In feature, Ink Review

Ink Series Review: Visconti Van Gogh Series

Author Jessica ColesPosted on Leave a comment
Ink Series Review: Visconti Van Gogh Series

Visconti has released a line of pens over the last few years in the Van Gogh line where each pen is styled after a Van Gogh painting and uses the same palette.  To accompany these pens, Visconti came up with six inks: Café Terrace at Night, Orchard in Blossom, Old Vineyard with Peasant Woman, Wheatfield with Crows, Souvenir de Mauve, and Wheatfield under Thunderclouds. Previously these inks were only available with the purchase of their matched pen, but the entire series has now been released and is available as a set of six or as individual bottles. This set was purchased by Well-Appointed Desk from Pen Boutique and I was the fortunate person assigned to reviewing them! Someone there must know I enjoy ink…

I love the colors in this series – it contains both bright, fun colors and office-safe gray and blue. The colors on the top of each box are good approximations of the ink.

All six inks have great shading on Tomoe River paper:

And even better shading on Cosmo Air Light paper:

I took a photo with both Tomoe River paper (on the right) and Cosmo Air Light paper (on the left) to show the differences – the gray and purple show the most color change. CAL brings out the blue undertones dramatically.

Kobe released a Van Gogh-inspired blue a few years ago – I was pleasantly surprised to see that it agrees well with the Visconti Wheatfield with Crows blue! It is a deep blue with a faint hint of a sheen.

I love the Old Vineyard with Peasant Woman grey ink. The undertones here are blue making the overall color more of a dusky purple. The camera shows a much stronger difference between these inks than in person.

Of course, the best ink in the series is Orchard in Bloom – purple is always the best. Visconti has produced a beautiful purple with this ink! It isn’t so light as to be illegible but it isn’t so dark that you can’t see the purple in your writing.

Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds is a fabulous bright leaf green – nearly a perfect match for my favorite bright green ink of all times – Scribo Verde Prato! This is a color that grabs your attention but doesn’t hurt your eyes when reading.

Souvenir de Mauve is also a very bright ink. Montegrappa Fuchsia and Monteverde Deep Magenta are very close, but Souvenir de Mauve is a touch brighter in writing, and there’s a touch of gold sheen even in small amounts of ink. Where was this ink when I was 8?  I’ve kept this Mauve inked in a pen since I received the ink. A glow-in-the-dark pen in keeping with the 8-year-old theme.

Be careful with this Mauve – it does have the potential to stain very light-colored pens. However, the ink was very easy to clean up when compared to other highly saturated pinks.

I was surprised at the Café Terrace at Night orange ink. I thought it would be much closer to orange rather than yellow. Café is a great shading ink and close to Stipula Sapphron and Bungubox Sweet Potato Yellow – two of the best orange-yellow inks ever.

Here is a photo of the entire ink line – in my opinion, Visconti did a great job with these.

I am thrilled with this new lineup from Visconti! You can purchase the entire set for $114 from Pen Boutique or $18.95 for a single bottle – about $0.63 per mL. This puts the cost in the luxury category but not as high as Sailor and Montblanc special editions. For an ink line from Visconti that was previously only available with a high-priced pen, I am happy to accept that price.

 

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by the Well-Appointed Desk for the purposes of this review and I was not compensated to write this post. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, Link Love

Link Love: It’s all DC, GB, and Digits

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: It’s all DC, GB, and Digits

This week, there are a couple posts about British-specific products, thoughts on the recent DC Supershow Pen Show and quite a few digit-focused posts — “5 Ways”, “15 Journaling…”, “41 Questions…” and more. If you divide 15 Journaling Tips by 5 Ways to Sharpen a Pencil and add 41 Questions… what do you get? I don’t know either so maybe we should just brew a pot of tea and read about the DC Supershow?

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

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In Fountain Pen Review, photo

Eye Candy – Cholla Cactus Wood Turned Pen

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

Last week my boss sent me a small gift that turned out to be a fountain pen! Sadly I have very few details so mostly I’ll be sharing photos and what I can surmise. I’m still on the hunt and I’ll update if/when I get more!

I was surprised to open my package and find a wood-turned pen. I believe it came more or less from a kit because it came with a standard fact sheet from The Woodturner’s Catalog. My boss purchased it at an art show local to her.

The pen itself is made from Cholla Cactus wood, that I believe has been filled/enhanced with resin. It looks like shimmery pink and purple have been poured into the resin as well. The pen comes with a standard iridium point nib manufactured in Germany. It’s not specifically labeled as Bock or Jowo. It feels like a fine to  me and I haven’t gone into the nib/feed housing to check.

The pen is really beautiful to look at, but a bit of a chonker. It comes in at 43g. It’s 5 1/8″ capped, and 4 3/4″  uncapped. The cap is a screw cap and I kept wondering why the “peg” at the end. It turns out the threads there are so you can post the cap by screwing it onto the back end. However, given the weight of this pen, that just makes in unbalanced.

Again, I wish I had more details about this lovely gift, but for now I’m content to just get to know my new pen!

PS for those who ask if I match my pens to my knits (I’m talking to you Brad!) the answer is not intentionally, but apparently sometimes yes!

In Paper Review

Giveaway Winner: Ayush Paper from Peyton Street Pens

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments

Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway for the Ayush A4 and A5 notebooks from Peyton Street Pens. I loved hearing about your favorite papers and have a few new ones to try now! Today’s winner is Dave:

I hear you Dave. Tomoe River is pretty great, but I have to say it’s not my favorite. I know… blasphemy. What can I say? I like paper with a little more tooth!

In feature

Ink-A-Pet Pen Rest & Sample Vial Holder

Author AnaPosted on 5 Comments
Ink-A-Pet Pen Rest & Sample Vial Holder

Several months ago, friend of the blog Ruth sent me this delightful ink sample vial holder and pen rest. Yes, it’s a sleeping cat which we all know is our lazy intern Ollie sleeping on the job again. This is one of my favorite daily-use tools now. If you’ve ever struggled with how to dip into a sample vial without spilling it or not having to try to recap it one-handed, you need a Sleeping Cat or Ink’s Best Friend. Since receiving mine earlier this year, I’ve used it for all my ink sampling and trust me, I do a lot of ink sampling. The only issues I’ve had is that it is a challenge to get the small glass sample vials from Ferris Wheel Press (from their Charger Sets) out of the holder and/or capped without getting inky fingers. This problem does not exist with the standard plastic 5ml vial. The regular 5ml vials are tall enough to lift out easily and replace the cap as needed.

After a little sleuthing, I discovered that the 3D printed “Ink-a-pet” was created by a 7-year-old boy named Calvin with some CAD help from his mom and some shop-set-up work from his dad, Daniel. I absolutely love the entrepreneurial spirit of the pen community but I double-down on the love when the products are created by amazingly talented kids.

Each Ink-a-pet is just $7 each and will help Calvin continue his pen passion well into adulthood (hopefully!).

Inktopus

Over the summer, Calvin has created a few new designs including the Inktopus (shown above). I believe Intopus and Squidney would definitely be friends. They shall be introduced soon!

Thanks to Calvin for becoming one of the youngest and most ambitious members of our pen community. I hope every supports this young entrpeneur.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by a friend who probably didn’t expect me to write a review about it. For more information about purchasing an Ink-a-Pet or buying one for a friend, visit Ink-A-Pen. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature

Currently Reading: New Zine Alert & More

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments
Currently Reading: New Zine Alert & More

This week  Johnny Gamber over at Pencil Revolution broke out of his graphite fortress to publish his first edition of The Pen Post ($5) — his new pen zine. It’s a delightful read, perfect to peruse over a leisurely lunch break. Be sure to read the ads and peripheral text. Johnny is insightful, funny and as charming on paper as he is in person (or in podcastery). While picking up The Pen Post, check out some of his other zines too.

Currently reading August 2021

We have been ordering books from our local indie book shop and picking them up. At the beginning of the pandemic, the shop owner would actually deliver my purchases as they live nearby but now that things are waffling back and forth between pre- and post-pandemic times, we had the privilege of actually browsing the shelves in the shop. Our book haul includes:

Rosie the Bug Zapper is a children’s picture book illustrated by the teenage daughter of a good friend of mine. I’ve known Isabel since she was in grade school and I’m so happy to see how far she has come. If I didn’t tell you the illustrations were done by someone who hadn’t been to college yet you wouldn’t have guessed. They are adorable and I think Isabel is going to be a great illustrator.

Half Dead is the new book by a good friend of ours. We have been privvy to his writing process and the subsequent editing so its exciting to finally have his book in our hands.

Being an avid listener of Dear Hank & John, The Anthopocene Reviewed and 99% Invisible, I had to purchase the books that have grown out of the podcasts. Over the past few months John green has discussed the process of signing every copy of the first edition of The Anthropocene Reviewed so it’s also a delight to be in possession of one of the thousand of books he signed.

Finally, Knit the Sky is a book from the talented and charming Lea Redmond known best for her World’s Smallest Post Service which created a Kickstarter project that was eventually turned into a Chronicle Books kit. With Knit the Sky, Lea inspires knitting everyday events like the Sky Scarf that is a row a day to mark the weather for a whole year.

What are you reading right now? Do you document what you read in a notebook or by some other means?

In Ink Review

Ink Series Review: Laban Mythology Series

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 3 Comments
Ink Series Review: Laban Mythology Series

Laban hasn’t been known for their inks – only their pen lineup. But recently they came out with a small collection of inks that take their inspiration from Greek mythology. I purchased bottles of Aphrodite and Apollo and samples of the other three in the collection.

The illustrations are fun although Aphrodite is a bit… not clothed. I do like the fountain pen in each drawing!

Each ink comes in a 50mL glass bottle and the packaging is not much larger than the bottle itself – not excessive but not minimal either.

Poseidon Green is not what I would call green. It is a lovely color, though. Rather than green, it is a teal or even turquoise that leans just a little towards green. Not much shading was seen in writing but it is a beautiful color.

Demeter Brown is an earthy color with a hint of red. In front of my eyes, these three cards looked very similar. under the camera, you can see quite a difference, though. There is some light shading in writing.

Apollo Orange is a very bright color! This is a color that could lead to pen crud if left too long in a pen, especially in a dry environment. Pen crud is a crystalization of the dye in ink, left behind as it dries. It can form crystals or lumps on the pen nib with some colors. It doesn’t harm the pen and typically comes off with a quick dunk in water. The best way to avoid it is to just write more with your pen!

Aphrodite Pink is my favorite of this bunch. A dark rose pink with a brown undertone. There is a bit of shading in writing but not much. Aphrodite is a unique color in my collection – nothing else quite matches it.

Finally, Artemis Navy Blue. I don’t know that I would call this navy blue – it is more a jewel tone sapphire with a bit of purple. There is a hint of sheen that shows up in normal writing – a subtle red. Artemis is a bit darker than Sailor Studio 543.

Finally, a full family photo. (I’m just now noticing I’ve misspelled Laban on Aphrodite…)

I have enjoyed each of these inks – a beautiful collection from Laban and not the typical colors you would expect from a first release of inks. At $20 for 50mL, it is very affordable. I’ve kept Aphrodite in a pen at all time since I purchased the bottle and it has quickly become one of my favorites.

I purchased my bottles and samples from Vanness Pens where you can get a sample for $2.60 or the full bottle for $20.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me and I was not compensated to write this review. Please see the About page for more details.