Anderson Pens' Robin's Egg Blue

This one is the Anderson's favorite ink (or it was when I asked). It's a nice color, I think. Robin's Egg is a sort of a dark turquoise that tends to shade a little bit. The swatch above was taken while the ink was still wet, and it was pooled a bit at the ends. Nice. 

Performance-wise, Robin's Egg was not my favorite. It's a little temperamental about the pen that it's in. I started it out in my Franklin-Christoph's broad cursive italic nib, and it was good once it got going. It did give me hard-starts, though, and it tends to dry out in the nib. I knew that the Andersons liked it, though, so I decided to try it out in a wetter nib. The medium nib on my Delta Unica is on the wet side, and it didn't have any problems with this ink. No hard starts or dry nibs on that one. 

The tip I can give you is to put this ink in a big wet nib. Looking at Brian Anderson's list of pens that he had it in, they were big broad nibs with a wet flow. That means it's not going to be an ink for every pen, but most everyone has a pen that runs wet. This ink is for that pen. 

Close-ups!

Chromatography

Not a wild range of colors in this ink, but that's okay. It also didn't seem to move up the paper very much. Usually, that suggests that there's some degree of water-fastness. To see if that holds true, check out the video below.

Copy Paper Test

I just thought the picture below was neat. It's showing off a sheen that I didn't really see while writing with the ink. You'd (maybe) see it with a very wet nib.

Memnosyne swatch!

Compare the inks!

Water Drop Test and Review Video

If you've a wet nib that needs a really cool blue, then check it out at Anderson Pens. Bottles are $12.50 for 60ml (2oz), and 3ml samples for $1.25.

If you like what you see here, then please head on over to Patreon to see how you can help support Inkdependence.

Thanks very much to Brian and Lisa for sending this ink out for me to try!


**While this ink was a press sample, the review is all mine.**

Thanksgiving and a visit to Origami Ink

Hi folks!

The Mrs. and I are in Knoxville for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had turkey and such yesterday, followed by 3 pies. Today is roast beef and birthday cake (for Audrey's dad). I don't know. It doesn't seem like we'll have enough deserts.

Asheville, NC is about half-way between our place in NC and Knoxville, so we like to stop there and let the dog stretch her legs. Of course, it doesn't hurt that we can visit Origami Ink while we're there. They've moved from the downtown location to a really nice little shop in the Biltmore Village, and the new location is really nice.

The shop owners (whose names I I've forgotten...maybe they'll stop by and remind me) are super nice folks. They even let us bring our little dog in to meet their shop-dog, Inky.

They've got a pretty nice collection of fountain pens available. Everything from Lamy and Pilot to Pelikan, Faber-Castell and Graf von Faber-Castell. You'll also find Franklin-Christoph pens and inks in this store, and that's pretty rare. They've also got an extensive selection of stationary and a decent selection of inks (Noodler's, J. Herbin, and some others).

If you're in Asheville, you've got to stop and check them out. Tell 'em I said hi.

Stipula Musk Green

So, I've got a lot of inks, and I like lots of them, but I don't have all that many favorites. This one is a favorite. It was also a surprise, which is very cool.

I actually got this one a long while ago. It was at least last spring. Anywho, I ordered a bunch of ink samples, and one of them wasn't available or I accidentally ordered two of the same one, or something like that. Lisa caught it, and offered to send me something else in exchange so I told her to just pick a fun one and throw it in there. I ended up with the (unattractively named) Musk Green. I hadn't tried very many of Stipula's inks (maybe only a couple?), but I went ahead and loaded it up anyway.

This ink isn't a very green ink. It's more like a green-brown with a touch of yellow, I think. It has a perfect flow in my TWSBI 540's fine nib, and there's no feathering or spreading on copy papers and it only barely shows through without bleeding. That's good stuff. It also shades really well on Rhodia (and a little bit on copy paper).

I used this one for a long time, and I only stopped using it because I needed to use that pen for some reviews. Anyone else tried this ink? Am I a little nuts?

CLOSE-UPS!

Chromatography!

 That's some pretty cool chromatography, right? Almost no brown or green in this green-brown ink. 

Copy Paper Test

Ink Comparison

Water Drop Test and Video Review

If you're looking for a funky ink that is also awesome, then check it out at Anderson Pens (that's where I got mine). Bottles run $25.00 for 70ml (2oz), and 3ml samples for $1.25. I'd advise a sample, at least. It's a weird color, it's a little expensive, and it ain't gonna be for everyone. It is great, though. Let me know what you think.

If you like what you see here, then please head on over to Patreon to see how you can help support Inkdependence.

Anderson Pens' Fox River Blues

Hey folks, it's a new set of inks! I'm always psyched to have a brand new ink to show, and that's what we've got tonight. Anderson Pens has enlisted the Scribal Workshop to remake some inks for them. This boutique-ink company isn't making their lines of fountain pen inks any longer, except for the Anderson's inks. I was a little skeptical when the Andersons told me who was making their exclusive line.

I've been critical of some of these inks in the past. I found them to smell weird or be so dry that they were unusable. Fortunately, the inks have been reformulated to be less dry and draggy. I've used all seven inks in the set, and there's only one that I'm concerned about. This ain't it.

I really like this ink. More than anything else, this is a fantastic color. It's a great medium blue. I love the midnight tones in there. It doesn't bleed, feather, or spread on copy paper. It does show through, but it's not a big deal. I think the one problem with this ink is that it needs a bigger nib than I gave it. It's on the dry side, and it needed a little coaxing to get it flowing if I left the pen on the desk for a couple of days. For some pens, that's going to be a feature (and not a problem). So, put this in a pen with generous flow and let it rip.

Close Ups!

 That color...awesome. 

Copy Paper Test

Ink Comparisons!

Video Review and Water Drop Test

If you've a wet nib that needs a really cool blue, then check it out at Anderson Pens. Bottles are $12.50 for 60ml (2oz), and 3ml samples for $1.25. I'd advise a sample, at least.

If you like what you see here, then please head on over to Patreon to see how you can help support Inkdependence.

Thanks very much to Brian and Lisa for sending this ink out for me to try!

**While this ink was a press sample, the review is all mine.**

Kaweco Royal Blue

Jet Pens is back on the blog! I've missed them as they worked through a reorganization, but they were kind enough to send this little bottle of Kaweco ink a couple of weeks ago, and it's a good one.

Kaweco doesn't put the name of their ink on the bottles, so when I wrote the review I just called it blue. A little research tells me that it's called "Royal Blue", but it doesn't really seem like a royal blue to me. It's closer to a periwinkle. The color has a pronounced purple tinge to it. It also shades pretty well, and there's not all that much bleed/feather/spread on copy paper. There is some, though, as this is a pretty thin ink. It runs wet, and this nib is a little wet, so it wasn't a great combo. It would probably be great in a drier nib. I like this bright ink, even though it's purple-ish.

Close ups!

I don't usually photograph the back of the review sheet because most inks don't come through the back of Rhodia's paper. This #14 pad is kinda weak, though. I don't know why, but ink and the water from the water tests seem to come through this paper more than it should. Anyone heard of Rhodia changing their papers, or did I just get a weird one?

Chromatography

This chromatography shows some potential for water-resistance, but lots of the blue and purple tones fled to the right-hand side of the strip.

Copy Paper Test

Compare!

Here are some other blues to compare it to. The Fox River Blues an Blue Bonnet are both darker blues, but this comparison really brings out the purple in the Kaweco ink. 

The Bottle!

I don't usually get bottles of ink, but this one was a Jet Pens gift, They're nice little bottles, but they are little. The short, wide form factor is going to require you to fill with a syringe pretty soon. It'll fit your big nibs better than a J. Herbin bottle (it's got a bigger opening), but it's not very deep. It's a fun bottle, though, and the styling is cool. I do wish the ink's name were on the bottle, though.

Video Review and Water Drop Test

If you're into this purple-y blue ink, then check it out at Jet Pens. Bottles are $17.50 for 30ml, but you can get 6 cartridges for $2.30. I would go for a pack of cartridges or a sample of this ink if you're not sure about the color or the performance.

If you like what you see here, then please head on over to Patreon to see how you can help support Inkdependence.

Thanks very much to Jet Pens for sending this ink out for me to try!