I recently picked up a bottle of Dominant Industry Leaf Green ($17 for 25ml bottle — $1.47 per ml). I must have been inspired by the Oregon landscape with this deep green, forest-y vibe ink as I had just been there for the PNW Pen Show.
When swatched, the ink is deep green with a little shading that shows a tiny bit of a yellow-y undertone. I love a lime/olive/yellow-green.
I then tested the ink with a variety of pens, dip pens, muddler, and actual filled fountain pens. What I found with this ink and many others is that my penchant for very fine nib pens often makes inks much lighter than they appear in swatches. The two pens I filled, the Kaweco Marble Ocean with a F nib and my trusty Nagasawa Sailor Pro Gear Slim with H-F nib is that the Leaf-Green ink looks almost like two different colors. In the PGS, Leaf-Green is a brighter shading ink but in the Kaweco Sport, the ink looks darker and more solid in overall appearance. Despite appearing from their labels as having similar nib sizes, these two pens result in very different ink looks.
Don’t be fooled! Inks will look different in a wet writer (in this case, the Kaweco) versus a dry writer (the Nagasawa Sailor) and depending on the nib size (a fine Japanese nib versus a fine European nib).
If you don’t like an ink color or wish it was lighter or darker in color, try putting the ink in another pen. Switch to a wider or narrower nib, a wetter nib or a drier nib. So, if at first you’re not happy with an ink color, try it in a different pen.
With the Leaf-Green, I like the ink color in the PGS (Pro Gear Slim) for everyday use and in the Kaweco Sport for a darker, wintery vibe.
Compared to other inks:
I have several “dark green” inks in my stash including one of my very first ink purchases (bought even before I started this web site), Noodler’s Army Green which I bought at our local pen shop. Crazy that my search for the best green ink has been going on for a long time. Vinta Carlos and Kuretake Art Nouveau Zsolnay Green are quite similar in the swatch to Leaf-Green. Brothers Grimm from Montblanc and Noodler’s Army Green are both a bit lighter.
The swatches are darker than how the inks look in a pen but this at least provides a ballpark for the color, if you own any of these other inks.
Since a lot of my green ink purchases have been in an effort to find a new ink to replace my almost-empty Pen BBS No. 224 Leo Tolstoy and No. 342 Matcha Ice Cream which are both either discontinued or just too hard to find another bottle. So, I thought that Leaf-Green, though a little darker than the other two, might be a good alternative. Unfortunately, while I really like Leaf-Green it feels more bright green than Leo which is a little muddy yellow-green. Matcha is a little brighter and cleaner than Leo but is my green ink “runner-up”
When loaded in the “right pen” — Nagasawa Original Pro Gear Slim (Gakuen-Toshi Fresh Green) — of which I have two, seeing what the writing looks like, the more forest-y green is evident. I do really like Leaf-Green and think it may be a good option in the winter months. If anything, it will give me an alternative to the Leo Tolstoy so hopefully, it will last a little longer!
If you have unused bottles of Pen BBS No. 224 Leo Tolstoy and want to send them to me, let me know! Until the ink fairy shows up, I’ll keep using the Dominant Industry Leaf-Green to tide me over.
Final Impressions:
I continue to hunt for a replacement for my beloved Pen BBS Leo Tolstoy but I think the Dominant Industry Leaf-Green stands on its own as a very usable everyday green ink. It’s light and springy in fine Japanese pens and dark and luscious in a wider nib
Tools:
- Paper: Odyssey Notebook (68gsm Tomoe River) dot grid ($49)
- Pens: Dominant Industry Ink Muddler for Glitter Fountain Pen Ink ($15), Drillog with Kodachi Nib (starting at ¥29,700), Pilot Iro-Utsushi Dip Pen F Nib (starting at $8.80)
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
- Ink:Dominant Industry Leaf Green ($17 for 25ml bottle — $1.47 per ml)
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