Karkos Inks

[Starrfish]

Does anyone have any writing samples, the new 30ml bottles that come in 10 colors?

 

Esp. the Bordeaux, Orange, Brown, and Green but whatever you have is great.

 

 

 

thanks

[Starrfish]

I ordered the Bordeaux and Orange on ebay for under $2 per 30ml bottles. I am hope the Bordeaux is closer like a wine spill on a white tablecloth with a pinkish red color and hope the orange is a burnt orange. I will do some samples.

[Qoan]

I recently read the name Karkos in this post, where they describe (not very favourably) their Bordeaux ink. I'll be interested in seeing your samples when you get your bottles.

[PithyProlix]

I recently received Karkos Brown, Green, Violet, Red, and Blue. Sorry, but unfortunately I don't have a scanner and I was unable to take a photo of my writing samples that I was satisfied with. I live in Thailand and was able to order them on a local site, shipped domestically with free shipping, for the equivalent of about $1.05 USD per bottle. With the exception of Green all the inks seemed to be pretty wet - but I think the dryness of the Green was more a function of the nib and paper I was using. None of the inks shaded much, if at all (perhaps green would if I tried it in a better flowing pen - not sure). I used inexpensive Indian fountain pens with these inks. For brown and green I used fine nibs and for Violet, Red, and Blue I used stub nibs. Double A 50 gsm paper - first time I've used this paper.

 

Here's my very subjective take:

• Brown is very brown, neutrally shaded. I can't see any other colors in it. I like it a lot and, if I were to use brown in an everyday writer, I would certainly use this ink. Would definitely buy again.
• Green seems like an light emerald green to me. It pops. Attractive. If I were more into greens I would buy it again (but I'm not ...).
• Violet is slightly towards the darker side of purple but you wouldn't mistake this for any other color. I am a big purple fan and I also like it a lot. Buy again!
• For me the Red is very middle-of-the-road and not totally unexciting but not exciting enough for me to say it is attractive. It might grow on me, though ... If I were still teaching it would be good color to mark up papers with - it stands out. Probably not buy again.
• Blue seemed to be the wettest and the color is very, very close to Noodler's Polar Blue. Noodler's Polar Blue has much crisper lines on paper. I wouldn't buy this color again - nor would I Noodler's Polar Blue - simply because, while interesting,it's not a blue that I'm attracted to very much.

On the whole - and assuming they won't cause problems with my pens - I think they are an excellent value. I might order some of the other colors and another bottle of Brown and Violet - seems like a no-brainer at this price especially for a penny-pincher like me. For everyday writing I like more conservative colors and, on the whole, I like dark, subtly-shaded colors - I don't buy much else. But I would probably use these colors to write short love-letters to my wife.

Edited September 14, 2020 by brian_minsk

[amberleadavis]

Thank you, Pithy, please keep us informed and we would love to see pictures if you can take them with a phone while you don't have a scanner.

[lapis]

I know, I know... this doesn't answer your question.... But every time I see that ink name (Karkos), I can't help asking myself how many other members also think of carcass.