Dark Yellow - Ruwen

[visvamitra]

You know what's the mission of ink hunter?

 

To explore strange new worlds, to seek out inks and unknown hues, to boldly go where few ink testers have gone before.... <cue music>

 

While I don't consider myself ink collector as I don't gather inks, I enjoy trying new colors and giving unknown ink makers a chance. While scrolling through aliexpress listings, I found some new ink brands. I decided to try few of them. Ruwen will be the first to review. I know absolutely nothing about the company. I hope that maybe some of our Chinese friends will be able to tell something more about the brand. The inks can be bought in colors:

 

I decided to try the one that looks most unusual - Dark Yellow.

 

Packaging and bottle

The ink comes in a cardboard box. The box isn't particularly nice, but it's not hideous either. Glass bottle contains 35 ml of ink. The bottle is made of thick glass and has a fun shape. The neck of the bottle is too narrow to use most piston-fillers. I can't see MB146/149 nib and feed getting into this neck.

The ink

In my opinion, Dark Yellow is surprisingly good. The color is rather interesting although there's no way I'm calling it Dark Yellow. It's earthy brown. If someone here knows chinese I would be interested to see if this is a literal translation of chinese symbols? Anyway, the color is pleasant although it'll lack saturation for some. For me, it's kind of brown ink I enjoy most recently. I didn't expect Yellow ink as the color was shown well on images in the listing so I don't feel cheated.

 

Flow: it's fairly wet ink. Not as much as my favorite wet ink - Eclat de Saphire made by J. Herbin, bud definitely wetter than regular Pelikan inks (from 4001 series).

Saturation: level of saturation in a regular pen is average. In crazy wet/flex pens the saturation will be stronger.

Lubrication: satisfying. It doesn't make every nib glide across the paper, but the writing is enjoyable.

Drying time: rather reasonable. 10-15 seconds on Rhodia, 5 – 10 seconds on absorbent paper.

Clogging issues: None experienced. The ink may dry in the nib but only after few minutes. You can leave the pen uncapped for 2-3 minutes and everything should be fine.

Feathering: some feathering was experienced on Leuchtturm and Moleskine, but only with stubbed nib. It may be that the nib has some sharp places that cut through paper just a bit. None feathering was experienced in Gama Airborne and Kaweco Sport nibs.

Bleedthrough: visible on low quality, absorbent paper

 

Water resistance: this is surprisingly water resistant ink. I soaked it in water for half an hour and both the color and the text remain legible.

Ink on kitchen towel

Color ID

Color range

CIAK, Gama Airborne, medium nib

Leuchtturm1917, Pilot CH 92, medium nib, stubbed a bit

Maruman, Pilot CH 92, medium nib, stubbed a bit

Oxford optic, Gama Airborne, medium nib

Paper from Pelikan Pad that was given to Pelikan Hub 2016 participant, Gama Airborne, medium nib

Water resistance

Mini-comparison

[lgsoltek]

It is indeed translated as "dark yellow". But I agree it's not something I'd call yellow.

 

(How can yellow be dark anyway?)

Edited May 6, 2017 by Lgsoltek

[white_lotus]

Typically ochre is considered "dark yellow". Adding black to yellow in subtractive mixing such as painting, darkens the yellow at first but then it goes green. Adding the complement of yellow (violet/purple) can lead to some murky colors similar to this brown, due to the yellow and red hues "mixing" to orange, and the blue hue in the purple neutralizing it to a brown. I couldn't find one of my color charts that shows this when I just looked. If I have time this weekend I'll try finding it, posting it.

 

Looks like the readily available, but more expensive, Stone Road of Gion may be similar.

[visvamitra]

@White_lotus - thank you for the insights. How cool is that:)

[Maqiulin]

深 can be translated (in addition to dark) as deep and rich (especially in combination with colours), maybe a "deep rich yellow" makes more sense? Nice colour btw! Thank you for your wonderful reviews.

[visvamitra]

Thank you for the insight Yes, I agree the color is rather nice.

[inkstainedruth]

Not sure I care for this one. And definitely not what I would call dark yellow. More like light grayish brown... (if it were darker it would be about the same color as our minivan).

But thanks for the review nonetheless.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[antichresis]

Thank you for the review and I'm looking forward to the other inks you got. This Ruwen brand looks very similar to Junlai inks.

[Sabin]

Where is the Yellow????

[visvamitra]

@antichresis - yes, they look very similar I haven't heard about Junlai brand.

[chromantic]

I'd be more interested in the Yellow #101 myself. The Pink looks pretty vibrant, too. How much do they cost?

[visvamitra]

The listing is here. I bought this bottle 30 % cheaper - there was some kind of daily deal on this inks two months ago.

[antichresis]

@antichresis - yes, they look very similar I haven't heard about Junlai brand.

Junlai is available in Taobao. I believe it will ship worldwide through an agent but I'm not sure if the cost of shipping and handling will make it worth ordering. My guess is that there is some relation between the two brands. The same mystery between the Daytone and Glare brand of inks.

[Old_Inkyhand]

It reminds me of J. Herbin's Cacao du Bresil. Thank you for the review!

[visvamitra]

@Sabin - there's some yellow. Well hidden but present as one of the dyes as chromatography shows

 

[jmccarty3]

It reminds me of J. Herbin's Cacao du Bresil. Thank you for the review!

 

That was my first impression as well.

[amberleadavis]

It is surprisingly water resistant. Thanks for sharing your discovery with us.

[visvamitra]

You're welcome. I'm interested in trying some new colors from this line. Hopefully I'll do it this year (waiting for another aliexpress deal of day or something like that).

[KellyMcJ]

Nice water resistance! The blue black is right up my alley. You should review the others!

[Aquaria]

It reminds me of that antique gold color that was popular in the late 60s/early 70s. I think my mother still has a lamp that's this color.