It was actually cool this morning. Like, I needed a sweater and socks! I immediately went out and bought some Pumpkin Spice Coffee because in my heart, Autumn is coming and I’m ready to embrace it with two hands — one with a steamy mug and the other with fresh muffin. Hello, Autumn! We missed you.
That makes me want to get out my moody, misty, darker colors in pens and inks. I have always loved grey inks and particularly purply greyish inks. I discovered that I have a few in my stash and have added a few others recently so I thought I’d compare them this week.
Sailor Chu Shu has been one of my favorite grey inks for years — its definitely a purply grey with a cool undertone. Last year, I discovered Diamine (Green Edition) Ghost which is lighter and a bit of a multichromatic purple-grey with an undertone of yellow (sort of). I have a teeny 15ml bottle of Colorverse Anti-Matter that came in a set with Matter which was a 60ml pigment black. I liked both inks but wished I could get a larger bottle of Anti-Matter. Though, at this point with Chu Shu and Ghost, I have plenty of greyish purple that looks very similar. In DC, I picked up a bottle of Diamine (Black Edition) Marley which is closest to Anti-Matter — a sort of purple-black. Finally, Kala Abstraction Pigment Ink in Mongolian Sandstorm which leans slightly more mauve and is water resistant.
Looking at all the colors on a single page shows a little bit more variation in the colors. Marley looks a bit more raspberry to Ghost which is more blackberry and Chu Shu looks almost like grape juice and Anti-Matter looks like plum.
I like all of these and I’m curious which shade will rise to the top of my most-used list. Which one is your favorite?
Tools:
- Paper: Odyssey Notebooks A5 Grid 68gsm Tomoe River and Ink Swatching Guidesheets
- Pens: Dominant Industry Ink Muddler, Sailor Hocoro Dip Pens, Zebra G Dip Nib and Tachikawa T-40 Nib Holder
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.