Ink Swatch Wednesday: Browns and a Green
The Penfount account on Mastodon recently (?) started prompting fountain pen fans to post their ink swatches on #SwatchWednesday, so I thought I’d participate finally! I bought quite a few ink samples in my most recent stationery/pen purchases, but I’m only showing the browns and green inks that I added to my currently inked this month (or were carryovers from last month).
I actually bought this ink at a physical store (whoa!), my local MaiDo in San Jose. My current fixation on brown and green inks had already started, so I’ve been on the lookout for interesting ones to try. Normally I buy samples first, but I took the plunge here and was not disappointed. This ink is in my other recent purchase from MaiDo, a Pilot Kakuno with an EF nib. I love it in that pen. This will also look good in one of my architect nibs in the future, I’m sure.
I got this ink sample to satisfy the intersection of wanting to try more Iroshizuku inks and more brown inks. This one is a dark greenish brown, therefore also satisfying my search for green inks. 😀 It reminds me of Diamine Inkvent 2023 Walnut, but with a green tone. This is currently in my TWSBI GO with a fine nib. It’s great!
I’ve been let down by Ferris Wheel Press inks a few times before where they look good in a swatch, but are ridiculously light-colored and/or flow really dry. However, I’m quite happy with this beigey tan in my Iced Caramel Latte BENU Euphoria with a medium nib. It almost matches the light brown latte parts of the pen design. No issues with flow (the BENU medium nib is a pretty wet writer) or legibility.
When I finally pounced on a restocked Earl Grey BENU Euphoria from Goulet Pens (ha, all of my BENU pens so far are Goulet Pens exclusives), I picked up 4 Sailor ink samples including this Shikiori Rikyucha, which I put into said Earl Grey pen. I also got a sample of Sailor Yurameku Zare Gokoro which would’ve been a closer match to the pen, given its blue and brown components, but I went with Rikyucha for now. This reminds me of Iroshizuku Yama Guri, but warmer, and with yellow tones rather than green (though maybe there are some green tones in there also?). Love the shading.
I don’t know why until now I’ve been sleeping on many of Sailor’s Yurameku and Shikiori inks (I have inks from both lines, but have not really been exploring the full line up), but I’m making up for lost time now. I kinda want all the Yurameku inks!
Finally, this lone green ink in the batch is the other FWP ink that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by. It has great chromoshading and is easily legible. I have it in a Nahvalur Voyage with a medium nib, another kind of wet writer. Works quite well.
Well, that’s all for this week’s batch of ink swatches. I have a few more new ink samples to share, so keep an eye out next week. If you have any ink recommendations, please post them here, or catch me on Mastodon. ✌️
