30 Days, 30 Inks: Day 19
The Ink
Day 19: Taccia Hokusai Sabimidori
This is my first Taccia ink. David from Figboot on Pens has mentioned this ink a couple times as one of his favorite greens, and since I was on the lookout for fall-ish ink colors, I picked up a vial of Sabimidori in my last ink order from Vanness.
It’s an interesting color-changing ink. It looks deep blue, like a peacock blue, in the container and when you first put it on paper, but as it dries, it dries to a dark hunter green, or a teal that is more on the green side. I learned, however, that it is the type of ink that appears differently on different paper. Above is what it looks like on Traveler’s Company lightweight paper, which is similar in ink performance to Tomoe River paper (and Kokuyo Business paper). Below is what Sabimidori looks like on Regalia paper in an Endless Recorder notebook. It retains more of the peacock blue shade once dried. In either case, there is red sheen in areas of heavy pooling.
Again, since I’m not a huge fan of greens, I probably wouldn’t have picked this out if I weren’t actively looking for seasonal autumn colors to use in my currently inked fountain pens. But I’m glad I branched out of my blues and purples to experiment with Taccia Hokusai Sabimidori.
Last note: apparently “sabimidori” translates to “rusty green” which makes sense given the red sheen in the ink. You can read more about it in this ink review on The Pen Addict.
The Quote
…good work isn’t created in a vacuum…creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration, the result of a mind connected to other minds.
In the last few years (at least), I would sometimes think that things I make or write have to be capital-O Original, something born of my brain alone, or else I’m just copying, piggy backing on other people’s ideas…blah, blah, blah. It’s been a challenge to let that notion go and keep reminding myself that no one is completely original. Ideas come from all of what’s around you and what you consume. As long as you’re not totally ripping off or plagiarizing someone’s work, it’s natural to draw upon things that inspire you. As discussed in yesterday’s entry, you will bring your life experience and conclusions to an idea and create something different.
Even as I was working on this “30 inks” series, I saw an ink that was featured on someone else’s 30 inks series and at first thought that I shouldn’t use it, even though it fit my theme perfectly, because I didn’t want to be seen as copying. 🙄 Eventually I got over it and did use Herbin Vert de Gris in my series. And it’s a great ink added to my collection.
I think the lesson here (which I keep having to remind myself of) is not to overthink things. People are inspired by other people. People copy others. From all of this copying and mashing up come new works from which others can derive inspiration. Make your work, share, and find your people.
