30 Days, 30 Inks: Day 23
I thought I had let the ink dry long enough when I took this picture, but when I went back to the original page, I saw it had changed to an overall more brownish-orange look, darker than it appears here, so that’s something to keep in mind.
The Ink
Day 23: Diamine Autumn Oak
Wait, this isn’t a dusky ink… 🤔 No, it isn’t. Because I started running out of dusky inks that didn’t already echo colors I showcased before, I thought it might be interesting to use the last 8 days of the series to highlight fall-colored inks, since it is the season in the northern hemisphere.
This is my first time playing around with fall inks, really, because a) at this time last year, I was still in the beginning phases of playing with and learning about fountain pens and inks and converters and was gravitating strongly to blues, purples, grays, and shimmer inks; and b) my normal preferences are not for warm reds, yellows, oranges, browns, and greens, so this is a new exploration. I shopped my own collection and found that I had a few fall inks (that I tried long ago and didn’t really like), but swatched them again and found myself warming up to them (pun semi-intended) primarily because it’s the season! Funny how that works. I also asked for some recommendations and did some searching online so I could grab some more samples, hence my recent shopping spree.
So, anyway! This week is the first fall ink, Diamine Autumn Oak. It has amazing shading that encompasses oranges, yellows, and reds of the changing leaves colors that I miss out here in northern California. Sure, there are some trees that turn here, but not as much as I’m used to from the Midwest. This ink looks amazing coming out of a nib with wide line variation because each stroke looks painterly with the different colors showing. You won’t get to enjoy the richness of this ink with a finer nib. I put it in a Pilot Elite with a soft fine nib and it shows up as a light orange-yellow with little color variation. It’s okay (well, I felt really disappointed), but when I see it come out of the italic nib I have on my Lamy Lx, I think that’s what it’s supposed to look like. In the writing sample above, you get a little hint of it, but I really recommend using a broader nib when trying out this ink.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this ink before and didn’t really care for it, but it’s somewhat silly that the change in season really turned my outlook around.
P.S. Sometimes looking at this ink does trigger my, “eww, it looks like blood” feeling that I have with many different red inks, but the shading and the overall look of yellows and oranges in addition to the reds mimicking autumn leaves kind of overcomes the feeling of aversion.
The Quote
“Put yourself, and your work, out there every day, and you’ll start meeting some amazing people.”
- Bobby Solomon
I’ve observed how engaged I am when I’m doing a project like this that requires sharing something like an ink or a drawing every day for 30 days (e.g. Inktober), because the daily requirement really gets me into a regular habit of working on the project. Whereas other times, if, say, I’m just wanting to blog regularly, I am very inconsistent about it (hence my blog title being “On Again, Off Again”). It is a lot of work to do something like “30 inks” every day, and by the time the challenge is over, part of me feels like I am so glad it’s over, I can go back to not doing anything on a rigorous schedule. Another small part of me feels the inertia of working on something every day and misses it. I remember feeling that way after I had finished my first Inktober last year. I still drew something for a day or two after it was over.
I think it’s easier for me to work consistently on “30 inks” because there’s a theme. I also did some planning beforehand to at least get a list of candidate inks put together, and for a while, I randomly picked one off the list according to my mood. Nearer to the switch to fall inks, I decided to plan the order of the remaining dusky inks, which made it even easier to set up for the daily quote/snippet and produce the entry.
When I’m thinking about blogging, I don’t have such a set up. I would write when the fancy struck, and a subject seemed interesting enough. But I think I will try to continue my daily routine (or maybe loosen it to every other day…? 😅 Already mucking up the schedule…) of blogging to keep my momentum going and give me a regular creative outlet. I’ve noted ideas for blog posts I want to write. I gotta go find and compile them into a list so at least I’m not starting every day with a “blank page”.
Besides, I’ve seen over and over that productive creative people don’t rely on random bolts of inspiration hitting them to produce their art. They instead have a routine where they show up every day and work on the art, even if it’s something small. That’s how you build up your body of work.
Well, we’ll see. Inktober is coming up next month, so I might roll straight into that, though I’m unsure what my overarching theme might be. 🤔
