This is the last of the Sailor Shikiori colors and I saved what I think it the best for last. I don’t know how widely known it is but when we were cooking up the Col-o-ring, I used Sailor Jentle Irori as my litmus test color for paper testing. It has a gold sheen that is subtle but it’s there. If it showed up on paper that we tried, it made it into our “maybe” pile. If the sheen was not revealed, the paper was NOT acceptable. So, my feelings for Sailor red inks are pretty deep set.
So, when I swabbed Sailor Shikiori Yodaki ($15 for 20ml bottle) and it was a deeper, brickier red and the green-gold sheen revealed itself, I was in. Smaller bottle? Okay fine. I have more ink than any one human could ever need anyway.
In some light, the shading will look look warm like sun-baked reds. With heavier applications, the color deepens and the sheen is revealed.
The variation in red inks is so vast its hard to find a close comparison but this color swatch collection shows where Yodaki falls in the spectrum. It’s more orangey in contrast to Irori which is more watermelon-y. Grenade is more wine colored, if you want to compare inks within the Sailor line.
TOOLS
- Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet
- Pens: Empire vintage traveling dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Esterbrook #2442 nib in a Shawn Netwon custom nib holder
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Cards
- Brush: Kaimei Natural Weasel Hair Sumi Brush Pen – Black Body
($29.37)
- Ink: Sailor Shikiori Yodaki (50ml bottle for $39)
($29.37)
Ana – I have been searching for a good red and also received Yodaki last week. Thanks again for all the great ink comparisons. You did the work so I don’t have to. I really appreciate all that you do! Thanks so much!
I don’t use red too much, but have found Diamine Cardinal to be a rich dark “pure” red. You don’t get the colorful sheening that the Shikori has, though.
What a great selection! Thank you for all your hard work!
“Watermelon-y” love it 🙂