Diamine Writer's Blood Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

With a name like Writer's Blood, of course I needed this ink. I had already decided to buy it when Brad was kind enough to send me a bottle, and it immediately landed at the top of my list of favorite red inks (which literally does exist). I use red ink a lot. Because editing. And this one ticks all the boxes.

It's a perfect gothic cherry color--dark enough to not be glaring, but bright enough to be seen easily. It's extremely saturated, so it doesn't show much shading, and there's only a very faint sheen where the ink dried in a pool. Perhaps because of this saturation it has a little bit of water resistance. Even where the water sat for a while and was then wiped away, there are still traces of the lines visible. This is also a good thing for editors and writers. The last thing you want is for a teacup hiccup to erase your progress. Chromatography shows its deep rose and purple tones, like a vampire's smoking jacket. Yes, please.

It is not vastly different from other wine/burgundy inks, and while I do not have any exact matches in my swab collection, there are several very similar ones. It's a good match for Organic Studios Edgar Allen Poe, which is arguably the perfect name for this ink's closest cousin.

It has an average dry time of about 25-30 seconds. It doesn't feel too wet or too dry when writing, though I do have it inked in a very wet writer at the moment. I've yet to meet a Diamine ink that wasn't very well behaved--they all write well and consistently, and this one is no different.

This shade comes in two different bottles. You can get a lovely blown glass 80ml bottle like the one shown here for about $16.50, which is an insanely good deal. Or you can get a plastic 30ml bottle for $7.50. I recommend either or both.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Diamine Marine Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

For the past few months, I've been trying to introduce more green into my fountain pen ink rotation. I wouldn't say I'm going all green all the time, but I am trying to include more green at a slow pace during these cold months. The latest ink I've been trying was supposed to be in this green genre, but it turned out to be a little more blue than I anticipated! Despite that error on my side, Diamine Marine is still a gorgeous blue-green ink that pops off the page.

Before getting into all the specifics of this color, it's fair to point out that this, like all other Diamine inks I've used, is extremely well-behaved and easy to use. The color is bright and accurate to their marketing swatches, and the price is really hard to beat. There's a reason I have so many Diamine inks in my collection at this point: they just work so well.

Marine is primarily a green ink, but it has a heavy blue undertone that you can't ignore. Diamine classifies this as a turquoise ink, but I'm not sure I agree. Any color in the realm of turquoise, teal, aquamarine, blue-green, green-blue, or other popular mixtures are highly subjective when it comes to naming and identifying the colors. To me, Marine looks more teal, but there are certain natural turquoise colors in nature that look just like Marine as well. It's a spectrum, and that just means there isn't one right answer! In this case, just know that Marine is a green-blue color.

Questions of exact color aside, it's a gorgeous ink. I've really been enjoying using it because it makes me think of green (which is always a happy color to me), water, and also mint. The green is just light enough to bring out some mint comparisons, and the blue just adds a bit of depth to an otherwise flat color.

It's this additional depth of color that contributes to the minimal shading that this ink exhibits. Without the blue undertones, there wouldn't be much shading. Lucky for us, there's a good amount of color variation between light and dark strokes. This is more pronounced with larger nibs, but you can still see a good amount of variation with small or dry nibs.

One area that really surprised me with this ink is the dry time. I was anticipating something in the 15-second range, but I was really astonished when I discovered this ink was drying in the 5-10 second range depending on how wide/wet the nib stroke was. I'm still fairly shocked and impressed by this. It's hard to find any inks that dry that fast, let alone one with so much color saturation. If you're looking for a fast-drying ink and don't mine that it's a green-blue, this is a great place to start.

Like a lot of Diamine inks, you have several options regarding purchasing. With Marine, you can go for cartridges (box of 18), a 30ml bottle (my personal favorite), or an 80ml bottle.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Diamine Meadow Fountain Pen Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

As we head into the colder months of the year, I'm already missing the bright and saturated colors of spring and summer. To get past the dreary winter, there's always bright inks. Diamine Meadow is a rich medium green that goes down smooth and reminds me of fields of grass moving in a gentle summer breeze.

I don't have a huge collection of green inks to compare against, but Meadow is what I consider to be a medium green that strikes a fantastic balance between the cooler mint tones and the richer yellows that you sometimes see in different shades of green. But, it's also not so dark that you can't enjoy the happy colors in even a fine nib. It's a fun color, and I see myself using it quite a bit over the next few months as all the greenery fades away outside.

Like every other Diamine ink I've used in the past, Meadow is very well-behaved in the pen and on the paper. It starts writing instantly after being capped for days, and it also doesn't have any issues with stuttering or skipping if left uncapped for a couple of minutes. It's a solid performer and also easy to clean out.

It's not a fast-drying ink, though. It takes roughly 25-30 seconds before the ink is fully dry and resistant to smudges. Not a great pick for any left-handed writers, and also something to consider if you want to use this in a notebook that you close shut quickly after finishing making your marks. The 30-second dry time applies to the Rhodia I was testing with, but the ink does dry a bit faster on uncoated papers. Though, I did notice some slight feathering on uncoated cheap paper with the 1.1mm stub nib. This didn't happen with a smaller nib, so it's likely a fringe use case that won't impact a lot of people.

As far as shading goes, Meadow has a pleasant amount of variation from rich medium greens to lighter greens. There isn't much in the way of yellow or blue in this ink, even when it shades. I really appreciate how solid it is in the green color-space. It shades nicely in a broader nib, but you can tease out a little bit of color variation in small nibs too.

If permanence is a requirement for you, then look elsewhere! This ink isn't even remotely water resistant or archival quality. When introduced to small amounts of water, it runs easily. Lots of water (ie. submersion) can easily wash away almost all traces.

This ink reminds me quite a lot of Standard Bindery's Road Trip, though Diamine's Meadow is a bit cheaper and much easier to find.

Diamine Meadow is a great green ink that really hits the happy middle ground of greens for me. It's not too dark, not too late, and stays true to basic green while also being quite vibrant. If you want to pick some up for yourself, you can choose between a 30ml bottle or a much larger 80ml bottle. At $7.50 and $16.50 respectively, they're also a fantastic value. Here's to some joyful colors to brighten these cold months!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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