12 Days of Inkmas: Day 3-TWSBI 1791 Part 2: Orange and Sky Blue

Inkmas 2019

Review by Tina Koyama

For Part 2 of my TWSBI 1791 ink set reviews, I’m looking at Orange and Sky Blue (see Part 1 for images and comments on the gift set).

TWSBI Sky Blue and Orange

Orange is vivid and vibrant as orange should be. I don’t see sheening, but there’s a bit of shading that shows more of its yellow side. If anything, it tends more towards red than yellow – but no coral at all.

TWSBI orange

Closest to the hues in my ink collection are Iroshizuku Yu-yake and Diamine Autumn Oak, though the former has more yellow and the latter has more brown.

TWSBI Orange comparison

TWSBI Orange is saturated enough that I thought it would be a good candidate in a waterbrush. I filled one up and took it to a local drawing event to give it a try (see end of review).

TWSBI orange in waterbrush

Sky Blue is a medium blue that leans slightly toward the green side of the scale. (Or maybe the sky over the Caribbean has the same turquoise-y shade, but Seattle’s sky is much cooler.)

TWSBI Sky Blue

I had nothing in my ink collection that came close, though I tried on Iroshizuku Ku-jaku and Sailor Jentle Yama-dori for size. Both are much darker and subdued; TWSBI Sky Blue is a happy summer sky.

Sky Blue comparison

Since Sky Blue is a bit pale with my fine dip nib, I went in the opposite direction for a better look: my fattest (6.0mm) Pilot Parallel with a nib I hacked myself (with helpful assistance from blogs and YouTubes). Now we’re talking!

hacked Pilot Parallel with Sky Blue

I’ve lately been using the book People of the Twenty-First Century (Hans Eijkelboom) for drawing practice, and Sky Blue’s subtle shading came through with the Parallel’s crazy nib. 

Parallel sketches with Sky Blue

I took both the Orange-filled waterbrush and the Sky Blue-filled Parallel to Gage Academy’s Drawing Jam, where costumed models were a lot of fun to sketch with these inks. On this 10-minute pose, I used the waterbrush to broadly paint the initial gesture. Then with the hacked Parallel, I emphasized shadows and drew in a few details. I also used a water-filled waterbrush to smear the inks a bit. No signs of being waterproof here – the TWSBI inks wash richly. A fun combo for life drawing!

waterbrush and Parellel with sketch

TOOLS


DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

tina-koyamaTina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

Update: 12/18/19 to add link to Gage Academy Drawing Jam.

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2 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Orange and Blue is always a good combination and these seem to have a temperature range making them extra compatible. And, of course, either would be beautiful on its own. It’s a bit late, but these may have to go on my Christmas list. Thank you for the great review!

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