(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)
With a name like Writer's Blood, of course I needed this ink. I had already decided to buy it when Brad was kind enough to send me a bottle, and it immediately landed at the top of my list of favorite red inks (which literally does exist). I use red ink a lot. Because editing. And this one ticks all the boxes.
It's a perfect gothic cherry color--dark enough to not be glaring, but bright enough to be seen easily. It's extremely saturated, so it doesn't show much shading, and there's only a very faint sheen where the ink dried in a pool. Perhaps because of this saturation it has a little bit of water resistance. Even where the water sat for a while and was then wiped away, there are still traces of the lines visible. This is also a good thing for editors and writers. The last thing you want is for a teacup hiccup to erase your progress. Chromatography shows its deep rose and purple tones, like a vampire's smoking jacket. Yes, please.
It is not vastly different from other wine/burgundy inks, and while I do not have any exact matches in my swab collection, there are several very similar ones. It's a good match for Organic Studios Edgar Allen Poe, which is arguably the perfect name for this ink's closest cousin.
It has an average dry time of about 25-30 seconds. It doesn't feel too wet or too dry when writing, though I do have it inked in a very wet writer at the moment. I've yet to meet a Diamine ink that wasn't very well behaved--they all write well and consistently, and this one is no different.
This shade comes in two different bottles. You can get a lovely blown glass 80ml bottle like the one shown here for about $16.50, which is an insanely good deal. Or you can get a plastic 30ml bottle for $7.50. I recommend either or both.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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