Hi, guys! Andi here, bringing you the October edition of Inksploration. This month, I got to test out Noodler’s Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman’s Sepia. I found it to be a nice, earthy brown with some great sought-after features, like fast dry time and water resistance. Want to hear more? Read on!

Drawing Inspiration and Technique

While searching for inspiration for my drawing, I was looking up things about October and came across this month’s flower; Marigold, Tagetes, and Calendula. I really liked how the Calendula looked so I took inspiration from that.

I wanted it to flow so by adding multiple sizes of them and come leaves I think I was able to pull off a nice fall vibe. I felt this piece should look more like a sketched piece than a really polished image, something you might see if you were just sitting outside enjoying the crisp fall air and doodling in your notebook.

First, I started by drawing the center of the flower as just a circle. Then drawing connecting ovals to create the petals and filling them in even more to make the flower appear fuller. I just repeated this step until I got all my flowers. I wanted to fill the space a little more so I also added some vines with leaves attached as well.

To color in the flowers and leaves, I filled a brush pen with water then dipped the tip into an ink sample. I brushed off the excess ink (the first dip makes the ink a really dark brown) till it got to a light brown and did mostly outward strokes from the center of the flower to make the petals. I continued this throughout the whole piece even on the leaves of the drawing.

I really like earth tone inks so I like this ink. I wish it had some shading to it but I was able to get that a little with the brush pen and water.

Ink Review

  • Flow- Medium
    • A mix of wet and dry
    • wasn’t so wet that I was waiting around for it to finish drying.
    • I would pick this up if I was a student and wanted to take lecture notes.
  • Dry Time- <20 secs.
    • The dry time was a little over 10 seconds, but not as long as 20.
    • Very quick.
  • Water Resistance- High
    • A little disruption in the lines where pigment bleeds blue making the lines more of an orange color
    • If you were writing something and you spilled water, you would be able to recover what you have.
  • Shading- Low
    • No real shading
    • You’d have to fake it using different nib sizes or a brush pen
  • How did the ink behave on other papers?
    • Definitely some ghosting on all the paper types
    • Some feathering on Leuchtturm1917 paper, use a fine nib on this paper
    • I highly recommend using the Tomoe River paper with this ink. This ink is a beautiful deep rich brown and it really shows that on the Tomoe paper. On all the other paper types, it gets a little muddy and more of a muted deep brown/black color.
  • Special Features Worth Noting?
    • The 4.5oz bottle with an eyedropper is great. It also comes with a free Charlie Pen.
    • Noodler’s inks always have fascinating backstories. Click here to read this ink’s story on the product page.

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GIVEAWAY October 16-23

  • Entries must be posted by October 23, 2019 by 10am ET
  • Answer the following question: What is your favorite flower?
  • One entry per person please
  • Winner will receive a bottle of Noodler’s Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman’s Sepia and a TWSBI ECO in their choice of nib size

I hope you enjoyed this overview of Noodler’s Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman’s Sepia. Hopefully, you’ll give it a try!

Write On,

Andi