Penbbs #135 – Beijing

[crahptacular]

PenBBS #135 – Beijing

 

This one is from PenBBS’s Season 11 (inks no. 127-141), and is a “city” themed ink. It’s called Beijing, but more specifically, it seems to be directly inspired by the walls of the Forbidden City imperial palace, based on the official pictures for the ink. Otherwise I might have expected “Beijing” to be a grey smog color . I've not been to the Forbidden City myself, but I had the impression that its walls and buildings were more red than brown. Perhaps the color is in reference to something else (or perhaps I'm just wrong!). Once again, my experience with this ink is limited to the pens used in this sample over the course of approximately a week.

 

This ink is a reddish orange-ish brown of medium saturation. It’s comparable to Diamine Ancient Copper in hue, although less punchy. It also has a similar habit of looking different not only based on paper, but based on lighting as well. As a writing color, it’s predominantly brown, with red or orange undertones showing more prominently in different situations. This type of red-brown (I think of these as the “dried blood” family) isn’t the type of color I usually go for, but it turns out I think it’s pretty attractive. It performs well and shows nice shading on my papers, and even has a neat white sheen when heavily pooled (not visible in regular writing, but it’s a cool, subtle effect on flex writing). In the Kakuno's M nib, the ink was pretty satisfying on all papers except the Tsubame sample, where it looked a bit anemic. Between Diamine Ancient Copper (4^th from left) and Franklin Christoph Terra Firma (3^rd from left), I don’t feel a pressing need to purchase a full bottle of this ink, which to my eye falls right in the middle of those two colors, but I’ll happily use up and enjoy the rest of this sample.

 

Lubrication: Medium-high

Shading: Moderate

Sheen: Very slight; none in ordinary writing

Water Resistance: Low

Other notes: Drying times on the longer side; 20+ seconds on TR with a Japanese M.

 

The following sample was done with a Pilot Kakuno (Medium) and a Nemosine Singularity (Broad) on Tomoe River (52gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with pen, size 0 liner, and size 3/0 mop. Flex writing was done with a Trionfo 900 dip nib.

 

Bad Scanner Disclaimer: The scan came out really well for a change! On my monitor, it’s a very accurate representation of what I see in life for the entire image, including all of the comparison inks as well. It does have a bit too much contrast (but it’s only noticeable in the doodle). The photo is a little too orange, plus the lighting is poor. Stick with the scan this time.

 

Scan:

 

Photo:

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

Kyo-Iro Moonlight of Higashiyama, Montverde Fireopal, Franklin Christoph Terra Firma, Diamine Ancient Copper, Sailor Oku-Yama

 

Writing Samples (scans; no color correction), from Mo Yan’s Life and Death are Wearing Me Out

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

 

Tsubame Fool’s University:

 

Franklin-Christoph:

[white_lotus]

That's kind of nice looking.

[Gazcom]

You're so good in reviewing inks that you probably can make me like even Diabolo menthe after one of your amazing drawings! Great job!

[crahptacular]

You're so good in reviewing inks that you probably can make me like even Diabolo menthe after one of your amazing drawings! Great job!

Thank you! You know, I do have a bottle of Diabolo Menthe lying around here somewhere...

[Cyber6]

Is a nice brown, nothing earth-shattering..... BUT YOUR SKETCH IS FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wub: :wub:

 

 

( I am getting better at separating my feelings for the ink from your sketches. :lol: )

 

 

 

C.

[truthpil]

I just filled a pen with this ink and can confirm everything crahptacular said about it. On many papers it looks identical to Ancient Copper but lacks that ink's more interesting qualities. This is one of the Penbbs inks that everyone outside China doesn't need to feel bad about not being readily available.

 

And thanks to crahptacular for doing this review so I don't have to!

Edited April 24, 2019 by TruthPil

[RGH]

Late to the party, but the ceramic finials at the end of the roof tiles are almost exactly that colour.

 

I've had a chance to examine them up close and in person, because my father "acquired" a couple as a 12 year old when his father was stationed in Beijing immediately after WWII.

[VivaTerlingua]

Wish crahptacular still posted here, miss these reviews!

[Honeybadgers]

I have two PenBBS colors, 262 and 248. I don't have enough experience with 248 yet, but 262 is kind of annoying and prone to hard start.

 

Interestingly, 248 came in a much more premium little clear acrylic case and had a nice bottle with a thick card padded label. The 262 was a standard glass bottle in cardboard box

 

 

This convinced me to try inking up the 248

Edited May 29, 2019 by Honeybadgers