(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
It's getting difficult to keep up with all the new ink makers that have popped up in the past couple of years, and I'm not complaining. The latest new ink to hit my desk comes from Octopus Fluids in Germany, and it's a gorgeous purple ink with a little bit of shading and lots of personality.
Octopus Fluids Purpur is a medium purple with a little hint of red that makes it a great choice for everyday writing and doodling. This color is part of the standard line of inks that Octopus Fluids offer, and I think it's a great standard representation of purple. It's not as vibrant as some, but it's also dark enough to make it easy to use in a professional setting.
Writing with this ink is a pleasant experience. It flows easily and smoothly, and works well with all the pens I've tried it with so far. The ink doesn't feather or bleed, and it cleans up easily as well. There's a bit of shading in this ink, but it isn't extreme. In the medium cursive italic nib I've been using recently, you can see slight color variation in each stroke, but it doesn't jump out at you. Still, it does add just a touch of variation that indicates that a fountain pen was used to make the marks.
An interesting feature of this ink that I've only seen when doing swatches or making large pools of ink is that there's a reddish sheen that hangs on top of the dried ink. It looks great under the right light, but it's only easy to pick out in swatches or areas where ink has pooled significantly. Realistically, you won't see the sheen under normal writing circumstances.
Dry time for this ink does leave something to be desired, though. In my testing, the ink normally took between 20 and 40 seconds to dry to the point where it wasn't easy to smudge with light pressure. This isn't the slowest ink to dry in my testing, but it is pretty slow. Definitely something to consider if you're left handed or want to use this ink in a notebook where you plan on quickly jotting down notes and closing the book. There will be ink spots on your hands and/or opposite pages of your notebook.
Despite the dry time, I have zero complaints with this ink. I'm partial already to purple inks, and this color just makes me happy when I'm using it. It's not as bright as some of my other purple inks, but the medium hue is gorgeous and makes it easy to use in any setting while still being obviously purple.
I'm excited to explore more from Octopus Fluids because my initial exposure with this ink has been a great experience. The 30ml bottle of Purpur cost $14, so the price is fairly standard for other small-shop ink vendors. Vanness also offer a small 4ml sample vial if you want to try it out (and others while you're at it) to see if you want to commit to a larger bottle. Try out Octopus Fluids the next time you're able!
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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