(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
With summer ending and fall already laying its stake where I live, I've reluctantly gotten out some darker inks that I haven't tried out yet. The cooler weather and different feeling in the air seems like a perfect time to try out some more moody and ominous ink colors, right?
I've really been enjoying a small handful of ink samples that I got from Van Dieman's recently. Each ink I've used so far has so much to offer in terms of performance and color. The Wilderness Series is a collection of ten inks that represent the Tasmanian wilds that make me really want to visit some day. The latest ink in this collection that I've had the pleasure of using is called Federation Peak, sharing its name with the mountain found in Tasmania. The marketing copy does a great job of explaining the name:
This ink is an ash dark grey based upon Federation Peak, a lone quartzite mountain possessing a menacing sharp spire on the Eastern most tip of the East Arthur ranges, overlooking Hanging Lake and 600m above Lake Geeves in the southwest wilderness of Tasmania.
But I also encourage you to do your own reading on the mountain!
Getting back to the ink, it's a dark gray that looks more like a black ink when writing. If you look closer, you can see the ash gray mentioned earlier, but this is certainly a dark and ominous color. I like that's not so dark that you mistake it for a black ink. It looks black at first glance, but there's just enough character to make you look twice and notice the details. It can certainly pass for a black ink if needed.
What really makes this ink interesting for me is the small amount of shading that you can tease out in the thinner strokes. There's a dark gray tone and sparkle that peak out from under the black, similar to tall mountain peaks glimpsing out behind thick fog. This character makes me keep coming back to this ink over other bright inks that I have on my table. It's not a plan black or dark gray ink — it's something in between that has a small amount of sparkle, despite not having any kind of sparkle or glimmer ingredient. It's subtle and magical.
Like most (all?) Van Dieman's inks, this one is dye-based. It will resist water just fine but is gentler on your pens than a pigment-based ink. You sacrifice longevity, but it shouldn't be a problem for most people. If you need archival quality ink and paper, you definitely know what to look for.
In my use, the ink behaves really well. I haven't had any instances of ink getting stuck or not flowing smoothly. My experience with Van Dieman's as a whole has been nothing short of stellar. They make great inks that behave well in your pens, are dependable when writing, and feature interesting colors.
My ink collection is notably short on one thing at this point: true black inks. I just don't have space for them and have nearly zero interest in them. I know that there is plenty of nuance and character between different black inks, but it's not something that has interested me up to this point. With Federation Point and other dark gray inks, there's something about them that I am certainly drawn to. They're trying to show you something that is hidden beneath the surface, and I love watching that peek out in the shading on the page as you use the ink.
Federation Peak is available in a 30ml bottle for just under $13, or you can snag a small sample vial if you're not sure you want the whole bottle. These Van Dieman's inks are such a great value for what you get, and I encourage to check out all their other offerings!
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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