Review by Tina Koyama
For Part 2 of my TWSBI 1791 ink set reviews, I’m looking at Orange and Sky Blue (see Part 1 for images and comments on the gift set).
Orange is vivid and vibrant as orange should be. I don’t see sheening, but there’s a bit of shading that shows more of its yellow side. If anything, it tends more towards red than yellow – but no coral at all.
Closest to the hues in my ink collection are Iroshizuku Yu-yake and Diamine Autumn Oak, though the former has more yellow and the latter has more brown.
TWSBI Orange is saturated enough that I thought it would be a good candidate in a waterbrush. I filled one up and took it to a local drawing event to give it a try (see end of review).
Sky Blue is a medium blue that leans slightly toward the green side of the scale. (Or maybe the sky over the Caribbean has the same turquoise-y shade, but Seattle’s sky is much cooler.)
I had nothing in my ink collection that came close, though I tried on Iroshizuku Ku-jaku and Sailor Jentle Yama-dori for size. Both are much darker and subdued; TWSBI Sky Blue is a happy summer sky.
Since Sky Blue is a bit pale with my fine dip nib, I went in the opposite direction for a better look: my fattest (6.0mm) Pilot Parallel with a nib I hacked myself (with helpful assistance from blogs and YouTubes). Now we’re talking!
I’ve lately been using the book People of the Twenty-First Century (Hans Eijkelboom) for drawing practice, and Sky Blue’s subtle shading came through with the Parallel’s crazy nib.
I took both the Orange-filled waterbrush and the Sky Blue-filled Parallel to Gage Academy’s Drawing Jam, where costumed models were a lot of fun to sketch with these inks. On this 10-minute pose, I used the waterbrush to broadly paint the initial gesture. Then with the hacked Parallel, I emphasized shadows and drew in a few details. I also used a water-filled waterbrush to smear the inks a bit. No signs of being waterproof here – the TWSBI inks wash richly. A fun combo for life drawing!
TOOLS
- Papers: Canson XL Mixed Media pad, 98 lb., 10” x 7” (60 sheets/$6.90) and Stillman & Birn Zeta softcover sketchbook ($17.99)
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
- Pens: Zebra Comic Pen G Model Nib (10/$13.50) with Koh-i-Noor holder and Pilot Parallel with 6.0mm nib (hacked) ($8)
- Brush: Winsor & Newton pointed round 4 ($12.28) and Kuretake water brush – large ($7)
- Inks: TWSBI 1791 Orange and TWSBI 1791 Sky Blue (18ml/$7.50)
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.
Update: 12/18/19 to add link to Gage Academy Drawing Jam.
Orange and Blue is always a good combination and these seem to have a temperature range making them extra compatible. And, of course, either would be beautiful on its own. It’s a bit late, but these may have to go on my Christmas list. Thank you for the great review!
Glad you enjoyed it!