#shading ink

[traskodjur]

got a wonderful chance to try shading ink, look at that gorgeous iridescence, it's giving so much of a pearl shell..!

perfect for whimsical illustrations ✨

[schribbler]

Fanyatan ink swatches

On Kinbor 52gsm paper & clairefontaine 90gsm paper

[darlingroses-inkydreams]

Ink #0072

We're coming towards the end of this batch of inks. (though there's another batch waiting immediately after of course.) This one turned out to be one I like so lets explore

DeATRAMENTIS (scented) CHERRY

Ahhh scented Cherry. We're bombarded by cherry scented and flavored things in all kinds of ways aside from inks aren't we? From slushies, to soft drinks to cough syrup. Lotions, shampoos and candles too. But you ever notice there's no essential oil for this fruit like there is for so many other things? Hmm. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole here, but it is interesting I bet. So if you're wondering if this ink really smells like cherries, well.... I can say it smells like cherries the way a lot of other things smell like cherries that aren't cherries. That is to say, artificially cherry. Then again you can't quite expect anything to really smell like cherries can you?

The color is somewhere between a Bing and a Chelan Cherry. Either a dark Bing or a bright Chelan. Which gives it some nice shading qualities if you like your red inks with a bit of range. I hesitate to call this a maroon because it's not quite dark enough and still so distinctly red and not a hint of purple. So that's nice. I found this very close to the kind of ink I'd like to use in my red pens and I ended up mixing it in with a shimmer ink to get the effect I liked with the added bonus of a nice cherry scent I could enjoy. Because that's the main thing about scented inks isn't it? They're for you to enjoy the scent of while writing. I wasn't sure the appeal of that for so long until I encountered some purple and blank inks that well... they were stanky. They were inks you KNEW you were using and smelling and while that smell would leave as the ink dried, I didn't appreciate how nice some inks could smell while you use them without that contrast.

Now for the last surprises this ink had for me that I forgot to discover while I did the chromatography. Remember, I did all the swatches before hand, but this time as I go through them I'm swabbing them on Canson Mixed Media paper and adding water to see what happens as well as doing some chromatography on filter paper to see how the colors separate. And this is where I get the biggest surprises.

It had this heavier base gray I never realized was there, but it makes sense ultimately as the darker shading component of this ink. If it's not coming from purple or brown then here it is. There's a tiiiiny hint of Magenta at the very top edge. Just enough to give it some of that brightness too, but the rest is red and brick red and then nothing until that heavy grey. Interesting. Is this an ink I'd recommend you get? Well I'm a bit biased as I went and got myself a bottle of this ink ultimately and I still enjoy using it. If you like cherry scented things I think you'd like this ink. It was well behaved and the smell not overwhelming. It's even dark enough I'd call it office appropriate if you have notes or messages that need to be red. But I'm biased. If you're not a fan of cherry scented thinks I'm sure there's a version of this ink in DeAtramentis' regular line that'll fit your needs. I wouldn't recommend this ink be used in art though. As you can see with the water that grey comes out and unless that's the effect you're going for, the contrast might not work out. You might want to try one of the other reds that splits with purple. Other than that this ink works well for me. I hope you'll give a sample a try.

[darlingroses-inkydreams]

Ink #0043

Here I am again struggling to pin down dates which I acquired certain inks. I'm fairly sure I received this ink when I made another FB Pen Group purchase from a member. It was for a Noodler's Neponset Carpathian Firefly that they didn't feel they needed anymore. They sent along this ink because they felt it was a good match for the Carpathian Firefly model of the Neponset is a neon green with deep pearlized navy blue marbling. Quite the striking contrast. So this was my fit bright green ink,

DIAMINE KELLY GREEN

Diamine has a lot, and I mean, a LOT of inks and quite a lot of greens in there. I would discover later they're only a few shades difference between many of their light green inks, but this one is my first and I found that it does seem to be a really good middle of the road bright green. It has enough lightness to shade and give you some yellow in there, but just enough blue to be a darker green if it pools.

These swabs give you an idea of the range you can get with Kelly Green. Not just in the yellow range either, but the darker edges too. It's got nearly the range of Soft Mint and Noodler's A/SW Sunset but in Light Green.

Here's what it looks like if you rest a ink saturated cotton bud on a paper towel..... In case you want to make nice Lily Pad designs. The Chromatography is something else though. This ink really did not hold up to water. It wanted to run for miles but I was running out of room at the top of the strip otherwise I'm sure it would have kept going, but m arm was getting tired. That's a lot of yellow in there. A Whole lot. There's some darker green resting on top, but riding the leading edge of this green wave was a bit of Cyan. Interesting. You can see it peeking around the edges of he Lily Pad too.

Should you buy this ink? You know? Maybe not this one specifically but Damine has like 4 very similar ones and I think every collection should have a medium green in it. I appreciate Kelly Green for its range and I'd gladly gift it to someone who likes Green inks with no worries that it might be too bright. I didn't use it much in my Neponset, but not because it wasn't a good match. I just happened to have a neon ink I wanted to use in the Neponset instead. I think this would also make a fantastic art ink in a brush pen, so there's always that option. I only had a small 30ml bottle, but I think when that runs out I'll get the bigger bottle size because it's also another one of those inks that would be easy to customize lighter or darker or add shimmer to it and it's not likely to stain anything.

[darlingroses-inkydreams]

Ink #0038

Whew... alright. So now that I've gotten over my last ink review, I'm pleased to get into this one. Now, remember back when I had possible Mystery Ink samples? I think this was one of them. However with the purchase of a customized pen from a FB group member, a bunch of inks were thrown into the order as well and a small 30ml bottle of this ink was one of them (to match the pen I got). So here is

DIAMINE SOFT MINT

If I could describe this ink as if it were a person I would call it a Sweetheart. Because it is! I'm glad soft is in the name because that perfectly describes tis ink shade. It's not too light to be illegible and not too dark that it's a teal or a turquoise either. It's has FANTASTIC shading properties. It's in the middle of a blue or a green. I don't find the color hard to read for long periods of time and as for calling it a sweetheart..

It's forgiving. Oh so forgiving. Cheap paper? That's fine. Cheap pen... it's alright. Wet nib, dry nib, hard and fine nib, soft and expensive gold nib, it's all ok. Need bright paper with contrast to see writing? It'll be light Blue for you. Get eye strain and prefer cream paper? It can be Green for you. Made a mistake and need to cover it up with white out or correction tape? It won't show through. You can even erase it completely with a bit of diluted bleach. (as seen in the swatch swab on the lower right. That's he bleach. Completely Gone) Worried it'll stain your pen? It'll be whatever you need and get out of your way when you don't.

In fact, this ink might be a little TOO forgiving. You can completely neglect this sweetheart ink your pen and it'll just.... disappear into nothing and not even bother any darker ink you replace it with even if you didn't wash the pen. (Unless maybe that ink is yellow or pink, but I did say Darker.) It won't even leave crusties.

Pretty sweet isn't it? Now, I used this ink up when I had the first sample. I used it as a standard test in all my pens though I don't really write long with it. At least I didn't until I got a LAMY Safari Special Edition 2019 in Pastel Mint. I LOVE matching my ink with my pens. I even spilled this ink accidentally (that's the trouble with those 30ml plastic Diamine bottles), but I still have plenty to test with when I get a new pen. I don't know if I'll get a full sized bottle or not, it's been great having a 30ml to travel with as an easy pocket size.

Check that out. So much bright Cyan, but it has a hidden heart of green. Can't expect it to stand up to water, but I get the impression that Soft Mint doesn't like confrontation. As a close primary color I think this ink could be easily tinted further into a green or turned into a soft purple with the slightest touches of a red or any other color. Though strong colors like black or orange might turn it muddy grey or brown and crush any softness out of it. So maybe be gentle when introducing it to mixes. Alas, there's likely no colorfastness so it'll flee if exposed to too much sunlight. Soft Mint is more shy and private like. It'll be there for your quiet journaling time, but would probably fade from being exposed all the time in art pieces. It could probably show off shimmer powders quite well, but I haven't tested any of those yet, since I don't have much left in my bottle.

I definitely recommend you try this ink, but not just a sample. I hope you fall in love with having this friendly ink around to compliment anything else you're doing. As a tester, as a mixer, for yourself or for letters. It's an easy going, forgiving friend that will accept whatever you have, whatever you're able to afford in a pen or paper and keep supporting what you need from it so you can express yourself, just the way you are.

[marmaboy]

Just a few of the Robert Oster Signature Inks I’m excited to try. (official website, Goulet Pen)

All images from The Goulet Pen Company.