Robert Oster Australis Oak is exactly the type of ink that I never buy for myself, while simultaneously being the exact type of ink I should be buying for myself. Not every ink has to be Blue Black, Orange, or Purple - right? RIGHT???
I’ve wanted a good every day brown ink for a while now, and Australis Oak is certainly a contender. I’ve always thought the more chocolate brown shades would be my thing, but with the few I’ve tested none have stuck. They seem to lean flat, and boring. Leaning red is not much my style either, but what about a shade that goes a bit deeper in the gold/yellow range? Maybe so.
That’s what I was hoping to get with this ink, and I believe I succeeded. This is a rich, brown gold that leans a little gold. Or maybe well-worn tan leather. Or maybe fresh out of the oven pralines. Wherever it lands, I’m happy with it.
Part of the challenge with brown inks is that, for my personal usage, they do need to favor the pen I am going to ink it up in. That means no Pink Love here, and no Primary Manipulation. It has to math more closely than if I was throwing a bright blue ink around, for example. With my Stylo-Art Kinpaku, I found the perfect match.
This is the perfect fall pen, with the perfect fall ink. Any brown, red, gold, or yellow would be ideal for this pen, and it doesn’t hurt that I’m inking it up while the leaves are turning.
From a performance perspective, Australis Oak is identical to every other standard Robert Oster ink I use. It flows beautifully from the Pilot stub nib in this pen, with moderate shading. There is no sheen to speak of, and the dry times and color saturation are right smack in the mid-range. In short, it’s a perfect all-day, every-day writing ink.
Will I commit to using it that way? That’s the question that still remains. I love it, and it is a great compliment to the rotation of inks I find myself using regularly. I guess we will find out together!
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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