In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 8 – Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
12 Days of Inkmas: Day 8 – Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm

Inkmas 2019When I saw the Kala Nostalgia Abstraction inks I was fascinated by the muted look of the colors. When I saw that the inks were marked as “pigment inks” my curiosity was piqued. So, I ordered two bottles.

I was most interested to try Monogolian Sandstorm. Over the years, I’ve always leaned towards a misty lavender ink and if it was waterproof (which most pigment inks are) that would be a double bonus.

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm bottle

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm cap detail

Mongolian Sandstorm, like the other Kala inks come in a 30ml glass bottle that is packaged in a paperboard box. The cap is embossed with the Kala logo which is a lovely touch.

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm writing sample

The oddest thing about Mongolian Sandstorm is that the ink is darker when wet and then lightens as it dries. I wracked my brain trying to remember if there was any other material that behaved this way and the only thing I could think of was gouache.

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm close-up

The most unpleasant thing I noticed about Mongolian Sandstorm was that it is wetter than most inks. So much so that it made my Japanese style EF appear almost like a broad. Above is a writing sample image showing another pen with the same nib next to Mongolian Sandstorm. The line weight difference is pretty ridiculous.

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm writing on Tomoe River

I tried the pen on a bit of Tomoe River paper to see if the results would improve but the writing is equally indistinct.

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm close-up on Tomoe River

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm close-up on Rhodia

The two photos above are close-ups of the logo doodles I did. The top image is the version I did on the Tomoe River paper and the lower image is on Rhodia. The lines do not bleed but are still blobby.

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm swatch comparison

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm swatch comparison

I have two other hazy purple inks that are very similar in hue though they are not pigment inks: Pen BBS 270 and 346. Pen BBS 346 is a little bit darker but #270 Raspberry Milkshake is almost the same color, just not waterproof. Raspberry Milkshake is also a wetter ink. Pen BBS #346 is darker but a dry ink. It would perform better with a little bit of White Lightning.  (In PenBBS, #226 June Pearl and #315 Ice Lake are shimmer versions of similar colors if you prefer sparkle in your inks.)

Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Mongolian Sandstorm swatch comparison

Rohrer & Klingner Sketch Ink Jule is a good alternative if you’re looking for a waterproof hazy purple, though it is a little warmer with more red in the ink.

Overall, I’m not a fan of the Kala Nostalgia Abstraction inks thus far. It’s just not what I was hoping for.

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.

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 7 – Pen Saijiki Syurei

Author AnaPosted on

Inkmas 2019

Review by Laura Cameron

I’ve never tried any of the Pen Saijiki inks, so when I saw Syurei (4mL sample, $4.00), I thought the end of 2019 was the perfect time to snag this coral ink and swatch it for Inkmas!

 

 

Syurei is that orangey-pinky coral that was Pantone’s 2019 color of the year. I’ve collected a few of these coral inks this year, and I have to say they’re all super similar.

As you can see Syurei comes in just a smidge lighter than Diamine Coral, and with it’s light pinky bits, very close to J. Herbin Corail des Tropiques. It’s also similar to Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki, but that one is a bit more orange than pink.

All in all, a lovely color wrap up my year-long pursuit of corals!

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 6 – Colorverse Joy in the Ordinary Edition Coffee Break

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments
12 Days of Inkmas: Day 6 – Colorverse Joy in the Ordinary Edition Coffee Break

Inkmas 2019There are so many things to appreciate the new Colorverse Joy in the Ordinary Series. First, they are in single 35ml bottles which allow for a less expensive, lower quantity purchase. Previous Colorverse inks were only available in two-bottle sets which cost upwards of $36. The Joy in the Ordinary series is also one of the only non-space sets that Colorverse has created. The previous non-space series was the tree-themed sets but those were still in the two-pack sets. Joy in the Ordinary celebrates the things that astronauts might miss when on interstellar travels — things like Rainy Days, Walking the Dog, and Brunch Dates.

Colorverse Coffee Break bottle

I confess I chose Coffee Break because of the name. I often use the same logic when choosing nail polish colors. There’s a reason I’ve bought two bottles of OPI I’m Not Just a Waitress, sometimes the name of a product alone is enough to sway my purchasing decisions. It was the same with Coffee Break. Who wouldn’t want an ink that evokes the feeling and color of a good cup of coffee.

Colorverse Coffee Break swatch

That the ink is also a lovely warm, cocoa-inspired brown solidifies this ink as a good brown, IMHO.

Colorverse Coffee Break swatch comparison

 

 

Of course, there are a lot of good warm browns. I suppose I should have looked at my ink stash before ordering yet another brown ink. Monteverde Brown Sugar is really close in color and it’s a fraction of the price. Pelikan Edlestein Smoky Quartz has a bit more yellow and is darker overall. Kaweco Caramel Brown is also darker but more red. SBRE Brown by Akkerman is more orangey. J. Herbin Cafe des Iles is not as saturated and slightly more red. J. Herbin, Kaweco and Monteverde are all cheaper options. If you are looking for an alternate, I’d recommend the Kaweco or Monteverde. They are both solid options.

Colorverse Coffee Break

In writing, the shading in the ink definitely creates a convincing coffee stain look. There doesn’t appear to be any sheening but the color is lovely.

Colorverse ink is historically dry but I did not need to add any White Lightning to it to keep its viscosity. Your mileage may vary depending on nib and feed.

I like Coffee Break. If I didn’t already have a dozen or more brown inks this would be the one I would want to buy again.

Tools:

In Link Love

Link Love: What’s the Plan?

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments
Link Love: What’s the Plan?

This week’s Ink section features Diamine’s new UK exclusive colors. There’s a sneak peek of the new AL-Star Tourmaline in Pens but the bulk of the pen-iverse is talking about planners, bullet journaling and notebooks. Clearly, I am not the only one who spends a ridiculous amount of time plotting which planner to use each year. I really need to do a wrap-up of my notebook and planner success and failures before the new year. Would anyone want to read about that? Have you figured out your planning strategy for 2020? Love, Ana

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Paper & Notebooks (and Planners!):

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 5 KWZ Iron Gall Turquoise

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment

Inkmas 2019

 

Review by Laura Cameron

While it isn’t a new ink, I love turquoises and teals so I was excited to order KWZ Iron Gall Turquoise and try it out! (4mL sample, $2.50). Although advertised as turquoise, this one looked to be a dark blue-green which made me think of blue spruce (seasonally appropriate!).

I wasn’t disappointed. KWZ Turquoise is a dark blue-green and gorgeous. As you can see from my tests, it’s dark and saturated, and in it’s darkest applications tends towards dark blue and almost black. I know some people think KWZ inks have a certain odor, but I didn’t notice anything when testing this one.

The only thing I found slightly disappointing is that this wasn’t really a “new” color to my stash. In fact, KWZ Iron Gall Turquoise is SUPER similar to the special 2018 St. Louis show ink that KWZ designed: Meet me in St. Louis. It also bore a striking resemblance to Robert Oster Blue Denim. So while this is a gorgeous color, I probably don’t need a full bottle!

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

 

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 4 – TWSBI 1791 Part 3: Emerald Green and Royal Purple

Author AnaPosted on
12 Days of Inkmas: Day 4 – TWSBI 1791 Part 3: Emerald Green and Royal Purple

Review by Tina Koyama

For my third and final installment of the TWSBI 1791 ink set, I’ll review Emerald Green and Royal Purple. (Please see Part 1 for images and comments about the full set.)

TWSBI Emerald Green and Royal Purple

Of the six inks in the set, Emerald Green is the most complex. Shading shows hints of dark green, turquoise and even a touch of reddish-brown.

TWSBI Emerald Green

Emerald is generally not my favorite side of green, so I had nothing in my collection that came close (or even lukewarm).

Emerald Green swatch closeup

But the shading I saw in the swatch made me think it would be a good candidate for another hacked Pilot Parallel, this time the 3.8mm (you can see the hacked 6mm in Part 2). This ink is fun in the Parallel, which showed more of the hue’s full range of subtleties.

hacked Pilot Parallel with Emerald

I sketched a couple of rows of people from the book People of the Twenty-First Century by Hans Eijkelboom. (This book, by the way, is a fascinating collection of possibly thousands of images of people Eijkelboom photographed on urban streets during the past couple of decades. They are made more visually interesting by being arranged in grids by theme – women wearing pink tanks, men wearing black raincoats, children in strollers, etc.)

Parallel sketches with Emerald Green

TWSBI’s Royal Purple may be my favorite of the set (wait, I said that about Prairie Green, didn’t I?). Although I see no sheening or complexity in this vibrant purple, it’s saturated and rich even with my fine nib dip pen.

TWSBI Royal Purple

It’s obvious that I favor this hue – I found several close matches in my collection. Closest is probably Nagasawa Pen Style Kobe Sannomiya with Iroshizuku Murusaki-shikibu at its heels, though both are just a smidge more on the blue side than TWSBI. Slightly more on the red side would be Diamine Majestic Purple.

Royal Purple comparison

I like the intensity of this purple so much that I filled a waterbrush with it to make a brush pen.

TWSBI Royal Purple in waterbrush

Ink-filled waterbrushes are a lot of fun at life-drawing practice, especially the short poses, because it’s like painting with watercolors but faster. At a recent drawing event, where models posed two at a time, I made gesture sketches of both models within one minute. Royal Purple is on the left; Orange (reviewed in Part 2) is on the right.

waterbrushes with sketch

Final Impressions

Overall, the limited-edition TWSBI 1791 set is a lovely jewel-hued collection, and the implication is that the company plans to continue releasing new editions. This is a solid start, and I hope TWSBI will explore more unusual or complex hues.

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 drawing event at Gage Academy.