Posts filed under Ink Reviews

TWSBI Forest Green 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.)

It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to try a TWSBI ink, and this Forest Green is a great place to pick up. Ever since I was a kid, I've had quite a fondness for greens, and dark greens hold a special place in my heart. It's an extremely calming and gentle color in my mind, and I really enjoy it in my ink colors, pen colors, clothing colors, and almost anywhere else that I can find it. That is, when I'm not being distracted by an awesome purple or blue. Green represents the quieter internal ambiance that I crave sometimes when I'm fatigued with the brighter colors.

TWSBI's Forest Green is a fantastic representation of forest green in general, and I've really enjoyed using it lately. It's plenty dark — it almost looks black in low light — but it has plenty of rich, earthy character that I think makes dark forest greens so pretty. The shade is dark and mellow, and there's plenty of green peeking out to let you know that it's definitely a dark green instead of a green-black. The color looks rich and deep on the page, and I love it for that.

With dark inks, shading isn't normally very pronounced, and this is holds true for Forest Green. But, there's just enough shading between the dark and medium green hues to add some drama and intrigue in the strokes. The shading is definitely a subdued characteristic in this ink, but it's just enough to really make it stand out.

One of the more surprising features of this ink is the dry time. In my testing, the ink dried on the page in about 10 seconds — 15 seconds on the longer side for thicker lines. This isn't shabby at all. Thought it won't win any awards for fasted drying ink, it's still a respectably quick drier.

Another notable characteristic of this ink is the sharpness of the lines. There's no visible feathering or bleeding on all the higher quality papers I tried (Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Leuchtturm), and there feathering is minimal on cheap paper. This means it will work great in an office setting where you're forced to use sub-par paper from time to time.

This ink is also well-behaved when it comes to the lubrication and flow from the nib. It's an easy ink to write with and works well in nibs of all shapes and sizes. I've only used a couple of TWSBI's inks in the past, but I'm glad to see that my experience so far is positive when it comes to the basic behavior of their inks.

Forest Green is available in an 18ml bottle for about $7 from Vanness. This is a great value, and I like that the ink isn't in a large bottle. 18ml is enough to last for quite a while, but not so long that it ends up going bad on you or never getting completed used.

If you're in the market for a lovely dark green ink, definitely give TWSBI Forest Green a shake.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on January 12, 2022 by Brad Dowdy and filed under TWSBI, Ink Reviews.

Dominant Industry Lake Ink Review

Is this the best looking ink bottle on the market? Is this the best performing ink on the market? Dominant Industry has a good chance of going 2-for-2 in those categories.

Glass ink bottles interest me greatly. Why? They shouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. I mean, you aren’t writing with the bottle - are you? The liquid inside is what matters, but I would be lying if a cool storage vessel for ink didn’t make a difference in what I think about the brand. That said, a good ink can come in a basic bottle. A bad ink can come in a Faberge Egg and will still be a bad ink.

Fortunately, Dominant Industry Lake is one of the more enjoyable inks I’ve tested in quite some time.

When they first made their splash, it was for wild-looking dip nib only inks like Hologram. While that ink looks amazing and I’ll probably test some down the line, what I was most anxious to test were their standard fountain pen inks.

I grabbed a few bottles for the review crew, and kept No. 115 Lake for myself to try out. It has been a great experience so far.

It could be that I hit the pen and nib perfecta for this ink, allowing it to perform so wonderfully. I used a new Faber-Castell Ambition, with a steel Medium nib. The ink flows perfectly from this nib, even on the more absorbent Story Supply Thick Plot notebook the writing sample was done on.

I guess all good inks are consistent, but this perfect from start to finish? That’s not always how it goes. Lake behaved exactly the same, letter to letter, line to line. It has medium wetness, a small amount of shading, and only sheen if you let it pool up on the page. Dry time is fantastic on Clairefontaine Triomphe, checking in at just over 10 seconds on my finger swipe. On Tomoe River that dry time doubled, but that is better than most on that paper.

What I want to do now is test out Lake in a finer nib pen. The way the ink flows in this Faber-Castell makes me think it will perform just as well in some of my Japanese fine nibs. And the color is strong enough to be able to handle the narrower width of the lines.

The made-for-Instagram bottles drew me in. The ink performance kept me around. And I want more Dominant Industry inks, for both reasons.

You can pick up the fountain pen compatible versions of Dominant Industry inks at Yoseka Stationery for $17.00 for a 25 ml bottle. A little pricey, but not remotely out of line. I look forward to seeing how the other colors I purchased test out. I have high hopes after my first go.

(I purchased this ink from Yoseka Stationery at full retail price.)

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Posted on December 20, 2021 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Dominant Industry, Ink Reviews.

Van Dieman's Tassie Season Sweet Fig 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.)

It's really difficult for me to believe, but winter is just a few days away (the official date anyway). I live in an area that rarely experiences the spring and fall seasons, so I'm more than happy to enjoy some of those seasons through ink colors and baked treats. In this case, I'm using Van Dieman's Tassie Season Sweet Fig — a luscious dark red ink that you could easily mistake for a blank ink in certain light. It makes me think of autumn weather and changing leaves, and I really appreciate it for that.

I generally need to be in the right mood to enjoy a dark ink, but Sweet Fig is just light enough in the thinner areas to really tickle my fancy. On first writing with this ink, I was a little disappointed with how dark the ink was. After using it a little more, I noticed all the little nuances that this ink has to offer. It's dark, but it also has depth.

The dark red tone is the most prominent, but I love the small hints of purple that come through from behind. This mixture of deep red and dark purple are just fabulous, and they complement each other perfectly. The shading of this ink from deep red and purple is really fantastic.

Along with the interesting shades and layers of colors, there's also an interesting sheen effect that you can notice in certain light. I've never used an ink with a black sheen before, but I'm somewhat blown away by how it behaves now that I've seen it with my own eyes. In the right light, this ink looks black — but it changes back and forth from black to deep red/purple like someone switching a light on and off. It's so cool.

The dry time for this ink is fairly average at around 10 to 15 seconds. I was using a large nib for the sample here, and I'd say the dry time is closer to 10 on smaller nibs. Not an incredibly fast-drying ink, but pretty good nonetheless.

Like all Van Dieman's inks I've tried before, this one behaves elegantly. It's well lubricated, starts easily, doesn't bleed or feather, and cleans out quickly. The more of these inks I try, the more they teeter into my favorite brand of inks.

A 30ml bottle of Sweet Fig is available from Vanness for $12.95, which is an excellent deal. If you'd rather try a small sample instead, you have that option. But if you like dark inks that have a few secrets to share, this ink is well-worth the small investment. While you're at it, browse the other inks that Van Dieman's offer and see what else tickles your fancy.

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

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