Diamine Inkvent 2023, Day 12
The Ink
Day 12: Bah Humbug - Chameleon
Bah Humbug is a dark burgundy/wine-y red with chameleon shimmer that appears dark magenta or gold depending on the angle.
For once I was able to see and kind of capture the chameleon colors of the shimmer from different angles:
Please ignore the wonky white balance. The camera was thrown off by the shimmer.
Last night in pure indoor, artificial lighting, I liked this ink more. It kind of reminded me of shimmery dark red lipstick I used to wear years ago (Urban Decay lipstick nostalgia, anyone?). And since I usually have an aversion to dark red inks because of their tendency to look like blood, I was surprised that there was something to this ink that didn’t immediately remind me of that gory fact.
However, in natural daylight, more of the underlying dark brown tones are apparent, which kind of puts me off. I realized that this was the case with the shimmery red inks I found, liked, and blogged about. At night, in artificial lighting, pleasing tones and shimmer were apparent, but the morning after, they didn’t look as appealing. Candy apple and rich burgundy reds were tinged with muddy tones. Strange. I still like these inks, but their chameleon nature in different lighting is something I’m aware of now.
Of course, Diamine Writer’s Blood came to mind when I thought about comparisons. It looks a lot like the ink when swatched without shimmer. I have tried to like Writer’s Blood, but for some reason it doesn’t mesh with my preferences. It looks too much like dark, sticky blood, and it flows very wet. But I’ll look at it again in very dry nibs and under artificial lighting to see if that changes my outlook on it.
And while Diamine Deck the Halls from last year’s Inkvent has a dark purple base color, its dark magenta shimmer strongly reminded me of Bah Humbug’s shimmer.
Sailor Manyo Ume is a lighter shade than Bah Humbug, but I think it has many of the same brown, burgundy, and magenta components, and a light brown sheen that you can somewhat see in the “no shimmer” swatch for Bah Humbug. Depending on the pen you use, when you write with Manyo Ume, you can see the different tones (brown, pink, dark red) in the shading as you write, which makes it an interesting autumn-feeling ink.
And finally, Wearingeul’s The Great Sage Heaven’s Equal ink has a dark burgundy color, but it’s a bit brighter and more red-leaning than Bah Humbug, and has gold shimmer. But it’s an interesting adjacent ink.
The Quote
Sheesh, so many transcription mistakes this time 🙄
This scene is from Parks and Rec, “Ron and Diane”:
Leslie: Merry Congratu-Christmas!
Ron: What?
Leslie: Half “merry Christmas,” half “congratulations,” because I just received some news. You, Ron Swanson, have been nominated for an award from the Indiana Fine Woodworking Association.
Ron: How did you hear about that?
Leslie: I’ve had a “Ron Swanson” Google alert for seven years and it finally paid off.
