Colorverse “Golden Gate Bridge” is the “Show ink” for SF pen show 2023. I was excited to see how Colorverse would interpret such an iconic color,  which can be hard to pin down. Is it orange? Red? Red-orange?

As a Bay Area native, I learned early that the paint color is called “International Orange” (only do an image search on that if you are wearing sunglasses), but as it appears on the bridge itself, it is a deep and rich vermillion. This color is not-red, not-orange, not-pink, an elusive beauty much like the deeper shades of coral.

In this review, I compare the ink with others in my collection, write on a few different papers with a fountain pen, and paint with the ink using a brush in my Art Test.

What is the color like?

The ink is a saturated, non-shading color. I found it to really resemble the bridge color when the ink is wet, but dry to a more magenta-leaning shade.

Some Col-o-ring comparisons

The closest “red” shade I have is Kyo-pro “Flaming red of Fushimi”. This comparison shows how much more saturated, GGB is, and how it has leans away from the yellow-orange tones.

I thought KWZ Grapefruit would be a good match. In this comparison, more shading is evident in Grapefruit, as well as the yellow-orange tones.

Possibly the closest match from the inks in my collection is Pelikan Edelstein “Star Ruby”. This ink to my eye is straight-up magenta. GGB next to it appears just a bit more a true red, but matches the saturation level really well.

To further illustrate this point, I have an entry from my Hobonichi Techo, which shows lines in a Fine nib of GGB to the left, a short sentence written with Star Ruby in a Fine nib to the right of that. For extra credit, the rubber stamps were inked with the Ranger Archival Ink stamp pad in the color Vermillion! In a Fine fountain pen nib, there is very little difference in perceived shade of the two inks.

Note: The owl rubber stamp is part of a collection I bought from the Hobonichi  store, and the lovely ink bottle stamp is of course from the Well-Appointed Desk! One of my favorites in there. But I digress.

Standard Paper tests

So far we have seen the ink with Col-o-ring paper, and Tomoe River paper. What if all we have are a standard Field Notes book, or some copy paper?

In the Field Notes, I detect a little bit of feathering, if I look closely. Slight show-through on the back, but usable on both sides for sure.

As for the copy paper, I have HP 24lb bright white inkjet paper for my own printer. I found the ink to behave pretty nicely on this paper, with a little bit of feathering visible and minimal show-through.

The Art Test

If we have met before, you knew this was coming! The best way I know to discover the true range of an ink, is to paint with it. I use the ink direct from the bottle, as well as dilutions with water. The paper is cold-press watercolor paper. For this piece, I started out with pencil, then used various dilutions of ink and water for the light wash effect. I built depth and shading with straight ink, and when dry, drew fine details with the ink in my fountain pen.

From the lightest light that I could get with dilutions of water, to the darkest dark with fully saturated ink, there are not too many middle shades in this one. This tracks for me in how saturated a color it is in the pen.  I also see clearly in the painting, how magenta the lighter shades are. The darkest areas looked more vermillion and had more orange tones when wet. With the detail lines in place, I can see there is a bit of sheen on this paper, which shows more of the warmer hues. I have posted a VoiceOver narration video  of my process YouTube while painting this piece over on YouTube, for those curious to see the painting unfold in real time.

TL;DR

Colorverse Golden Gate Bridge is a bright, saturated color. It writes well on a variety of papers. The wet shade is an orangey vermillion, which dries to a magenta-leaning red color. There is no shading, but a bit of sheen can be detected with more intense applications.

Julia van der Wyk is an artist, classical musician, knitter, and professional web developer (The Web Atrium). She teaches an Ink Painting class at the SF Pen Show, and resides in Santa Cruz, California, where she can draw Pelicans with Pelikans, and brag about the weather. Follow her adventures on Instagram @juliavdw and Juliavanderwyk.com. Also check out her Ink Wash Painting Class!

The post Ink Review: Colorverse Golden Gate Bridge appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Colorverse Coloring Sheets (16 sheets for $12.00) are a fun new addition to their line. Each package contains 4 each of four different floral designs, printed on 200gsm Nebula Premium paper measuring 5″ x 7.25″ (128mm x 182mm). While I believe the intent is to color them with fountain pen ink (the packaging shows a pen nib doing the coloring), there are so many ways you could use these cards.

I took the opportunity to do a light ink wash with a paint brush. I pulled out three of my favorite inks: Papier Plume Ivy Green, Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai, and just a few hints of Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki/Shikubu. After the ink wash dried I added a few line details with my TWSBI Eco filled with Yoseka x Ink Institute No. 1 Origin.

I am by no means a water color artist (you’ll need to check out Tina’s posts for the arty content), I’m pretty pleased with what I was able to accomplish in just 20 or 30 minutes. The card curled just a smidge, but not nearly as much as the Colorspace Ink Art Cards that I reviewed a few weeks ago. Odd because it’s the same paper!

Surprisingly enough, I could find a use for these cards in my collection. I think they’re really pretty and wouldn’t hesitate to put one up on my bulletin board or even in a pretty frame. If you like painting or coloring (particularly with a large stash of fountain pen inks), I think these are great fun!

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.

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I had a pack of the Hubble C Swatch Art Cards. This pack contains 2 designs. I went ahead and swatched inks based on the inks I swatched with the Wearingeul cards, just for comparison’s sake, although I think telescopes and planets on the Colorverse cards make them sort of incomparable?

These are really cool and could be used as wall or bulletin board art, postcards or more. But are they useable as swatches? That’s the only area where I’m not sure these cards shine. One of the best things about color swatch cards are that they can be used to inventory what inks you have in your collection, or what new inks look like. I use both my Col-o-Ring and Col-o-Dex cards because they are portable and can be stored either on a ring or in a Rolodex. They’ve accompanied me to pen shows when I’m considering purchasing new inks. I’m just not quite sure what to do with these larger cards. Photo album? Send as postcards to friends?

The cards do seem to show the inks somewhat accurately, as the comparisons to Wearingeul and Col-o-ring/Col-o-dex show. However, Robert Oster’s Fire & Ice is entirely missing any hint of red on the Colorverse Ink Card. The other issue I have is that, as you can see, ink washing causes the cards to curl. This could potentially be fixed with a long session under a heavy book though!

What do you think? Could you find a place for these in your swatching materials?

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.

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I always find it interesting when ink companies venture into paper products. Obviously they are highly complementary, but creating ink seems like such a different process than creating paper/notebook offerings. But I recently looked at some of the Wearingeul products as well so maybe I’m just behind the times?

The Casual Notebook is just what it says – a casual notebook. It’s A5 size, measuring 5.75″ x 8.25″ (14.5 cm x 21 cm). The covers (front and back) are cardstock and come in a variety of colors (baby pink, orange, dark navy, black, turquoise and oil green) with a few small foil details. Inside the notebook has 60 sheets (120 pages) of 90gsm white paper. The paper can be plain/blank, ruled or dotted and is perforated with easy tear sheets.

So how does the paper stack up? I’d say it’s pretty good. It’s an odd mix of fairly smooth, but also a little toothy. I know that sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? The ink goes down smoothly and dries fairly quickly. I did a smear test and only hit the last few words immediately. I tested a variety of pens (sadly I have very few M and B nibs – I need to work on that!), and even an ink swatch and only the Sharpie bled through. The paper is fairly wrinkled from the ink so I’d say this isn’t one for ink wash/watercolor, though nothing bled through!

Overall I thought this was a nice notebook, although I’m not sure it’s a standout to me. Have you tried Colorverse Nebula Casual Notebooks? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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

The post Notebook Review: Colorverse Nebula Casual Notebook appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Two of my favorite things: Colorverse ink and anything featuring my hometown: Chicago… how could I resist? If I were to guess what color someone might create for an ink that embodies Chicago, I am not sure I would guess a dark purple/brown with shimmer particles. I might have thought of the sky blue from the stripes on the city flag, or red to emulate the Fire/fire. Green for the St. Patrick’s Day river dye? Charcoal grey for the color of some of the more recognizable skyscrapers (Sears/Willis Tower, the Hancock building, or the Lake Point Tower)? Once I started playing with the ink, I was more convinced that Colorverse made an interesting choice for a color to embody Chicago.

The shimmer particles in the Chi-Town ink ($12.50 for a 15ml) are more iridescent than gold or silver which is more commonly found in shimmer inks. The particles look blue or green depending on the light, paper or angle.

In the close-up above the ink looks more purply than it did in person which, because of the gold/brown sheen looks more brown in person, at least to me. YMMV.

You can ssee in the close-up above how the ink can look sheen-y brown-black rather than purple.

My initial ink comparisons aligned CHi-Town with dark brown inks but on second look, I tried purple and more predominately black inks. I think its safe to say that Chi-Town is more of a purple/black with an emphasis on the BLACK.

Pent Kotobo No Iro Black Lizard and Diamine Winter Miracle are more purply when compared to Chi-Town. Birmingham Pen Co’s Philadelphia Friend Circuit and Coking Coal are closer though Coking Coal is a cooler blue grey undertone and Fried Circuit has a warmer, almost brownish undertone.

So, like the city of Chicago itself, this ink is a conundrum. Some people see Chicago as “the second city” some city it as the jewel of the midwest. The ink is similar. You see what you want to see. Some will see shimmer like taillights on wet pavement, others will see muddy waters or the dark sky of a crowded city. How do you see Chicago? Both the ink and the city?

Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), James Finniss Serendipity nib holder ($79AUD)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silverwhite 1500s  Round #2

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items in this review were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Inkmas Day 7: Colorverse Chi-Town appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

What I can tell you is that it is another in a long line of inks I’ve purchased in an attempt to find my signature yellow-green ink. Jesi will often hand me ink samples and ask, “What about this one?” and I have to be very specific “too yellow”, “too bright”, “too muddy” or “too light”, for example.

Taepyeong Seongdae is a close contender as  the ink is a darker yellow-green without edging into a pine or forest green (too blue) hue. In a wider nib, Taepyeong Seongdae is a bit darker than I would like but in a fine or extra fine nib the color does not become too light to be useable. It has real potential though its a hair muddier than I would hope for. Overall it meets many of my ridiculously specific requests for a yellow-green ink.

It shades a good deal but does not show any sheening.

The closest ink color in my collection was the similarly named Kingdom Note Olive.Penlux Pine and Sailor Rikyu-Cha both lean a bit more brownish but are closer than the dozens of other yellow-green inks in my collection which tend to go more grassy or lime in color.

I’d say its a tie between Taepyeong Seongdae and Kingdom Note Olive. I reall ythink I need to make my own yellow-green ink at some point but I think I’m the only one who would want it.

Tools:

• Paper: Elia Note with Tomoe River 52gsm with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), James Finniss Serendipity Nib Holder ($79 AUD) with Franklin-Christoph SIG fine nib
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silverwhite 1500S Round #2

DISCLAIMER:  Some items in this review were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Inkmas Day 3: Colorverse Kingdom Series Taepyeong Seongdae appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

ColorVerse Project inks come in a 65mL single bottle – the same size as the larger bottle in their ink sets – for $27.50. I purchased these inks from Vanness where they sell for $3.10 for a 4mL sample.

The first Constellation ink today is (alpha) Boo – the shorthand for the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. This is a pale dusty pink similar to Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumosu. I saw good shading with this ink and it was dark enough to be read on any paper.

Next up is (alpha) And, shorthand for the brightest star in the constellation Andromeda. I loved this blue-gray color that changes from blue to blue-gray as it dries, almost as if the gray is rising to the surface. In most writing, there was no shading. The color reminded me of Ferris Wheel Press Blue Cotton Candy but And is dark enough that it is legible afterward.

ColorVerse (alpha) UMa (I got the name incorrect on my swatch card) is the second brightest star in Ursa Major – the Great Bear, or Big Dipper (a portion of Ursa Major). It is one of the two stars that point towards Polaris, the North Star.

UMa is another fascinating ink where the gray seems to rise to the surface in the swatch. However, UMa starts out as almost a pale burgundy or rose color. As the ink dries, the red disappears and gray becomes the overall color. In the swatch below, there was a tiny touch of feathering at the bottom of the M, although this happened because I darkened the lines later since my dip nib ran out of ink at that moment. I never had any other feathering issues with the Project series.

The final ink today is (alpha) Ori is shorthand for Betelgeuse, a bright star in the Orion constellation. This is a bright reddish-orange ink with a touch of gold sheen. As you can see on the swatch card below, the ink did smear slightly. This occurred after the ink had dried.

Below are small swatches of all 8 Constellation inks on Tomoe River paper (top) and Cosmo Air Light paper (bottom). I love having both paper types available when testing ink – each paper brings out different qualities every time.

I have been quite impressed by all inks in the ColorVerse Project series, both the first and now the second. This series contains beautiful colors that behave well and the cost is reasonable at $0.42 per mL. UMa is one on my wish list for future purchase!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me and I was not compensated to write this review. Please see the About page for more details.

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The Packaging:

First and foremost, who doesn’t want an ink set that comes in a Halliburton-style plastic suitcase (okay, it’s more like a Pelikan case) with perfectly cut out foam slots for each bottle? Let’s just say I’ve been living out various James Bond-esque “saving the world from a dangerous color conspiracy” storylines over the last week. (I’d like to blame pandemic isolation for this level of goofiness but alas, I would have been doing it no matter what the state of the world.)

Inside the case is also some stickers, a card on a larger sheet and a three-page brochure with information about the set in a manner consistent with previous Colorverse releases.

Each page in the booklet features a picture of the ink bottle, a swatch of the color and a breakdown of the RGB, web hex number and Pantone color matches as well as surface tension and Ph. I have, in the past attempted to verify the accuracy of the Pantone values (FYI: they are not all the accurate) but have never bothered with the RGB or hex numbers. The only place that would be useful is when entering inks into the FPC database.

The Quarks sub-collection are blues and purples and the Leptons are mostly warm reds plus a green and grey.

Of the seventeen bottles, five feature red caps. These are the Bosons sub-collection. These colors are a more diverse range of colors.

The bottles included in the Standard Model are the “mid-sized” 15ml bottles from Colorverse. Not the giant 60ml bottles included in their regular sets nor the tiny sip sized 5ml (essentially sample) sized bottles. In this day and age, with new inks coming out on an almost daily basis, I think 15 to 20ml sized bottles are just about perfect.

The Swatches:

I organized the initial swatch photos by sub-collection: Quarks, Leptons and Bosons. The first set, pictured above, is the Quarks. It’s a good range of blues and violets.

Next up is the Leptons, shown above, which is four reds, a green and a grey.

The Bosons sub-collection colors are quite the range of colors. I will continue to assert that I know nothing about particle physics so maybe there’s a reason that Colorverse chose these colors for these particles? Let me know in the comments.

Finally, I put all the colors in the set together to show the full range of hues. It breaks down like this:

• 3 greens
• 5 blues/teal/turquoise
• 2 purples
• 1 grey
• 4 reds
• 2 orange/browns

None of the Standard Model inks contain glistening particles. A couple of the inks show a bit of sheen — mostly the deep blues —  but many colors show a range of shading. There is also a nice range of high chroma and low chroma colors. I’m not suggesting that any of the inks are under-pigmented but rather that about half of the colors are earthier tones while the other half are bright, vivid colors.

Only three ink colors included in the set have been previously released by Colorverse — Photon, Gluon and Electron (Poor Selectron got left out of this party).  This version of Gluon does not include the glistening particles which makes the color a little lighter and more green than yellow. The LE version of Photon is a bright shamrock green not the more teal blue-green of the original Photon No. 23 and the LE Version of Electron is more tomato red than the orangey color of the original Electron No. 31.

While a collector of ink might have initially been bothered by the duplicates, the change in hue for the LE set will set their minds at ease.

Keep going for ink swatch color comparisons and my conclusion…

The Swatch Color Comparisons:

Let’s start comparing the ink colors. I’ll start with the inks in the Quarks sub-collection. While the inks are all “in the range” of some fairly common ink colors, there are subtle differences to each. Down is a classic bright blue but hits a slightly different tonal range and color depth than Cross Blue, Sheaffer Blue or Private Reserve Cosmic Cobalt. The color is similar… but different which is a sentiment I will repeat throughout these ink comparisons. Whether the differences were accidental or intentional, I do not know.

Charm hits that coveted almost Parker Penman Sapphire Blue color range. I don’t have a sample of Parker Penman Sapphire but I have Strait’s Pens Poor Man’s Sapphire which is “in the ballpark”. Charm is also close to the 2020 Special Edition Timeless Blue by Ferris Wheel Press.

Strange also leans into that almost/maybe/kind of like Parker Penman Sapphire Blue that folks clamor for. Monteverde Sapphire and DC Supershow Blue (which I think might be the same color) and Penlux Cobalt Blue are similar. Strange does not have the sheen that the Monteverde inks have.

Up is the classic turquoise. It is probably the ink most similar to many other colors like Lamy Pacific Blue/Turquoise, Franklin-Christoph Spanish Blue and Monteverde Caribbean Blue.

Top is the same hue as Monteverde Purple but a much deeper color. Bungubox L’Amant is about the same shade but it skews more pink/red and Noodler’s Purple Martin is darker overall. If I were to guess, Top might be similar to the coveted Montblanc Beatles Psychedelic Purple but I don’t have a sample of that either.

Bob and I spent some time debating the actual shade of Bottom . Purple? Violet? Really dark blue? It’s definitely leaning towards dark violet. It’s similar to the Magnetosphere in the Colorverse Goldspot Special Edition but Bottom is less intense. It’s like an eggplant purple-black. Both Sailor Shigure and Robert Oster Deep Purple are more vivid purples.

Now, for the Leptons.  First up is Muon which is a vivid coral-y red with pink undertones. The Strait’s Pens Rosé by the Bay is probably the closest in color. Bungubox Lycoris is similar but the sheen in Lycoris shifts the color a bit. J. Herbin Corail des Tropiques is more orange but hints to the same coral tones.

It’s rare that there’s an ink color that gets compared to my favorite red: Sailor Irori but here it is. The Standard Model LE Electron is a warm bright red similar to Kyo-Iro #3 Fushimi Flamingo Red, Color Traveler Miyajima Scarlet and the red of all reds (IMHO) Sailor Irori. This special blend of Electron clearly looks to compete with the Japanese reds.

Muon Neutrino is a very unusual red. It’s a warm red, leaning towards a brick or burgundy color but finding a comp was a challenge. Robert Oster Rivers of Blood is a bit pinkier. Noodler’s Antetam is more orange-y brown and Waterman Red is close but different. (See? Different!) I thought maybe Muon Neutrino would be similar to Mars Curiosity but it is much more red where Curiosity is much more orange.

This next comparison is a bit of a cheat: Electron Neutrino and Z Boson from the Bosons sub-collection are both warm clay browns. Z Boson is slightly more yellow and Electron NE=eutrino is more reddish-orange. Robert Oster Australis Oak sort of falls, value wise, between Electron Neutrino and Z Boson. Golden Record from the Voyager I collection by Colorverse is also a pretty close match.

Standard Model Tau was one of the easiest ink colors for me to match (only after Up). Robert Oster Moss Green and Eucalyptus Leaf and Noodler’s Army Green are all very similar.

When I started matching ink swatches, I realized why one of my favorite colors in the Standard Model set was Tau Neutrino. It is a grey-black and I love grey-black inks. There’s a slight purple cast to the color which reminded me of Sailor Chu-Shu and Diamine Earl Grey — both colors I love and Coloverse Anti-Matter which is also a favorite though Anti-Matter has more of a bluish undertone. Of the three, Chu-Shu is probably the closest match.

W Boson is probably the most unusual color in the set. It’s a softer teal blue with a grey undertone. I assumed there would be a ton of Robert Oster ink that would be comparable but the color is much more muted than many of the Oster blues. Kyo-No-Oto #7 Hisoku is probably the closest but W Boson is a bit more green.

I assumed I’d have a drawer full of bright greens to compare the LE version of Photon but alas, most of my green inks tend to skew darker or more yellow. Monteverde Erinite is probably the most similar. Other greens were darker, more blue or more yellow.

The LE version of Gluon is a pretty close match to Robert Oster Chartreuse or Australis Tea. This range of ink colors is my personal white whale. Lime green is my favorite color so finding just the right ink that is legible in a fine nib pen without being too neon, too light or too dark has been a life long challenge. Gluon shades like crazy and is a beautiful color but I don’t know how well all that shading would work for legibility in a fine nib pen.

And last but not least, the Standard Model Higgs which is a bright, cheery red and when we pulled comparison swatches it was clear to see. Sheaffer Red, Diamine Ho Ho Ho and Conway Stweart St. Blazey were all close comparisons. Ho Ho Ho is a bit more orange but Sheaffer Red and St. Blazey are pretty similar.

Woh. This set is expensive!

First, I completely agree. This is not something that everyone will want to purchase. For starters, it is limited edition so there are not many left to be had. Second, you may already have many colors that are quite similar or close enough. However, when I did the messy math, each bottle works out to be approximately $11.75 each and that did not factor the ridiculous Halliburton case into the equation. For comparison:

• Pen BBS 15ml  $8
• Sailor Studio 20ml $18
• Sailor Shikiori 20ml $13.50

So, the Colorverse inks are pretty much on par plus– super cool James Bond case!

As for the range of colors, it is a pretty thorough collection of ink colors. Except for the two similar golden browns, the range covers all the colors regularly used. If one had been more of a chocolateey brown and maybe one of the reds been more of a bright magenta pink, then the set would be a no-brainer. If you do not have a lot of inks, investing in this set would give you a solid array of hues in reasonable sized bottles. I realize this sort of ink investment is not for everyone but, as I pointed out earlier, the price per bottle is definitely in the range for inks of this quality and volume. I say, if you have the means, order the set.

Special Thanks:

Agnes for asking me to provide a color comparison for Tau Neutrino which lit a fire under me to purchase the set and to Bob for expertly choosing swatch comparisons with the eagle eye of someone who mixes Pantone colors on a daily basis.

Tools:

• Pens: Tachikawa Comic Pen Nib Holder – Model 40 ($8.25) with Zebra G nib ($10.25 per 10-pack)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Ink:  Colorverse Standard Model of Particle Physics ($200 for seventeen – 15ml bottles packed into a custom carrying case)

The post Ink Overview: Coloverse The Standard Model appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The mini collection is sold in sets of three inks, and one of the most interesting aspects of the line is that you are able to individually self-select any of the inks from the collection as the three inks you would like included in your set. This type of set-up is a welcome addition in a world of ink where most sets allow little choice and often leave you with some inks you prefer more than others.

Colorverse already produced one of the smallest glass ink bottles on the market with their 15mL line. It’s important to note that these mini sets do not include the 15mL bottles, but instead include even smaller 5mL bottles. One the the more precarious parts of using tiny ink bottles is the size of the opening of the bottle. The Colorverse 15mL bottles were already tiny openings, and these mini bottles are every smaller. The good news is that I checked several different converters, and they all fit fine into the bottle for filling. You would not be able to fit a nib or a pen into the bottle to do a piston-fill. Amazingly, with a bit of rolling and finagling, I was still able to successfully dip the Col-o-ring Dipper into the bottles. Hooray! The bottles come with a plastic pipette for filling. The pipette works, but I found a syringe easier to use.

Price is definitely something to consider with these inks. At $19.50 for a set of three, the price per mL nearly triples compared to the original Colorverse sets. It’s also about double the cost of purchasing three ink samples, and the size is only 1mL greater than a traditional sample. On the other hand, you get the benefit of adorable tiny glass ink bottles and miniaturized packaging. It is also worth noting that other than samples, this is the only way I know to try three different ink colors of your choosing for under $20. If you are trying to fills holes in your Colorverse collection without breaking the bank, or just want a chance to try a variety of inks at a lower cost entry point than other Colorverse sets, these inks are perfect for that scenario.

All of seasons 1-5 are available in the collection as well as six colors from the Earth Edition, four Special Edition colors, and three colors from a brand new limited set. Thanks to Ana gifting me many of her Colorverse duplicate 15mL bottles, and purchasing a few new mini sets and some additional samples from Vanness, I was able to swatch all of seasons 1-4 along with one of the special edition inks and the three new limited colors.

Along with the launch of the mini collection, Colorverse also released a new limited set of three colors: the Johannes Kepler Set. The namesake of the set was a scientist and astronomer who is known for everything from describing the orbit of planets to writing what many consider to be one of the first pieces of science fiction.

The inks are packaged in the exact same manner as the other mini collection sets, but are sold as a pre-selected set. The set includes a red, green, and blue. None of the inks have significant sheen, but all are decently saturated inks that show some shading properties. I compared the colors to some of the other reds, greens, and blues from the Mini Collection.

Overall, I don’t feel the colors in the limited set are the most interesting in the Colorverse line overall, but I do enjoy all three of the included colors enough to merit having them in my collection. The small 5mL bottles give me the perfect opportunity to swatch all three, and still have plenty of ink left over to fill a few cartridge/ converter pens.

Swatching all of seasons 1-4 reminded me how many great colors Colorverse has released over time. The Mini Collection makes me hope to see more ink manufacturers innovate their methods of releasing ink- especially in terms of allowing more individual selections in the purchasing of sets. I would also like to see Colorverse release similar sets in the 15mL bottle size. One can dream right?

Tools:

• Swatches: Col-o-ring “Oversize” ($15), Col-o-Ring Dippers ($5)
• Stamps: Sample Vial Rubber Stamp ($12)
• Ink:  Colorverse The Mini Collection ($19.50 for 3- 5ml bottles)

DISCLAIMER: The items in this review were purchased with my own finds or handed down to me from the Colorverse queen. Some of the inks that were passed on to me were originally provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: Colorverse the Mini Collection & the Johannes Kepler Set appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

In the larger 65ml bottle is Solar Wind, a bright, clear water blue. The smaller 15ml bottle is Magnetosphere is a deep violet purple.

In writing tests, Solar Wind is light and bright and Magnetosphere is a deep violet. Both do not appear to have any sheeing, and there’s a little shading in Solar Wind but Magentosphere is too dark to shade much.

In straight color comparisons, J. Herbin Bleu Azur and Sailor Jentle Yuki-Akari are the closest in hue and value. MontBlanc Mile Davis is more indigo blue than the slightly aqua of Solar Wind.

Comparing Magnetosphere to other inks reveal that Noodler’s Purple Martin is probably the closest match. Waterman Tender Purple is more violet blue but sheens. Colorverse Joy in the Ordinary Delicious Sleep is a little bit lighter.

The real treat with this set is that Aurora Borealis was designed specifically to be mixed together. To best show the range of colors that can be created with Solar Wind and Magnetosphere, I decided to make a loose watercolor using the two inks. With spatters, washed and a dip pen, I blended the colors.

Depending on the ratio of colors, the range is pretty lovely. Adding water creates lovely washes of color as well.

There’s even some sheening as a result of blending the colors.

If you are just looking for inks to fill your pens, these are lovely colors but there are less expensive options. If you’re looking for a set to experiment, paint and blend to create your own colors, then this is a lovely set.

Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 7mm guide sheet, Canson XL Cold Press Watercolor
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Shawn Newton Esterbrook Nib Holder with #9668 nib
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silverwhite Round #2, Princeton Neptune Round #4 & 1/4″ Liner
• Ink: Colorverse Aurora Borealis Solar Wind & Magnetosphere Special Edition for Goldspot Pens ($17 for 50ml bottle)

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

The post Ink Review: Colorverse Goldspot Special Edition Aurora Borealis appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.