Monthly Archives: September 2012

Sep27

Ink Review: Diamine Sepia

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When I think of sepia ink, I think of a deep, rich walnut tone. Visions of antique documents and intricate scrimshaw come to mind. Diamine Sepia is different. It isn’t the color of centuries-old writing, but more the color of the parchment it’s written on. It is a gorgous, warm butterscotch shade. In fact, if it were my ink, I would have named it just that. Butterscotch. I can’t look at this ink without craving a butterscotch ice cream sundae, complete with crushed peanuts, fresh whipped cream and a cherry on top!

Now that I’m hungry, I’ll simply post my review and let you be the judge. Either way, it’s beautiful! A full bottle of this is definitely in my near future!

Diamine Sepia

Written with: Noodler’s Konrad Flex Pen & Kuretake brush pen w/water

Written on: Ivory Clairefontaine (Quo Vadis journal) & 32# HP inkjet paper, bright white

In Short: smooth flow, average dry time, mostly not waterproof, good shading with some haloing. I also noticed that it darkened up slightly as it dried overnight. Interesting!

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Let me know what you think!

Sep16

Ink Review: J. Herbin 1670 Bleu Ocean

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Well, here we are! I haven’t blogged regularly for about two years, but I am back. It’s good to be back!

I really wasn’t planning on returning to blogging, but then I fell in love with fountain pens! I just couldn’t resist their charms. And, oh, the inks! Hundreds of pretty little bottles full of color, all waiting their turn to be made into artwork, journals, letters, announcements and more! They are all so different and so beautiful, it’s nearly impossible to choose which to buy first! (And as I think the Goulets can attest, I can never choose just one!)

After winning August’s Ink Drop Contest, I decided to head over to Goulet’s and make J. Herbin 1670 Bleu Ocean my prize!

Which brings me to the purpose of this post…My first “official” ink review! This ink just happens to be a shade I find so inspiring, I can’t help but review it. You will see that my style isn’t very formal. Formality was never my thing. This isn’t meant to be complete or scientific in any way. It is simply my “real world” test and spontaneous thoughts on the ink. So here we go!…

J. Herbin 1670 ink in Bleu Ocean
Written with a Lamy Al-Star with black M nib
Washes done with a Kuretake brush pen full of plain old tap water 😉
On ivory Clairefontaine paper (Blank Quo Vadis journal)
Why is this review on ivory paper instead of white, you ask? Well, there is no shortage of beautifully done ink reviews on white…but this is the paper I use most! 🙂

Without further ado, I present my review. Thanks for reading & comments are welcome!

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