(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
There are so many combination black inks available today — blue-black, blue-green, etc. — but gray combination inks are actually more exciting for my preferences. Mixing a gray ink with another color has potential for creating some really interesting shading effects if the formula is right. Today, we're looking at a gray-purple (or gray-green?) ink from Troublemaker Inks, who are based in the Philippines.
Petrichor is from Troublemaker's Shading collection, which features inks with (you guessed it) pronounced shading characteristics. Petrichor is a gray ink with a slight purple or green hue in some light. It's described as a gray-purple, but I don't think there's enough purple in this ink to really do the description justice. In most of my samples, it looks like a dusty gray that leans more toward green than purple. I really enjoy the color of this ink; it just isn't purple.
Since this ink is part of a collection that focuses on shading, it comes as no surprise that this ink has loads of shading. Even in small nibs, this ink shades easily. The color variation goes from a light semi-translucent gray-green to a darker gray with green and purple/blue tones. When it comes to shading, this ink does not disappoint.
Dry time is on the fairly slow side of the scale for this ink. In a medium nib, the ink was dry and smudge-resistant by 30 seconds. It smudges and smears easily under the 30-second mark, so this isn't a good choice for lefties or if you need to write and close your notebook quickly/frequently.
The characteristic of this ink that makes me hesitate the most when picking it up to use is the ink flow and lubrication. More than 90% of the inks I use are either in the middle of the scale for flow and lubrication, and I tend to like inks better if they are well-lubricated and flow easily. With Petrichor, it feels like ink supply is constricted even on pens that usually have no problem delivering lots of ink to the page. This also makes the nib feel a little dry when writing, which constantly makes me stop and think that I might have an ink flow problem. No, the ink is flowing just fine; it's just the ink formula is on the dry side and doesn't provide the amount of lubrication I like for writing. That's not to say it's a bad characteristic, but it is one that you should be aware of. If you want a dry ink with very controlled flow, this is great. If you want easy flow and a glossy feel when writing, this isn't for you.
The ink behaves well on paper. I haven't noticed any feathering or bleeding, and it starts right away. It's also easy to clean out of pens with just a water flush. I haven't experienced any weirdness with long-term storage in a pen either (meaning, no weird crusty build-up or other residue on the nib after it isn't used for a few days).
I've enjoyed the inks I've tried from Troublemaker Inks so far. This isn't my favorite by any stretch, but I still enjoy the color and shading that it offers. The dry flow takes some getting used to, but once I dialed in my writing speed and expectations, it keeps up just fine.
Petrichor is available in a 60ml bottle for $16.50, or as a 4ml sample vial for just $4. This is one of those inks where I'd really recommend going for the sample first. Given the color variation and dry flow, you need to be sure you like it before committing to such a large bottle. But, if you want the bottle, it's a great deal! Looking forward to trying more inks from Troublemaker Inks in the future.
(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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