Van Dieman's Ink Sample Review, Part 3

(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!)

Here is the final installment of my trove of Van Dieman's ink samples. I saved these three for last, because they looked like my kind of colors and they had cool names, which is very important to me in ink. While an ink color name might have nothing to do with its performance, it gets me every time.

First up is Eclipse. Looking at the sample, one might ask, "Is it grey? Brown? Purple?" And really, the answer is yes. I love mysterious colors that can't quite be pinned down, and this one has some great complexity to it. It's like a warm, smokey color that doesn't come across well in pictures. The chromatography shows a bit of its character, especially in that gold hue that gives it its warmth. This ink behaved very well, though it had a longer dry time. It doesn't show much shading, but it does have a little bit of water resistance. By far its best characteristic is its way of looking like completely different colors in different lighting.

Next is Hanging Lake, a gorgeous, slightly ominous navy. This is a very saturated color, rich and deep, with some great complexity. Grey, rose, and cobalt blue show up in the chromatography. It also has a long dry time, but it does show some shading on longer pen strokes. It was quite water resistant in the drip test, with all lines still visible, regardless of whether the water was dabbed or wiped away. This is a very professional looking blue. With its ability to withstand spills, it would be great for office or school use.

Last but not least is Hastings Caves Shimmer. Like the shimmers I tested in part one, the particles in this ink require regular, vigorous agitation to remain suspended. They settle quickly and need some encouragement to disperse themselves back into the liquid. But once that is achieved, it's a really gorgeous color. The ink itself is a gold tone, with brass-colored shimmer that gives it an antique gold look. Chromatography shows a surprising progression, from pale pink to saffron yellow, to a touch of almost teal that I can't really explain. The shimmer is very pronounced in the lines, so long as you make sure to agitate the ink before writing. Like the other shimmers, I'd recommend using this in a pen that can be easily and thoroughly cleaned, because those particles settle like river sediment and I'd be a little worried about what they might do to a feed. This color did not have any water resistance, and had a long dry time.

My biggest takeaway from this line of inks is that the creators are dedicated to complex color recipes. Chromatography isn't usually this exciting, but every sample was like a fireworks display, with surprising colors creeping out of each of them. While I think some of the samples are better suited to fountain pens than others, there are some fantastic, unique colors in this lineup. With all the ink colors out there in the world, I'm always amazed when a new one arises, with no look-alikes. This is a great line for experimenting with some fun, new tones.

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

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Van Dieman's Ink Sample Review, Part 2

(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!)

Here are three more samples of Van Dieman's ink, all from their "Seasons" series. These three are not sparkly inks, so I was curious to see how they would differ from the ones I reviewed last week.

The first is Spring Native Cornflower, a bright blue. It was the best behaved of the bunch, with no feathering and a very reasonable dry time. The color is lovely, too, and it had some great shading properties. It does not have any water resistance, and washed completely away at the faintest hint of water. This was my favorite of this brand that I've tried so far. It's bright enough to be a fun ink, but still blue in a practical way. Chromatography shows a hint of lilac to its hue.

The second ink is Spring Butterfly, and this ink is perfect for if you want to whisper someone a note. It is almost unusably faint. It's a gorgeous, delicate, key-lime green, but I don't think I'd enjoy writing with it. It has a longer dry time, no water resistance, and doesn't appear to shade. Chromatography shows a balance of blue and yellow tones. It almost seems watered-down or undersaturated. I think it would make a lovely tone for illustration, but isn't great for fountain pen use.

The third color this week is Autumn Deciduous Beech. This is a lovely rich amber orange. I did experience some feathering with this color, but it also had the fastest dry time. It shows some pretty shading, and a slight touch of line is still visible after a water drip test. This color had a fun chromatography, with a defined split between bubblegum pink and bright yellow tones.

So far, all of the Van Dieman's inks have shown a lot of character in chromatography, and though I'm not loving all of them for writing purposes, they are a blast to review and play with. There are three more colors for next week, and I saved those three for last because I'm most intrigued by them. Here's to another week frolicking with inky fingers!

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

Van Dieman's Ink Sample Review, Part 1

(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!)

I have a small treasure chest of Van Dieman's ink samples to review! Which means reveling in multicolored inky fingers for weeks, and sharing the joy with you all. Here is the first installment of three reviews of this line of inks.

First up is from their Hollywood series—Elizabeth's Violet Eyes, inspired by Elizabeth Taylor. It's a lovely balanced purple, not too warm or cool. It's well behaved and shows some nice shading. It's a wet ink with a longer dry time, and it survived with some faint lines remaining in the water drip test. This ink had some lovely chromatography, splitting from bright pink to magenta, to a bold turquoise. It's easily the most practical of the ones I reviewed for today, and while it's tame enough to be an everyday ink, it has a nice bit of excitement to it, too.

The next ink I tried was the Enchanted Woods Shimmer from the Midnight series. This one is a bright emerald green with a silver shimmer to it. It's not shy on the bling, either. You could probably use this ink to signal passing airplanes. This ink has great character, showing some shading even through all that shimmer. It has a slow dry time, no water resistance, and the chromatography shows a beautiful yellow-green-blue progression. The ink description indicates that it is supposed to have a red sheen in addition to the silver shimmer, but I could not get one to materialize, even where the ink pooled.

The third ink I tested somehow out-blings the Enchanted Woods. It's another from the Hollywood series, this one called Ruby Slippers. Wicked witches will no doubt be in hot pursuit of this ink. I don't recommend it for fountain pens, though, for several reasons. One, its very wet and feathers dramatically. Two, the particles settle almost immediately and require constant agitation to remain suspended. And three, it's highly water-resistant, and I'd be concerned about staining. Even in the ink description on the Vanness site it suggests dip and brush pens for this ink.

The last one I reviewed this week was the insanely gorgeous Huon Midwinter Festival, from their Tassie Seasons line. This ink is enchanting. It's a rich sepia with an antique gold shimmer that makes me think of pirates. The chromatography for this ink was like watching a fireworks display--or a bonfire. From char brown to smokey purple to bright orange and yellow--this is clearly a complex ink. However, I strongly advise against using this in a fountain pen unless it it one that is easy to disassemble and clean. I let my sample vial sit for some time while I waited to get to this review, and when I picked it up to use it, I could not get the shimmer particles to come away from the plastic wall of the vial. Even with shaking, they stayed stuck. I had to knock the vial against my desk several times to get the shimmer to disperse. I assumed it was because it had sat for a few weeks. So I set it back down while I reviewed the other inks. When I picked this one back up to review, the same thing happened again, even though it had been sitting for less than an hour. I don't think these particles will behave nicely in a pen feed. For dip pens or brushwork, though, this is one of the prettiest browns I've ever used.

I still have six other colors to review, but my impression so far of the Van Dieman's inks is that they are very good with color, and all-in with their shimmer, but they fall more into the category of art-supply inks than writing inks. Which is not a bad thing--but I don't know if that is their intention. I do know that I would not put two of these four into a fountain pen. And I also have concerns about being hunted by flying monkeys.

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

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