Ink Reviews

 Happy June, fountain pen friends! Sarah here, bringing you this month's Inksploration feature, De Atramentis Elderberry (also known as Elderberries). It is a delightful berry colored ink with a refreshing fragrance. This is definitely a great ink for quick note taking, journaling, or creating artwork. Want to learn more? Read on! Drawing Inspiration and Technique My inspiration came from Micah, one of my fellow Goulet Pens team members. He always has random fun facts for each day, and recently he was enlightening me on the difference between manta rays and stingrays. I liked the visual of the manta rays [...]

Hi there, friends! Whitney here! Welcome back for our second installment of Inksploration. This month, I will be discussing 3 Oysters Delicious Red Wine, a nice, muted purple ideal for writing. Although not my favorite choice for artistic purposes, this ink would be great for someone like me who writes small and fast in my notebook (and doesn’t like bright colors). Drawing Inspiration and Technique My inspiration for the drawing is not so farfetched. I was inspired by wine. The ink name had me trying to think of how to portray wine in a way that wasn’t just “omg yay [...]

Pilot/Namiki's 100th Anniversary was in 2018 and celebrated with the 7 Gods of Good Fortune Maki-e fountain pens as well as coordinating ink! While limited-edition, these are the first new inks from Iroshizuku in a number of years. From vibrant reds to an understated green-black, there's an ink for any fountain pen fan. Here is a closer look at these anniversary inks: Bishamon-ten Bishamon-ten is believed to be the god of financial good fortune and competition. The red ink echoes the color of the flames, depicted on the matching fountain pen, emanating from the halo that is floating behind him. [...]

Hello, fountain pen friends! It's Lydia, bringing you some exciting news. Welcome to our new monthly feature, Inksploration! Many of you have been asking when or if our beloved weekly Monday Matchup giveaways would be coming back after our holiday hiatus. We are happy to announce that we have brought the concept back, but in a fresh and fun new way. Thus, the concept of Inksploration was born! Inksploration will be a new monthly feature centered around one ink we feel deserves some love and attention. Each month, we will feature the ink in a drawing and a written quote, [...]

Hello! This week I got to take a closer look at another one of the new Colorverse inks. I love blue inks, and Supernova didn’t disappoint! It’s a nice cheery cerulean blue that I think anyone would enjoy. Read on to see why! Supplies Used: Lamy Al-Star with medium steel nib (also EF and B nib) Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper Tomoé River white paper Moleskine notebook Smear Test (Dry Time): More than 30 seconds- The ink smeared just a tiny bit at 30 seconds, so I feel pretty confident it would have been dry at around 35 [...]

Hello there! Have you ever found yourself looking for a nice burgundy or wine colored ink? I have a great option to take a look at! Monteverde Napa Burgundy has a lot of great qualities and may be just what you’re looking for! Supplies Used: Lamy Al-Star with medium steel nib (also EF and B nib) Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper Tomoé River white paper Moleskine notebook Smear Test (Dry Time): More than 30 seconds- It was still smearing a little bit at 30 seconds, so I imagine it would have been totally dry around 35 or 40 [...]

  Hi everyone! This week I had the chance to review one of my personal favorite inks, Diamine Blood Orange. I love this ink because it’s a great red-orange and I find it to be a really lovely and unique color. Read on to hear more of why I love it!     Supplies Used: LAMY Al-Star with medium steel nib (also EF and B nib) Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper Tomoé River white paper Moleskine notebook Smear Test (Dry Time): About 35 seconds- The ink still smeared at 30 seconds, so it would have been dry around [...]

Hello ink enthusiasts! Kelsi here with another De Atramentis Pearlescent Copper ink to take a look at. This time was the Velvet Black-Copper, which had a ton of shimmer in it and was a pretty interesting ink. Read on to learn why! Supplies Used: LAMY Al-Star with medium steel nib (also EF and B nib) Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper Tomoé River white paper Moleskine notebook Smear Test (Dry Time): About 35 seconds- The ink still smeared a tiny bit at 30 seconds, so it should be dry by around 35 seconds. Drip Test (Water Resistance): Medium – [...]