(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
I've long been a fan of Robert Oster’s inks that take so much inspiration from Australia, so I was intrigued to learn about his Cities of America series. The first variant of the collection I've scored is the Chicago ink, which is a lovely denim blue color with hints of green and gray interspersed.
When confronted with the question of what color a certain city makes you think or feel, I'm not sure there's ever a correct answer. More than likely, you'll get as many unique answers responses. For me, Chicago is vibrant yet cold and hard. A steely gray with some character comes to mind. But, there's also color. Lake Michigan, the Cubs, the bustling downtown, all the rich history that makes Chicago what it is today. For Robert Oster, Chicago is a dusty denim with tones of green and gray. I like the color he chose for this city, but (more importantly) it's just a great color for an ink.
The shading that this ink exhibits makes it every more difficult for me to determine the exact colors. It has layers, and that's exactly what I've come to expect from Robert Oster inks. It's not simply one color. It has depth, and it can even shift between light and nibs.
So whether it's a dusty blue or a slightly green-gray blue, this ink will continue to surprise you — similar to how a big city will continue to surprise you over time.
Writing with this ink is fantastic. If you've used a Robert Oster ink before in the past, you'll know what to expect. The delivery is smooth and predictable, and it works nicely on virtually all combinations of nibs and paper types.
Dry time is fairly good as well. In most cases, the ink was smudge-proof by 10 or 15 seconds if I was writing lightly. When writing slower and really letting the ink flow well and pool up in certain areas, the ink takes more like 20 to 25 seconds to fully dry. For most normal writing, it's a pretty quick dryer.
Feathering and bleeding are non-existant with this ink, as least in my testing on nice paper. You can expect some feathering on thinner paper or copy paper, but it's not bad considering.
At $18 for a 50ml bottle, it's a great deal. The bottle is a great shape and has a good opening for accommodating most pen section sizes. It might struggle a bit with large nibs, but there's always eyedroppers and aftermarket glass ink bottles for those situations.
Chicago belongs to the first series of the Cities of America collection, and there's been promise of a second series coming sometime this year.
Chicago is a lovely ink color that really finds a nice spot in between blue, gray, and green in a way that only Robert Oster can manage. The extra character found in the shading and other behaviors just make it more special.
If you haven't tried any of Robert Oster's inks, definitely give one a try soon!
(Pen Chalet provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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