Category: Swatches – Ink

My Two Black Fountain Pen Inky Colors

I found this blog post in my drafts folder from late last year and I forgot to share it. I thought I would go ahead and publish it for those of you who were curious about these limited edition ink colors.

There were two inks I received back in June of last year. I wrote a blog post for each ink color and forgot to show writing samples and swatches together.

I currently have two pens (GO with Medium nib) inked with each color. I’ve been writing with these pens for a few days and wanted to share some of the writing and sketching experiences while using these two black ink colors.

At first, one would think a black ink is basically a black ink color. True. For me, it’s much more than the basic black color. These two inks have their own unique personalities and I like each of them for what they show on paper.

SHOGUN

Let’s start with my first black ink called Shogun. The base color of this ink is a true neutral black ink color. When I say neutral, it does no possess any other underlying color(s) other than black or dark gray.

When I applied water to this ink, the underlying color I saw is a neutral gray color. I really enjoyed this neutral ink’s personality/characteristic. It’s a lovely and subtle black ink color.

Sheen: There is a slight dark sheen in this ink. It’s not noticeable in regular writing, but I can see it in my swatch.

Shading: There’s not much shading that I can see in this ink and from my writing samples.

Shimmers: The shimmers at first appear to be pink. When I look at the shimmers in the bottle it appears to be more rose gold or coppery-like. It’s a gorgeous shimmery color.

PATINA ROARING BLACK

This beautiful ink appeared on my radar because of the swatches I saw on social media. Since I was in a black inky mood, I thought I would give this ink a try. If some of you have been following me for a few years, you know that I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with some of the earlier FWP inky colors that were too light in color to write with and also too dry to sketch with.

This particular inky color changed my mind about FWP. My swatch showed quite a bit of personality for a black ink. It showed a lovely blue underlying color along with golden shimmers. My swatch also showed a lovely robust red sheen. Oh and who could not resist the cute perfume-looking bottle?

Sheen: A bright and lovely red sheen can be seen on my swatch.

Shading: There’s not much shading that I can see in this ink and from my writing samples.

Shimmers: This ink has golden shimmers.

If I looked straight on at the writing sample I did with both inks, they looked very similar in color. The only way I could tell them apart was when I used my water brush and painted over the lines. Shogun has a neutral gray underlying color while Patina Roaring Black has a lovely blue color.

Shogun (top) and Roaring Patina Black (bottom)

I just realized that FWP Patina Roaring Black has been sold out. That makes sense since that was a limited edition ink. A very nice and very similar inky replacement would be Diamine Tempest which comes in a 50ml bottle. Tempest is actually a dark blue ink with golden shimmers with a slight and subtle pinkish sheen. It’s not an exact match, but fairly close.

Inks: Jacques Herbin Shogun. Ferris Wheel Press Patina Roaring Black. Diamine Tempest (Red Inkvent Calendar)

Pens: TWSBI GOs with Medium nibs. Lamy Al-Star Marron with Fine nib.

Journal: GLP Creations The Author Tomoe River Paper 68gsm

Creating Sketches While Traveling

A couple of weeks ago, Hubby and I went on a trip. I made sure to set aside some time to figure out what art supplies I would pack and take with me for our adventure.

I thought about how I wanted to record this journey. Do I bring my watercolor paints and brushes? Or do I bring my fountain pens and inks? Or do I bring both?

I laid out my favorite supplies including my fave Maxpedition case and my new Rickshaw/Nock case. Based on my past traveling experiences I knew these would be the two cases to bring and it would be easy to figure out what supplies will fit in the cases.

After going back and forth between the two mediums, I knew I would not enjoy our trip if I could not decide what main art medium to use to capture our adventures. I decided it was best to bring my fountains pens and inks in my Maxpedition case. I used my Rickshaw case to carry just the essentials when I was out and about with my slender messenger bag.

I carried with me a slender A5 journal and wrote about our adventures each day. I was keeping a daily travel log. I found it was easier to write or jot down key points from our adventures as I sipped my coffee in the morning or while we sat in front of a fire pit enjoying the early evening weather.

I also included my A5 mixed media art journal for my pen & ink washes. Both journals fit inside my Lochby Field Journal.

Each day, I recorded objects and things that were easy to sketch. Sometimes I would have 5-15 minutes to quickly sketch something with my pencil or permanent pen.

In my two page spread (above), I created a variety of sketches from ideas in my head. Each object had Thunderstorm incorporated into the sketch which brought the sketches together or created a bit of harmony.

It was handy to have my Rickshaw case filled with my essential supplies as I was able to create quick sketches on the go. Yes, that meant I had to narrow down my choices to six inky colors to take with me.

Waterbrushes, Nahvalur Original Plus, Pilot Custom 823, Platinum Preppy (02), mechanical pencil, and TWSBI pens in my Rickshaw case

My Pilot Custom 823 was filled with Hailstorm. I used this ink for writing in my journals. It’s a dark green color that leans more towards blue.

For this trip, I decided to fill a Preppy with a permanent Grey ink color. I used this Preppy mostly for the outlines in my sketches. I do like using this lighter color for my outlines versus using the bold black Carbon ink color.

For my peach sketch, I did not have an orange ink color with me. I used Blood Rose and African Gold and blended/dabbed the colors a bit on my paper. Again, Thunderstorm makes another appearance in each of my sketching scenes.

Here’s an example of a quick sketch I created in my art journal. I had about ten minutes to sketch a few things and not enough time to add my fountain pen inky colors to all of my sketches. I find it’s okay to leave out the colors and add them back in for another day. I can also go back into my travel log and find other things to add to my sketch and add the colors when I have the time.

I know the pages in my art journal looks a bit bare and there are quite a few blank areas in between my sketches. They are my invisible placeholders for when I will go back and write a story about my adventures.

Pens: Pilot Custom 823 in Amber w/Fine nib. Nahvalur Original Plus in Melacara Purple w/Stub nib. Platinum Preppy (02) Extra Fine nib. TWSBI Swipe w/Stub nib. TWSBI GOs w/Stub nibs.

Inks: DeAtramentis Document Ink in Grey. Van Dieman’s Ink Hailstorm and Anna’s Hummingbird Wing (shimmer). Robert Oster Sydney Lavender, Steely Days, Melon Tea, African Gold, Blood Rose, Sydney Darling Harbour, and Thunderstorm.

Cases: Maxpedition Beefy Pocket Organizer in Olive Green. Rickshaw Nock Sinclair model R in Black/Aqua.

Other: Pentel Energize Mechanical Pencil with 0.7mm HB lead. Pentel Water Brushes with small and medium size tips.

Art Journal: Stillman & Birn softcover Alpha A5 (5.5″x8.5″)

My Permanent Grey Inks

When I create my sketches, I typically start out with a pencil sketch. This helps me outline my shapes and also helps me with placement and location of my objects on my paper. When I’m satisfied with the look of my sketches, I will typically go over my pencil lines with a permanent ink like Platinum Carbon ink. Platinum Carbon is a black ink color that does not budge or move when I apply my ink washes or watercolor paints over it.

Late last year, I found that the black ink color I use is just a bit too dark or bold for my sketching style. Especially, when I apply light color washes to my sketches.

I was on a mission to find a good permanent grey ink color.

I started looking in my ink collection cabinet and found I had a bottle of Document Grey ink that I purchased in 2019. While I was researching online I found a newer (to me) Urban Grey color. I was trying to do an online comparison between the two colors and I could see they were different and I was curious by how much.

I went ahead and ordered Urban Grey. Appropriately named, it mostly reminded me of creating urban sketches with this color. I assumed lots of urban sketchers use this ink color. I had a hard time finding it in stock.

Once I received my new bottle of ink, I could see the difference between the two DeAtramentis Document Ink bottles. The label on the Urban Grey bottle portrayed it as a lighter grey color.

I could not wait to create my inky swatches. My swatches also show a difference between the two grey ink colors. The following picture reminds me of a monochromatic photo. I should have placed a bright red fountain pen for a pop of color in my photo shoot.

Urban Grey appears to be a softer and slightly lighter grey color.

I originally purchased my bottle of Grey for it’s lovely medium neutral grey color.

I would consider Urban Grey to be a light neutral gray color. From the writing on my swatch card, it’s definitely a readable ink color. It would also work nicely for writing descriptions and documentation in my art journal where I would not want it to compete with my sketches.

So, which color do I like best? I like them both for different reasons. I’m still working on test sketches and hope to show my fellow readers some sample sketches using the two colors. Stay tuned!

Inks: DeAtramentis Document Inks in Grey and Urban Grey

New Shimmering Ink!

I ended 2022 with a last minute purchase of a new Van Dieman’s Ink that caught my eye. My new ink arrived in 2023, so it’s my first new inky color for this year.

This is a new series of inks called Birds of a Feather. The series is broken into six different birds: Anna’s Hummingbird, Blue Jay, Elegant Peacock, European Honey Bee Eater, Laughing Kookaburra, and Mandarin Duck.

The ink I selected is from Anna’s Hummingbird called Wing. The box has a colorful and gorgeous artwork that also appears on the bottle’s label.

This is a medium olive green ink color with lovely shading. At first it appears to have green shimmers.

I double checked the bottom of my bottle to see what the actual shimmering particles looked like. It definitely looked green to me.

I looked at my swatch from a slight angle, it looks like a bright green shimmer.

When I looked at my swatch from a side angle, I started to see another shimmering color appear. A lovely teal blue color.

I went back to my bottle and gave it a good shake. I tried to capture the shimmering colors I saw which could now be three colors depending on the lighting.

Once the shimmers started to settle inside the bottle, different layers of shimmering colors appeared. At the very bottom I could see some of the gold particles. In the middle was the green and towards the top is a tiny bit of teal blue.

The following shows my damp towel with some of the bluish grey underlying ink color and then blooming out into olive green and a bright chartreuse green around the outer areas. There is also a bright neon green color around the outer edge. I can honestly say this ink has a lot of personality.

As the my towel dried, the bluish grey color is more defined in the bloom.

So how does this VDI Wing compare to my other olive green inks? It’s very similar to Prairie Green, but a bit darker. Prairie Green has gold shimmers which gives this color a lighter appearance. Wing has several shimmering colors which gives the illusion the ink is darker.

This is another of my “trust my gut instinct” ink and I’m so happy to have this in my inky collection. Looking forward to sketching with this ink.

Ink: Van Dieman’s Ink Birds of a Feather series – Anna’s Hummingbird Wings (shimmers)

Tools used: Automatic Pen with 3A nib. River City Pen Company nib holder with JoWo #6 Fine nib.

Day 25: The Last Day with My Swatches of Green Inks

We are at the end of our Diamine Inkvent Calendar. I want to say a huge thank you to T for providing me with her lovely swatches. Today’s Diamine ink is Best Wishes a shimmering and sheening ink. It appears to be a dark green ink with a massive amount of red sheen and green shimmers.

I pulled out my green swatches from my collection.

Enchanted Woods was the only green ink I had that contained green shimmers.

Upon further inspection, the shimmers looks more like a silver-green.

I narrowed down my choices to three ink colors that had no shimmers.

Black Ivy, which also has a massive amount of sheen, was from last year’s calendar. There’s a dark blue underlying color in Black Ivy which makes it lean a bit towards a teal blue color. Sea Turtle is a true green ink color with lovely red sheen. River of Fire is a green ink color that leans a bit towards blue as I can see some blue in the underlying color.

Yes. Best Wishes made it to my wish list.

Ink swatches: Diamine Red Inkvent Black Ivy. Diamine Golden Ivy (shimmer). Van Dieman’s Ink Sea Turtle and Enchanted Woods (shimmer). Taccia Midori. Robert Oster River of Fire and Peppermint.

Day 24: More Blue-Purple Swatches

Today’s Diamine Inkvent color is One More Sleep. This is a standard blue ink. It reminds me of a blue-purple color with cornflower blue and pink underlying colors.

Here is T’s lovely and interesting swatch of this Diamine ink color. I’ve read this ink leans a bit more on the wet side.

I immediately found a few blurple swatches from my collection.

Yes – Grey Seas, Evening Sapphire, and Midnight Sapphire look very similar. Especially when I use use all three in my pen & ink wash sketches. It’s hard to tell them apart.

Grey Seas is a medium blue color while Midnight Sapphire is a dark blue color. Evening Sapphire falls somewhere in between the two other ink colors. It’s more prevalent in my writing on my swatch cards.

I narrowed down the choices to three. Storm and Night Shade are from last year’s calendar. Storm has a lovely golden-green shimmer.

One More Sleep did not make my wish list as I have plenty plenty bottles of blurple ink color.

Ink swatches: Diamine Red Inkvent Storm (shimmers) and Night Shade. Robert Oster Grey Seas, Evening Sapphire, and Midnight Sapphire.

Day 23: My Non-Coral Red Swatches

Today’s Diamine ink color is Celebration. This is a coral-red-peach color with golden shimmers. Thank you T for sharing your lovely swatches.

When I first saw a few swatches of Celebration, the first color that came to my mind was coral. The closest swatch color I had was from last year’s Red Inkvent calendar called Peach Punch. This is a red that leans a bit towards orange.

I initially pulled a few other swatches and ended up with the following colors that leans a bit more towards red-pink.

Red Lustre and Pink Glitz has golden shimmers.

I picked Sushi because it’s another fave color of mine. A plain pinky-red ink color that creates a lovely light pink wash.

Looks like I will be adding Celebration to my wish list as I do not have a true coral ink color.

Ink swatches: Diamine Red Inkvent Peach Punch. Diamine Red Lustre and Pink Glitz (shimmers). Robert Oster Sushi.

Day 22: My Eggplant Purple Swatches

Today’s Diamine Inkvent color is Deck the Halls. It’s a stunning chameleon ink with rose gold and copper shimmers. As more folks are posting this lovely ink color on social media, I’m seeing a purple color leaning towards red. The first thought that popped into my head was eggplant.

T’s swatch shows a pretty display of rose and gold shimmers.

Since this is called a chameleon ink, I expected to see two different shimmers in this ink. I can definitely see some rose and gold shimmers from T’s bottle.

I mentioned in my last blog post how I enjoy a good medium to dark pink color. I also enjoy a good purple leaning red color. You can see from my selection, this purple is also one of my fave colors.

I enjoy having a good range of colors. Each one has a unique personality or two.

I tried to narrow down my selection.

Sunset has a pretty rose gold shimmer.

If I had to choose three colors from inky collection, it would be these three.

Sydney Lavender and Summer Purple are my favorite purple ink colors.

Here’s a pen & ink wash circle I created back in November showing off Sydney Lavender’s underlying colors. Gorgeous, huh?

Yes, I will be adding Deck the Halls to my wish list as I do not have an eggplant ink color with the rose, gold and coppery shimmering particles.

Ink swatches: Diamine Red Inkvent Harmony. Diamine Frosted Orchid (shimmer). Robert Oster Sydney Lavender, Velvet Crush, and Silver Dawn (shimmer). Kaweco Summer Purple. Montblanc Amethyst. Van Dieman’s Ink Black Tongue Spider Orchid and Beetroot Relish. Dominant Industry Sunset (shimmer).

Day 21: My Lovely Red Swatches

Today’s Diamine Inkvent color is Cosy Up. This is a lovely standard red ink color. It’s a basic medium red ink with a pink base.

Here is T’s ink swatch and writing sample.

A close up of T’s swatch shows a tiny bit of dark sheen.

I have to mention again how lovely this Cosy Up ink color is. It wasn’t too hard for me to come up with several comparison swatches from my inky collection.

I’ve included last year’s Red Robin swatch along with other Diamine and Robert Oster reddish-pinky ink swatches.

Here are three standard inks that remind me of Cosy Up. Sushi is a fave ink of mine.

Here are my dark pink and red inks with shimmering particles.

Pink Glitz has gold shimmers while Pink Ice has silver shimmers. These two are my favorite medium to dark pink shimmering ink colors. No Fixed Address is a red color with blue shimmers.

I prefer to use medium to dark pink ink colors for my journal writing and sketches. My pink inks are used as a substitute for using red in my sketches. I find reds to be a bit bold and overwhelming while a good pink ink can be subtle and blends well on art paper.

Ink swatches: Diamine Red Inkvent Red Robin. Diamine Pink Glitz and Pink Ice (shimmers). Robert Oster No Fixed Address (shimmer), Red Candy, Rubine, and Sushi.

Day 20: My Dark Blues Swatches with Sheen and Shimmers

Today’s Diamine daily ink color is Arctic Blast. This is a dark blue chameleon ink with lots of sheen and shimmers. There’s a lot going on in T’s writing sample.

In T’s photo, I can see the blue shimmers in her bottle. Others have mentioned seeing turquoise blue and pink shimmers.

Here is my swatch selections for today. All five show off some lovely red sheen.

All but my Ruby Blues have shimmering particles.

I’ve narrowed down my swatch selection to three choices.

Each of these three inks have a unique personality especially with their shimmering colors. I really do enjoy a gold rose gold/copper shimmering ink. That’s probably why I like Ham so much. For Stars & Stripes, the ink appears to have slightly larger shimmering bits or perhaps the shimmers are more metallic and shows off the bright sparkles more.

Ham does lean more towards a dark teal color. It’s a beautiful ink to write with and creates a beautiful color wash.

Yes. I have too many bottles of blue ink. Yes. I will be adding Arctic Blast to my wish list.

Ink swatches: Diamine Red Inkvent Ruby Blues. Diamine Jack Frost. Colorverse Stars and Stripes and Ham Glistening inks. Robert Oster Blue Moon (shimmer)