Not just anyone gets their own special ink. But in honor of their first full year of business Federalist Pens and the colloquially know “Federalist Frank” earned a custom ink color from Robert Oster called Frankly Blue ($18 for 50ml bottle). The ink received a special gold colored cap and was unveiled at the DC Supershow 2017.
There were a lot of ups and downs in DC that may have overshadowed some of these wonderful moments so I’m glad that I have the chance to reflect back on them now.
Frankly Blue is shading, sheening blue in the spirit of Oster’s infamous inks but its a bit smokier. Its seems appropriate for an ink for the DC-based Federalist Pens. Everything about DC is a bit more reserved, a bit more cloak-and-dagger, at least as much as I’ve seen.
Where Australia is Bondi Blue and vivacious, DC is dress blues and reserved.
So, Frankly Blue still has a reddish sheen but its dialed back a bit and less baudy and in your face the way Fire & Ice is. Lake of Fire smolders darkly and Soda Pop Blue is dark and zesty bright blue. Frankly Blue, while maintaining the Oster flair, has the subtlety that DC brings to table.
It shades to a teal blue and in finer nibs may look as dark as a deep teal, blue black. The ink is completely water soluble. It has no water resistant qualities in my drip test.
So, if you’ve wanted to consider the world of sheening inks but didn’t want to get too crazy, Frankly Blue is the subtler cousin to Fire & Ice.
This ink is exclusively available through Federalist Pens.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Federalist Pens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
