The Well-Appointed Desk

Monday I reviewed the Ink Archiving Books from Dominant Industry and today, I have the inks that were released to compliment the collections. For each collection, there were two inks released. For the Log of Atlantis the two inks were Atlantis (shimmer) and Seaweed (standard). For The Log of  Elixir the inks are both standard inks: Unknown Land and Allegory. All four inks are $17 each per 25ml bottle.

All four colors are complex and have low saturation to create subtle tones. Unknown Land is the most complex with the most multichromatic effects from sandy brown with hits of green and pinks. Its so cool.

Seaweed appears to be a standard kelly green but its got a base more yellowy than most middle greens which often lean brighter or more bluish. I already own so many greens I really bought this one to complte my collection but its actually beome one of my favorites from the collection.

Allegory looks like a simple dark grey/black but its actually a lot more complex — a little blue, a little purple, shading and delicious. I had a lot of fun mixing this with water for painting in the Log Ink Archiving Books.

I tend to prefer non-shimmer inks since I mostly use fine nib pens but the Atlantis ink is really pretty. Its an ocean-y aqua blue with a pale blue shimmer.

The shimmer gives the Atlantis ink that sparkly quality of sunlight on the water. The ink has a lot of shading and a bit of a multichromatic effect too so it kind of has everything.

Ink Comparisons:

I was. shocked to hve trouble finding similar inks with almost every color from the Dominant Industry Log sets. Unknown Land is a uniquely warm brown. 3 Oysters Mustard, J. Herbin Ambre de Birmaine and Robert Oster Gold Antiqua were the closest that I could find. Everything else was too orange, too brown, or too yellow.

I stock pile grey inks and this was another challenge to find similar inks. Grey inks tend to sway warm or cool. Allegory is a s charcoal-y as it comes without being black.

With Seaweed, its a little harder to tell in the photo above but Lemongrass and Minatogawa Lime are similar hues but with higher color saturation making them brighter. Seaweed is probably my favorite kelly-ish green right now.

With Atlantis, the closest I could find was Sailor Studio #264 and the rarity Pen BBS #507 Lily of the Valley. Vinta Sirena is more multichromatic with a pinkish cast and greener overall but it has a similar vibe — with multichrome instead of shimmer.

My final opinion is that Dominant Industry, while growing in popularity, is probably one of the more underrated inks currently available. The bottles are lovely, the prices are reasonable and the colors are excellent.

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