Today, I thought I’d do a quick overview of some of the Octopus Write & Draw Inks ($19.50 per 50ml bottle). I have eight of the potential 36 ink colors currently available. These inks are designed to used in fountain pens as well as with brushes and dip pens. And it’s most notable feature is that it’s waterproof.
Each color is named after a color and an animal and not necessarily an animal/color combo you might guess. Orange Koi? Nope. Blue Koi. Yellow Giraffe? No. Violet Giraffe. So, just go with the kooky naming.
I tested:
These are definitely wet inks. On Tomoe River, the dry is a bit longer, particularly with dip pens than I would have expected but I suppose this allows for a bit longer “cap off” time.
On Tomoe River paper, allowing the inks to dry in the time it took me to make lunch and a fresh cup of tea (about 30 minutes), all the Octopus Write & Draw inks withstood a paintbrush full of water without any issue. 100% waterproof. I’m pretty impressed with the results.
The only one of the Write & Draw inks that I had a clear comparison for was Black Elephant and it had to go up against one of my most beloved inks: Platinum Carbon Black which I find to be one of the most fountain pen friendly waterproof black inks I own.
I did a swatch at the bottom of the page with Platinum Carbon Black and Black Elephant and the Platinum ink did smear with water in some places. It may not have been completely dry but still… It was written the same time with the same dip pen as the Black Elephant and Black Elephant did NOT smear. So… who’s the more wateproof at first glance? I think Black Elephant won this round.
One of the biggest questions I have for the long-term use of Black Elephant is the Octopus Special Cleaner for Write & Draw inks. The product is currently sold out but my inclination is to assume its similar to the Koh-I-Noor Rapido-Eze Cleaning Solution I’ve used for years for stubbornly clogged technical pens and the occasional fountain pen in a sonic cleaner. This potential need to use an industrial grade cleaner makes me a little hesitant to put Black Elephant into many of my pens in a way I do not worry about with Platinum Carbon Black. This is because many years ago, I did a test where I let Platinum Carbon Black dry in a Lamy Safari to see if it would was out (Yes, I was willing to let a Lamy take one for the team) and it washed out — with water. So, I suppose the only option at this point would be to sacrifice another Lamy to the same fate. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Overall, I think Octopus Write & Draw inks look like good options if you’re looking for more waterproof inks that you can use with fountain pens. I do warn that you should practice good pen hygiene until you know for sure how easily these inks wash out of fountain pens. I’ll let you know in a few months how my sacrificial pen test goes.
Tools:
- Paper: blank Tomoe River 52gsm with Ink Swatch Guidesheet ($6/set)
- Pens: Tachikawa T-40 dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib, Sailor Hocoro Dip Nib Pens (in various sizes with additional feed units), Pilot Iro-Utsushi Dip Pen (F)
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
DISCLAIMER: Some items in this review include affiliate links, others were kindly provided to us by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.
