This was a fun one to give away! The Vintage Writing Paper Pad from The Well-Appointed Desk is no longer available, but stay tuned to Ana’s shop for more awesome goods. The winners are:
Congrats to both of you! I’ve sent an email to collect your shipping address.
(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
Lennon Toolbar is a Taiwanese company founded in 2014. Originally, their focus was Indigo Dyeing, but recently they've branched out into fountain pen inks.
Night Sky, Blue Sky, and Sunset Glow are the three newest inks in the Atmospheric Series, which emphasizes colors inspired by atmospheric phenomena. The inks in this series are waterproof.
Night Sky is a grey-blue ink that reminds me of new denim blue jeans or the deep blue of the sky just after sunset. The ink offers good shading in swabs and wide nibs, but it has no sheen.
On Rhodia paper, the ink is a dusky blue with a bit of shading. It dries quickly and, as you can see in the water test, is completely waterproof.
Even on legendary Tomoe River Paper, Night Sky does not exhibit any sheen, but the ink and paper interact beautifully, offering a wonderfully smooth writing experience. The ink looks its best on Tomoe paper.
MD Cotton paper along with a juicy ruling pen bring out the shading and pooling properties of the ink. Even where the ink pools, however, there's no sheen.
Of the three inks reviewed here, Night Sky is my favorite. It is the most saturated, and it is easy to read on all the papers tested.
Blue Sky is a light blue shade reminiscent of old, faded blue jeans or the soft blue color of the sky on a moody winter day. Using a dip pen fitted with a Brause Blue Pumpkin nib, the ink exhibits shading and color variation. There's no sheen, however.
On Rhodia paper, Blue Sky is very light, and there's not much color variation or shading. This ink was a bit wetter than Night Sky, taking slightly longer to dry. It also is waterproof.
Blue Sky is a little more legible on Tomoe River paper. The paper brings out some subtle shading as well.
This ink definitely looks best on MD Cotton paper with a ruling nib. If you want to enjoy the shading and pooling characteristics of the ink, you'll need to use it with wide nibs.
Blue Sky is too light in my opinion, at least for use in fine, medium, and broad nibs. It interacts best with Tomoe paper and, in combination with wide nibs (BB, BCI, and wider), it is more saturated.
Sunset Glow makes me think of an Orange Julius and my mouth starts watering. It's a peach-orange that, when it pools, becomes a striking red-orange. Again, using the Brause Blue Pumpkin dip nib brings out some nice shading in this ink. A tiny bit of sheen appears on the edges of the ink splats.
Sunset Glow appears rather light on Rhodia paper, but it is legible and exhibits some shading. Like the other inks, it is waterproof and has a fluorescent green afterglow that made me think it might glow in the dark, but it doesn't.
On Tomoe River Paper, Sunset Glow flows well and exhibits some shading.
This ink looks most spectacular on MD Cotton Paper with a ruling nib. The dark, rich oranges develop where the ink pools and shading is quite striking. Of the three inks, Sunset Glow is my second favorite.
You can purchase Night Sky, Blue Sky, and Sunset Glow from Shigure Inks ($24.00 for 35ml).
(Shigure Inks sent Pen Addict these three Atmospheric inks at no charge for review purposes.)
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Many Q-tips died to bring us this information.
(This is a guest post by Tony. Whereabouts unknown.)
In my opinion, every fountain pen user should have at least one waterproof black ink in their collection (yes even you person-who-never-ever-uses-black-ink). Unfortunately, by last count there are approximately 137 different black fountain pen inks currently on the market that claim to be waterproof. Some are more waterproof than others. Some have additional properties over and above their waterproof-ness that you may or may not want. Toss in terms like "eternal", "bulletproof", "nano-pigment", along with a host of others and it becomes almost impossible to decide which one best suits your needs[1].
You could go out and buy samples of every single one and test them, but that takes time and money which could be better spent elsewhere. Wouldn't it be much more convenient if someone else did all that legwork for you? Well today is your lucky day: Brad has graciously allowed me some space on his web log to be that someone.
For this article I have assembled 17 common and readily-available waterproof black inks. The list is limited to inks I had on hand or could easily acquire (with my own money, thanks Brad) from site sponsor Vanness Pens. That said, I feel like this sample covers enough of the bases to be both useful and not overwhelming. I am also including three permanent black inks that are not for fountain pens to serve as a "control group". Each ink will be tested on 6 different types of paper known to be fountain pen friendly. For the best balance of presenting the inks' color properties I have decided to use a glass nib pen and a cotton swab[2]. Once the ink has been put to the page, I'll allow it to dry completely, take a "before" picture, and then submerge the sheet of paper in a basin of water for 5 minutes. Finally, after removal from the bath each page will air dry and have an "after" picture taken.
Life Bank Paper Pad - Before
Life Bank Paper Pad - After
Midori Cotton - Before
Midori Cotton - After
Midori MD - Before
Midori MD - After
Rhodia DotPad - Before
Rhodia DotPad - After
Tomoe River 52 gsm - Before
Tomoe River 52 gsm - After
Tomoe River 68 gsm - Before
Tomoe River 68 gsm - After
We've seen the results. I think the "losers" are pretty clear, but who's the winner? There are a few contenders. My personal preference is DeAtramentis Document Black. Platinum Carbon Black is also a solid performer. If you're on a budget, Noodler's Black will serve you just fine. The two Rohrer & Klingner inks are good options if you prefer a wetter ink. I want to recommend Colorverse Selectron, but it's only available in a two bottle set with Electron, and it's the tiny 15ml part of the pairing.
(Disclaimer: I paid for all items used in this review with my own money. Nary an ink sample was provided to me free of charge.)
[1] I'm not testing any of these additional properties. As of this writing, my laser is still in the shop.
[2] I recognize that a cotton swab doesn't always give the best results, but I felt that it would give more consistent and controllable results across trials than another method such as a letter opener or knife blade.
