Monteverde Birthday Cake. The 30ml bottle I had cost about $12 at the time of purchase. So, there’s a bit of irony as I try to dupe it with inks that range in price from $12 – $40+ per bottle.

This was not an exhaustive search across every purple/violet ink currently available. Rather, this was a search through my personal collection. We all do it, right? We often buy colors we love over and over again. I like dark smokier purple/violets and so I tend to buy similar hues from different brands.

The Inks

In the end, I found about 27 or so bottles of purple/violet or purple-adjacent inks in my collection. There may have been a couple more but this seemed like a good range. Using a sheet of Col-o-ring paper in my FOLIO pad, I was able to swatch each bottle, one after the other, to get a bird’s eye view of the color range.

Several bottles were much too reddish purple. And several colors were too sheeny for everyday use (for me) like Troublemaker Grapevine and Lamy Azurite (see below).

The Short List

In the end, I found three close matches for me. The closest was Monteverde Mulberry Noir but it is a bit darker. Sydney Lavender has a similar smoky quality but it is much more reddish. Waterman Tender Purple was also a close dupe and probably closest in color but its a bit more saturated and the color sheens a bit.

So, what do you think I decided to do?

Off-Topic!

In the process of doing this experiment, I discovered that one of the inks I had dramatically changed colors. What was once “Canterbury Raisin” from Birmingham Pen Company had turned turquoise. this was from their earlier ink batches and the bottle was labelled “made in Germany” so it is at least four or five years old. My inks are stored in drawers to keep them out of the sun so this was quite a surprise. I have a swatch on the lid of the bottle showing the color to be closer to Sailor Manyo Fuji — a bit of a shifting color but definitely a purple color. I talked with some of our Patrons about it and they each had a similar tale of an ink in their collection shifting colors. Has this happened to you?

In Closing

If you decide to attempt a similar experiment with a favorite ink color, remember that the pen nib size and the paper you use may alter the experience. In my case, I am using Stalogy paper and a Fine nib in my Sailor Pro Gear Slim as my daily carry. I discovered when I switched nib to an EF, the ink color altered slightly with more shading range making my experience less consistent. This is definitely something to consider when deciding if you like an ink: try it in a couple nib sizes and on a few papers. This is a prime example of YMMV.

Tools:

• Paper: Col-o-ring FOLIO ($40)
• Pens: Toronto Pen Company Brass Folded Nib (no longer available) and Nib Holder (start at $8) plus Zebra G titanium dip nib ($25 for 10) in a vintage nib holder
• Ink:  Too many to list

The post Finding a Ink “Dupe” in My Collection appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Ferris Wheel Press has been shaking up the glistening (sparkling) ink world with its Fairy Tales ink line. Every foil-stamped box contains intricate artwork related to the fairy tale.

Each ink in the Fairy Tale line also comes in a small glass bottle (20mL) with a heavy metal cap.

The sparkle in Poison Envy is a purple chameleon sparkle while the ink itself is a dark purple that leans red with a bright greenish-gold sheen.

Sheen and sparkle are everywhere in this ink – both the in the swatch and in writing.

The base ink color in Poison Envy is redder than the base ink in Diamine Winter Miracle from Inkvent 2019 but they are close in writing. The difference becomes apparent when the swatches are angled into the light. The color of the sparkle is also visible here – Winter Miracle contains a bluish sparkle while Poison Envy is silver at one angle and purple at another.

Ferris Wheel Press Poison Envy on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

Ferris Wheel Press Poison Envy on Midori Cotton paper:

Ferris Wheel Press Poison Envy on Midori MD paper:

Ferris Wheel Press Poison Envy on Tomoe River (TR7) 52gsm paper:

Ferris Wheel Press Poison Envy does come with a cost – $22 for the 20mL bottle of ink – $1.10 per mL. However, I do believe the cost is justified for the materials and level of thought put into the ink and packaging. Thank you again to the Dromgooles for making this review possible!

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

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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!

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I discovered the entire Teranishi ink brand at St. Louis Art Supply where the ink is offered in 40mL glass bottles for $21.50 (about $0.54 per mL) or in 1.5mL samples for $2.50. Because I have used samples for this review, there is no photo of the actual bottles but refer to part 1 for a look at them.

Taisho Roman Modern Red is a well-saturated red with a hint of shading and a touch of sheen occasionally.

However, I was surprised at how Modern Red reacted to various types of paper. Sometimes this ink shows as a bold, bright red. Other papers reveal the orange and brown undertones of the ink. The ink can also show very different textures on each paper.

Teranishi Taisho Roman Modern Red on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

Teranishi Taisho Roman Modern Red on Tomoe River (TR7) 52gsm paper:

Teranishi Taisho Roman Modern Red on Midori MD paper:

Teranishi Taisho Roman Salon de Violet is the second ink in today’s review. This purple also has a bit of shading and plenty of blue in the undertones.

Teranishi Taisho Roman Salon de Violet on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

Teranishi Taisho Roman Salon de Violet on Tomoe River (TR7) 52gsm paper:

Teranishi Taisho Roman Salon de Violet on Midori MD paper:

Which of the Teranishi inks is your favorite?

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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Each of the inks in the Write & Draw line come in a 50mL glass bottle for $17.33, about $0.35 per mL.

The Write & Draw inks are all named for the color and an animal – none that match the usual color of the animal, however! Yellow Zebra, Brown Penguin, and Brown Colibri are up first.

Red Duck, Orange Skunk, and Pink Gazelle:

Pink Alpaca, Red Turtle, Pink Owl:

Violet Raccoon, Violet Bee, Violet Lion, and Blue Chameleon:

Octopus Write & Draw inks on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

Octopus Write & Draw inks on Midori MD paper:

Octopus Write & Draw inks on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

Octopus Write & Draw inks on Midori Cotton paper:

Next week I’ll show the remaining 12 Write & Draw inks along with a look at the level of water resistance offered by these pigment inks.

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

The post Ink Review: Octopus Write & Draw Inks Part 1 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I chose to review two inks in the Ink-cafe line – #536 Shikon is the first. This is a deep blue-purple ink, very saturated, and it sheens a bright gold on most paper types. As you can see in the photo above, I had a bit of trouble with the ink rubbing off the swatch and onto the rest of the card. This wasn’t actual smearing, but it is something that can happen with heavily saturated inks. I did not have the same issue writing on the paper samples.

Only a touch of the sheen shows up with Kuretake Ink-cafe #536 Shikon on Midori MD paper:

The gold sheen shows a bit of green with Kuretake Ink-cafe #536 Shikon on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

The sheen is fairly metallic with Kuretake Ink-cafe #536 Shikon on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

The second ink I chose from the Ink-cafe line is a bright red #532 Araishu. This is a vivid red with slight orange undertones – not quite as bright as Monteverde Strawberry Shortcake.

Kuretake Ink-cafe #532 Araishu on Midori MD paper:

I was surprised at how much of the orange undertones showed up with Kuretake Ink-cafe #532 Araishu on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

A faint silver sheen can be sheen with Kuretake Ink-cafe #532 Araishu on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

I was able to pick up a sample of each of these inks from St. Louis Art Supply – a store that is new to me! The samples are quite small – only 1.5mL – but cost on $2.50 each. Dip pen nibs, Kakimori nibs, and glass nibs (most) all fit into the tiny sample vials, but I don’t know of many fountain pens that would be able to draw from them.

The ink is priced at $17.95 for a 20mL bottle – $0.90 per mL. This may be a bit steep for a new ink line, but I am interested to try the remaining colors. I do love how bright Araishu is without blinding me.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me. Please see the About page for more details.

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I appreciate the minimal packaging with all Troublemaker inks – a simple card stock box and large plastic bottles that are dark enough to protect the ink from most light.

Troublemaker Nenita is a dark burgundy red – not so dark that it appears black in writing, though.

The sheen is what makes this ink pop, however. A green-gold sheen shows up in the correct light. The sheen is a bit muted – this keeps it from overwhelming the base color and keeps the ink from smearing after it dries.

Troublemaker Nenita on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

Troublemaker Nenita on Midori MD paper:

Troublemaker Nenita on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

Troublemaker Moon River is quite different from Nenita. This is a multi-chromatic ink that shows plenty of shading with a color somewhere between grey, pink, and green. It brings to mind other recent multi-chromatic inks like Sailor Studio 123 and Sailor Yurameku Seki, but I think it is more helpful to show it compared to other standard inks. The swatch is close to Vinta Pangtangi but in writing, Moon River appears as a dusty rose.

Troublemaker Moon River on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

Troublemaker Moon River on Midori MD paper:

Troublemaker Moon River on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

I love the degree to which Moon River changes from paper to paper.

Troublemaker inks can be a bit hard to find in the US, however, it seems that more retailers are beginning to stock the ink. At $0.28 per mL, I would definitely recommend picking up a bottle!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me. Please see the About page for more details.

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Sailor Hawaii and Sailor North Dakota are a beautiful pair of inks – a multi-chromatic purple and a light mint green.

According to the package insert, Sailor North Dakota is “a soft green ink that brings to mind the vast grassy prairies home to the iconic bison hearts found in the state.” While I do love the color of this ink, I’m not sure it reminds me much of the color of grass. It is close to Robert Oster’s Elf’s Cap, although several shades lighter.

North Dakota on Midori MD paper:

North Dakota on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

North Dakota on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

North Dakota is a pleasant color, but unless it is used with a broad or stub nib, it will be difficult to read.

Sailor Hawaii, according to the package insert, is “a light blue ink with undertones of pink to represent the exquisite ocean sunsets enjoyed on this incredible island state.” Hawaii could pass as a periwinkle blue, but I would label it as a purple ink. It is very close to Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi, although Hawaii has an addition of amazing shading and the various colors in the ink can be found even in writing.

Sailor Hawaii on Midori MD paper:

Sailor Hawaii on Tomoe River 52gsm (TR7) paper:

Sailor Hawaii on Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper:

Hawaii is a gorgeous ink and the shading takes it to the level of need-to-have for me. Using it with a flexible nib, the ink is dramatic, and, being purple, perfect for me.

As usual, the downside of the Sailor 50 States collection is the price. Each bottle is sold at $25 for 20 mL of ink or $1.25 per mL, one of the highest prices in the ink market (excluding out-of-production or rare inks). However, the 50 States collection is perfect if you are looking for a thoughtful gift for a pen friend. Sending a bottle of ink representing a state with a special meaning could be a perfect present.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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I am almost finished with a notebook, a Stalogy A5 that I’ve been using to journal. I’m not quite finished but close enough to consider what the next notebook will be. Do I stay in the same notebook cover (Curnow turquoise cover) and just buy another Stalogy notebook or do I try to mix things up? To be honest, actually being at a point where I’ve almost finished a notebook is a new sensation for me. I often get bored or lose momentum on a particular notebook far sooner than I reach the end of the book. It feels a little risky to mess with a formula that has actually had me writing just to try something new.

In my stationery cupboard, I have a few notebooks that I could pull off the shelf to be my next journal:

Okay, many more than a few. I recently bought a several more Midi sized Paperblanks with the 110 and 120 gsm paper. Like so many people, when you find the paper you love, you stockpile it. We have all seen how quickly paper can change or be discontinued. I prefer the 68gsm Tomoe River paper and have been stockpiling it for sometime as well. I actually traded some of the lighter weight OG Tomoe River for the 68gsm because, as a lefty, I just can’t justify the dry-time/smear-likelihood of the lighter weight. I’ll sacrifice a little sheen not to have ink all over me, my notebook and everything else.

I’ve been on a purple ink trend all winter. Both my daily use pens (Don’t shoot me. They are both Sailor ProGear Slim fountain pens with EF nibs.) have been filled with purple-y inks (Monteverde Birthday Cake and Lennon Tool Bar Morning Glory which are almost identical and Monteverde Blueberry Muffin which is much more of a burgundy than purple). The Monteverde Birthday Cake is a seriously underrated ink. It has a great range of shading and it sheens under the right conditions too.

I’ve been using these three inks so consistently that that I have actually put a dent into the amount of ink in the bottles. Is this the year I actually finish a bottle of ink or am I ready to move to a different color family?

What’s your feeling on this mid-season malaise? Do you feel the itch to change things up or, if you’ve had success with a pen/ink/paper combo, do you stick with it? Do you have favorites you go back to time and time again?

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