Ink samples (5x) GIVEAWAY

Just hit 300 followers this morning after 170 days on Twitter! Woohoo! Thanks so much everybody! pic.twitter.com/UaeZPTSJLE
— Peninkcillin (@Peninkcillin) July 23, 2014

This past week I reached my first 300 followers, after 170 days on Twitter. I am both happy and humbled by this, since I had no idea what might come out of my Twitter presence. I used to be a social media luddite until recently, but things changed when I realized that instead of viewing social media as another time-wasting internet fad, it's much more lucrative to see it as a tool.

Though I'm not on Facebook (which I don't see as relevant for my blog, especially since I'm not a business), I've come to see Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest as very powerful tools that can expand one's audience, fans, and connections for a particular subject. In my case, the subject includes inks, fountain pens, calligraphy and handwriting, and stationery in general.

I try not to tweet about subjects that are not relevant to the above. On the other hand, I'm more lenient on Instagram, where I've been known to post pictures of things that I cook for myself or other stuff that I might find interesting. Still, the majority of my focus is on the bread and butter of this blog.

To celebrate my 300-follower milestone, I decided to give away 5 ink samples from my ink collection of 15 inks, to one lucky participant. I'm grateful and humbled by all the attention and support I've been getting since this blog launched, and this is my small way of thanking you, my readers. Unfortunately I can't give more than 1 prize at this point, but hopefully there will be other milestones down the road which I can celebrate with more giveaways.

Also unfortunately, this giveaway will be valid only for US residents (including Alaska and Hawaii), because otherwise the shipping would be prohibitive.

Here's a list of 15 inks that you can pick from. Notice that next to each ink there's a quantity in milliliters. This signifies the maximum amount that I will give out from each ink. Some inks I have more of, others less, hence the disparity.

You can check out my reviews for each ink by following the links.

1. De Atramentis Black Green (3 ml)
2. Diamine Green Black (2 ml)
3. Diamine Orange (3 ml)
4. J Herbin 1670 Bleu Ocean (3 ml)
5. J Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite (2 ml)
6. J Herbin Vert Olive (2 ml)
7. Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki (2 ml)
8. Monteverde Brown (2 ml)
9. Noodler's Heart of Darkness (3 ml)
10. Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel (3 ml)
11. Noodler's Navajo Turquoise (3 ml)
12. Noodler's Nikita (5 ml)
13. Noodler's Polar Brown (2 ml)
14. Waterman Florida Blue (3 ml)
15. Waterman Havana Brown (2 ml)

How to participate

I chose to use Google Forms to collect your information. I've been suggested ROFLcopter or some such but I don't really trust these 3rd party services and Google Docs is already integrated with Blogger, not to mention incredibly easy to work with, so in the end it was a no-brainer.

Head on to the giveaway form and please fill in the required fields.

I will need a name/nickname/screen name, so I can announce the winner by it. It doesn't have to be your real name, just something that you will recognize when I make the announcement. I will also need a valid email address so I can ask for your mailing address if you win. Not least, you will need to pick 5 inks (no more, no less).

Submissions are open until Saturday, August 9th, 12:00 AM CST. I will most likely announce a winner on Sunday, August 10th.

How to increase your chances to win

There are 2 additional ways in which you can increase your chances to win.

1. Follow me (@peninkcillin) on Instagram and post a relevant picture with the tag #picgiveaway1. The picture should be related to the subject of this blog (ink / fountain pen / handwriting / stationery).
2. Follow me (@peninkcillin) on Twitter and re-tweet the giveaway tweet (which will contain the tag #picgiveaway1).

Rules for participating/winning

• The giveaway is US-only, really sorry about this :(
• You can pick no more, nor less, than 5 inks.
• The giveaway won't cost you a thing - I will ship the 5 samples for free.
• Winners will be drawn at random from the list compiled from the giveaway form  + Instagram + Twitter participants. Submitting entries on Instagram and/or Twitter will increase your chances to win. I will use a popular online random number generator to pick the winner.
• The draw will take place 2 weeks after the giveaway is announced.
• You will be disqualified if: your data is incomplete, OR the email address is invalid, OR you are outside the US, OR you re-tweet or post on Instagram without following me, OR you re-tweet the wrong thing, OR the Instagram picture is not according to the guidelines listed above.
• If I contact you and you don't respond to my request for a mailing address within a week of the drawing, you will be disqualified and another drawing will be held.
• Once I obtain your mailing address I will ship the 5 samples you picked within 5 business days.
• I will ship via USPS Domestic Flat Rate so theoretically you should be OK if you are inside the US.

Final words

If you win and write/draw something cool with the inks I sent you, and post it online, feel free to let me know so I can tweet it or otherwise broadcast it.

Good luck and may the ink gods be on your side!

Monteverde Brown ink review and GIVEAWAY

As fate would have it, Jetpens were kind enough to send me another ink for review. This time I opted for a brown ink. I can't explain it but I have a weakness for brown inks. Maybe because I love chocolate, brown leather boots and my brown cargo pants. For the first time I'm also reviewing a Monteverde ink. I won't spoil it too much but suffice to say that it's a very good first impression. Read on to find out why Monteverde Brown is a pretty cool ink.

Oh and in the meantime, if you wish, you can subscribe to my Twitter, @Peninkcillin.

THE GIVEAWAY

Jetpens is offering a bottle of Monteverde Brown exclusively to my readers. Head on to their giveaway page for a chance to win. NOTE: you will need to subscribe (or already be a subscriber) to Jetpens' newsletter before you can submit your entry for the giveaway. For existing subscribers, just enter your email and hit "Submit". If you are not already a subscriber there's a handy "Subscribe to our newsletter" box on the bottom right side. The giveaway runs from the time this review is posted until 02/26 11:59PM PST. Good luck!

Now before I start, a quick side note about Monteverde. The company is pretty much a mystery to me but it seems it is US-based. At least that's what it says on the box, Monteverde USA. On their site they claim that materials used for their pens are sourced from Europe. I've long been interested in their fountain pen line and hopefully one day I'll get to review one.

One more thing about this ink. Monteverde claims their inks have ITF (ink treatment formula), which, I quote:
"- Drastically improves ink-flow quality.
- Extends cap-off time.
- Lubricates and protects the ink-feeding systems from corrosion and clogging.
- Improves ink-drying time on paper."
We shall find out if these claims are supported.

The writing samples in this review were done with my Lamy AL-Star, mainly with the EF nib but also with the 1.1mm, 1.5mm, and 1.9mm italics.

Bottle and pricing

There's nothing special about Monteverde ink bottles, though I am rather partial to the particular shade of green they chose to use for the box and label. The box itself has a window in the shape of the stylized Monteverde logo through which either the bottle can be seen, or a card/label in the color of the ink. I didn't photograph the card because it was ink-stained. Jetpens sells this ink for $12.50. A bottle holds 9ml / 3 oz, which makes it $0.14 per milliliter. That's one of the most inexpensive inks you can buy.

Color and saturation

Monteverde Brown is a fairly neutral, well, brown. It does have some red in it but I like it that way because it looks warmer. It is also fairly saturated. To get a better idea of the particular shade of color, I placed this ink next to 3 others that I had samples of. Here's how Monteverde Brown compares to Noodler's Polar Brown, Waterman Havana Brown and Noodler's #41 Brown.

As you can see, the two Noodler's inks are similar and darker, tending towards black. Waterman Havana is more reddish but also colder in appearance. It drifts into burgundy territory. Monteverde Brown seems just right: warm and with just the perfect ratio of red to black. In a word, it's chocolaty.

Switching to my Noodler's Ahab flex pen, which I admit wasn't very expertly adjusted, the very wet flow produced almost black text. You can see this in the Clairefontaine sample below.

Just for fun I thought I would take a shot of the three q-tips I used to sample Monteverde Brown, Noodler's Polar Brown, and Waterman Havana Brown, after they were laid on tissue paper. It's fascinating to see how the ink sometimes breaks up into its components when it's absorbed into the paper. As you can see, Monteverde is pretty consistent, there isn't much breakup there. Polar Brown, on the other hand, shows a surprising amount of orange, while Waterman Havana is also dark brown but with reddish tints.

Shading

I just love me a shading ink, and Monteverde Brown fails to disappoint. Shading + brown = win. As soon as I laid the first stroke after filling my Lamy AL-Star I exclaimed "Wow!". In fact I felt compelled to write that down in my review sample. This ink has very nice shading which can be clearly discerned even with the European-EF nib I had in the Lamy. You may have noticed on the Clairefontaine sample that switching to an italic nib reveals the shading even more. Even the brown-black text written with the Ahab shows a little shading.

Feathering

I didn't notice any feathering, except where the J Herbin glass dip pen was used, but that falls within normal parameters considering the cheap paper.

Bleedthrough

Bleedthrough is not an issue with Monteverde Brown, however it ghosts a little on cheap paper, but that's only to be expected of a dark ink.

Flow, lubrication, and smoothness

Two other traits that I highly value in an ink are smoothness and flow. I prefer my inks to flow wet. Monteverde Brown satisfies in no small measure and I would give it a 7/10, perhaps even 8/10 for wetness.

Did I say I also liked smoothness? Oh boy, this ink feels smooth as silk. It really is a pleasure to write with. Even while typing this review I found myself picking up the Lamy and just randomly scribbling something on paper. All this despite the fact that the EF nib in my Lamy is a tiny bit scratchy. Yet, the scratchiness seems to be gone with Monteverde's ink.

Drying time
Drying times in general vary depending on the quality of the paper. There's very little exception here. On photocopy paper Monteverde Brown dries somewhere after the 5-second mark. On Rhodia 80g, however, it takes considerably longer. Because this paper is so glossy, even after 40 seconds it still wasn't completely dry. Of course this is also dependent on how wet your pen writes. For drier nibs this may not be the case, so your mileage may vary.

One additional thing I'd like to mention here is that if you plan to use, say, a flex nib on high quality paper, like I did on Clairefontaine, you will most likely need to let it rest for a very long time before it dries completely, due to the heavy layer of ink that will be deposited.

Smearing when dry

None, but you really gotta let it dry before you try anything, doubly so on very high quality paper. On cheap paper, not so much, it dries fast and it is absorbed quickly by the paper.

Water resistance

Water resistance is not on the list of features for this ink so you can't expect any. As you can see from the sample below, 30 seconds under running water (in fact even less) completely obliterates my testing grid.

Conclusion
It looks like Monteverde nailed it with their brown ink. I honestly didn't know what to expect from this brand, especially since I could swear I hadn't heard of them a few years ago. The ITF (ink treatment formula) claims don't seem 100% supported because the ink's drying time depends a lot on the paper used but I don't find that a big deal, especially considering that it does seem to keep writing even after I've uncapped my pen for about 10 minutes.

Monteverde Brown has quickly become one of my favorite brown inks (perhaps even trumping Waterman Havana Brown) thanks to its combination of beautiful color and shading, incredible smoothness, and great flow. As far as I'm concerned, Monteverde Brown gets as close to brown ink Nirvana as can be. I highly recommend it, and who knows, if you are the lucky one you might just win yourself a bottle of it courtesy of Jetpens.

Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Giveaway Winner

Just a heads-up regarding the Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki giveaway hosted by Jetpens. The winner is Amy Thompson of Los Angeles, CA. Congratulations Amy and thanks all for reading my review of this awesome ink!

Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Winter Persimmon ink review and GIVEAWAY

The day has finally come when I can review an Iroshizuku ink. Deviating slightly from my usual format for recent reviews, instead of a sample, I'm able to play with an entire bottle, courtesy of Jetpens. Full disclosure: while Jetpens provided the ink, they haven't paid me for this review so the opinions therein are my own.

THE GIVEAWAY
Because Jetpens is a pretty chill company (they were the main factor that kindled my love for fountain pens), they are also giving away a bottle of Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Winter Persimmon exclusively to my readers. So head on to their website for a chance to win. NOTE: you will need to subscribe (or already be a subscriber) to Jetpens' newsletter before you can submit your entry for the giveaway. For existing subscribers, just enter your email and hit "Submit". If you are not already a subscriber there's a handy "Subscribe to our newsletter" box on the bottom right side. The giveaway runs from 10/29 6PM PST to 11/05 11:59PM PST. Good luck!

For many in the fountain pen world, Iroshizuku ink is perceived as being somewhat of an unicorn: rare, precious and with magical qualities. While Iroshizuku seems to be a brand of its own (that's what I thought when I first heard about it) it is actually produced by Pilot. It is to Pilot what Lexus is to Toyota: a more refined and luxurious sub-brand. As a result, the price is also much higher than its regular stablemates who go under the Pilot label.

I'm happy to finally be able to test one of these lovely inks. Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Winter Persimmon is essentially a vermillion ink but there's more to it than that. Let's explore some of its properties.

For this review I went outside the norm, because I had access to more ink, and pulled out a trio of pens: Noodler's Ahab, Lamy AL-Star (with EF, 1.1mm, 1.5mm and 1.9mm italics) and TWSBI Diamond 530 (with EF and B nibs).

Bottle and pricing
Refinement starts on the outside and it isn't a stretch to say that Iroshizuku inks come in very elegant bottles. This is easily the sexiest ink bottle I've handled, apart from the rather unique J Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison considering the 1670 is a limited edition. Nonetheless, the Iroshizuku bottle looks a bit like something out of a Swarovski catalog. Notice however that while it seems big, the bottle only holds 50ml because the bottom is thick glass, but this makes it hefty and stable on your desk.

Another nice touch in the bottle's design is the conical cavity at the bottom designed for the nib to fit in when you are filling your pen. This made me actually fill the pens used in this review the way they are meant to, as opposed to using a syringe as I normally do.

All this comes at a price. Iroshizuku is perhaps the most expensive mainstream ink, at $28 for 50ml / 1.7oz, or $0.56 per milliliter. Compare this with something regular like Noodler's Ink which is only about $0.14 / ml. But is it worth it? While the cool packaging certainly adds to the cost, the ink itself does a great job in justifying its price. Personally, it's a bit much for me, so I'm not sure I'd buy a full bottle, but that's because I don't write/draw enough to justify that. For heavy fountain pen users it's another story. Nevertheless, I'm sorely tempted...

Color and saturation
Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Persimmon is, as mentioned, a vermillion ink. Vermillion is a color between dark orange and red, with a warm tone. To my eyes it looks more orange than red, hence the classification under the Orange Inks category. It's a beautiful color, definitely one that I haven't encountered before in a fountain pen ink. It is rich, vibrant and saturated.

Compared to other inks that I have tested, it is darker and more fiery than both Diamine Orange and Noodler's Dragon's Napalm to which it bears a passing resemblance.

Shading
It's only proper for such a regal ink to feature at least some shading and Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki doesn't disappoint. I would say that the amount of shading is above average and this makes the ink look almost like watercolor, when applied in liberal amounts such as the q-tip samples shown below.

Thicker nibs work best to show of the shading properties and that's one reason why I prefered the broad nibs versus EFs, for this ink.

Feathering
In normal use (with a nib, that is) there is no feathering. I have noticed, however, that there is a bit when using the J Herbin glass dip pen. That's excusable though, for two reasons: this is a wet ink and cheap paper tends to act like a sponge, and most inks act the same under similar circumstances.

Bleedthrough
Fuyu-gaki doesn't bleed through the paper but it ghosts a little with the dip pen. I'm guessing because of its higher-than-average saturation you can see its shadow even on heavier paper such as the Rhodia 80g but the reverse side remains eminently usable. Even the cheap photocopy paper can be used on both sides.

Flow, lubrication and smoothness
Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki flows well in the pens I've tested but...

Maybe it's the fact that in recent times I've taken a liking to thicker nibs, or that my particular fine nibs aren't that great, but I actively disliked how both the TWSBI and the Lamy wrote with their respective EF nibs. The both felt scratchy and dry. Notice that the line from the Lamy EF looks rather thick in comparison. On the other hand, it's a real joy to use the broad nib in the TWSBI and all 3 italics for the Lamy. The Fuyu-gaki flows wet and smooth in these nibs.

Noodler's Ahab sits somewhere in the middle. It had some flow issues when flexing, which caused railroading. The ink also dried up in between uses. But I think that's a problem with the pen itself. I really wish I could get my hands on a proper vintage flex pen for $10 or so. Yeah, never gonna happen.

Drying time
I tested Fuyu-gaki's drying time in a less-than-scientific manner, as I always do, with whatever nib is handy at the moment. For this test I used the TWSBI B. Since the ink flows wet in this nib, it took quite a while before it dried on Rhodia 80g paper, somewhere north of 30 seconds. On cheap, absorbent paper, however, it dried quickly, closer to 5 seconds than 10.

Smearing when dry
None.

Water resistance
The documentation doesn't mention anything about Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki's water resistance and, as it's usually the case, it turns out the ink is entirely vulnerable to water. A minute under water diffuses this ink into illegibility. No big deal though, that wasn't a selling point.

Conclusion
Pilot's Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Persimmon is a beautiful, polarizing vermillion ink, rich in appearance and smooth in flow. It has some very nice shading especially if used with broader nibs which can be a perk if broad nibs are what you prefer because personally I don't think fine nibs do it justice. On the other hand this is also an Iroshizuku, which puts it way above the crowd in terms of price. Is it worth buying? That's up to you to decide. While a Toyota provides sufficient utility to most people, there are plenty who prefer (and can afford) a Lexus. One thing is certain: it's hard to find this combination of color/shading/smoothness in lesser inks.

Below are the two samples written on photocopy and Rhodia 80g, respectively.