Pilot Iroshizuku – Yama-budo
Phew. I love this ink. I waited nearly forever to try it because I didn’t think I would like it. And then – boom! Instant love.
It looks a little too bright and a little too pink in this swab. The real color is that of crushed grapes.
Seriously, you’ll love it.
Monteverde Black
It’s black. 🙂
LOVE this ink! Sailor Kobe #29 – Suma Kai Hin Blue is a great blue with just a bit of red making it lean toward purple. In my experience, all of the Sailor Kobe inks are pretty terrific.
I bought mine on eBay. Have you tried this one or any of the other Sailor Kobe?
Last year, I participated in a group buy for Toucan inks. The brand is Australian and the inks are formulated so that they may be mixed with one another without concern. I posted about the entire experience here. While it was a good experience and everything went great with the group buy, I’ve not been thrilled with the inks. Here’s a link to my review of Toucan Violet.
My chief complaint is that the inks seem watery. Not just low saturation of color, but thin and . . . watery.
Along with the above issue, there doesn’t seem to be much lubrication to the ink. I tested using a Lamy Safari (my pen of choice for new inks) and it felt like I had to push, pull, and drag the pen along to get things going.
And then there’s the color – crimson? No.
Very little water resistance.
While poking around for other reviews, I discovered that Anderson Pens is selling Toucan inks by the pouch (how I bought them) and in sample sizes. (Their swabs look totally different than mine.)
I’ve tried a couple other inks from Toucan and will post about those in the next few months – I’m happy to say that the news isn’t all bad. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your experiences with the Toucan line.
J Herbin Bouton D’Or is actually quite a bit lighter than it’s showing here. It’s difficult to make a recommendation for writing with a yellow ink because they really are quite impractical.
Pelikan Edelstein Aventurine
A nice standard green that behaves really well in the pen.
R & K Salix
Interesting!! Do you like this one? I like the darkness and it looks like there is some potential for shading, too. Going to have to give it a go.
Where as yesterday’s red ink was bold and bright, this one is a bit darker and more understated.
Definitely a matter of taste, but I prefer the brighter tones.
De Atramentis Jasmine is surprising in a number of ways . . .
I tested this ink in a Lamy Safari with a broad nib and there is some amount of shading going on:
There are a lot of nice things about this ink. It writes great – no hard starts, no feathering, no bleeding or show through – but I just don’t like it. The color is nothing special to me and I can’t imagine a situation when I’d want to write in this color.
Having said that, reviews on Goulet Pens are great for Jasmine, though one reviewer said that it bleeds on Filofax paper – good to know.
What do you think? Love it? Hate it?
Oh, and in case you care about such things – I bought and paid for the sample size of this ink with my own pennies.
I’ve not tried Lamy Red, but it’s so bright cheerful that I might have to very soon!