(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 quite a long time since I've used a yellow ink. Yellows aren't something you can use every day due to how light they appear on the page. But, when you find the right opportunity to use a nice yellow ink, it never fails to brighten your day.
I've recently been using Citrus Yellow from Dominant Industry, which is a bright yellow with little hints of green and orange if the light hits it just right. The bright color is accented by a mild sheen that makes the ink appear like it's still a bit wet. In all, it makes for a really special and fun ink to use.
While the main color in this ink is a bright yellow, you can also detect small hints of orange and green under the surface. This allows the ink to have a shading effect that gives it just enough character to differentiate it from a standard highlighting ink.
When writing with this ink, it appears extremely light — so light that it's pretty difficult to read. But as the ink dries, the color darkens a bit and exposes some of the other undertones of green and orange. Bear in mind, I don't really see any true green or orange in this ink — just yellow shades that lean toward green and orange. Either way, the dried ink is easy to read and has a happy, bright character that pops off the page. It's the opposite of gloomy.
Being my first ink from Dominant Industry, I was curious to see how it would behave in my pens. Delightfully, this ink works like a champ. There's plenty of lubrication to allow the nib to glide effortlessly across the page. The ink has no trouble starting after a break, and I can't detect any feathering or bleeding. It also washes out really easily — likely due to the light color.
One area that this ink really drags is when it comes to drying. It dries really slowly. In my testing (and in my super dry office where it's currently about 30% relative humidity), it took between 20 and 35 seconds for this ink to dry to the point where it wouldn't smudge when I ran my finger across it. That's definitely long enough to stop and consider before deciding to use this ink in certain circumstances.
Another minor downside to this ink is the bottle. While it's a beautiful and unique shape, the opening is quite small. You won't have any problem with most pens, but large nibs or large sections might have some trouble clearing the opening enough to draw up ink. If this is the case for you, Dominant Industry has included a small pipette in the box, or you can use your own syringe or bottle if needed.
Dry time aside, I've been really pleased with Citrus Yellow and look forward to trying other inks from Dominant Industry. A 25ml bottle of this boutique ink from South Korea will run $17. This is a fair price for the small shop and imported market — not to mention the high standard of quality. Can't wait to see what else they have to offer!
(I purchased this ink from Yoseka Stationery at full price for review purposes.)
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