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Robert Oster Signature - Green Olive Robert Oster is an Australian ink maker that is well-known for his unique range of colours. On his website, he describes our shared love quite eloquently: "Robert Oster Signature originates from one of the most famous wine producing regions of the world, the Coonawarra district of South Australia, an idyllic setting with great influence on the senses. There is my inspiration. It's a joy to share it with you." Well, we are certainly fortunate to have inspiring ink makers like Robert Oster to satiate our thirst for glorious inks. In this review, I take a closer look at Green Olive. Catherine from Sakura provided me with a sample of this ink to play around with - much appreciated! This is in essence a yellow ink - not the type of colour I think about when hearing the name "Green Olive". As expected, saturation is low, and contrast with the paper is almost non-existent - especially in drier pens and finer nibs. As a writing ink, this one is only tolerable when using wet pens and broad nibs, in order to achieve maximum saturation. Being a typical F/M nib user, this is definitely not suitable for my pens. To show you the impact of saturation on the ink's look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. As you can see, Green Olive is really really faint at the lower saturation end, and only achieves some kind of olive-like hue when fully saturated. Like most Robert Oster inks, Green Olive has zero water resistance. Short exposures to water completely obliterate the text, leaving next to nothing on the page. As the chromatography shows, almost no ink is left on the page. Smudge resistance is acceptable: although there is lots of smearing of the ink, the text itself remains eadable. Better said: you start off with barely readable low-saturation text, and smudging does little to make this worse. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band of paper I show you: An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation An ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain pen The name of the paper used, written with a B-nib A small text sample, written with an M-nib Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib) Green Olive is a well-behaving ink on most paper types, with no visible feathering. The ink dries quite quickly within the 5-10 second range (with the M-nib). Because of the colour, this is not an ink to use with yellow-tinted paper. With my Lamy test pens and M/B nibs, the ink is barely readable, and totally unsuited for note-taking. I don't own BB or BBB wet pens - maybe the ink is usable for writing in these cases. Anyway, if you insist on writing with a yellow ink, you're better off using one that is more saturated to start with. I also show the back-side of the different paper types at the end of the review. No troubles there, except with the Moleskine paper, which shows significant bleed-through. All in all, a well-behaving ink. Writing with different nib sizes The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing. All samples were written with a Lamy Safari, which is typically a dry pen. I also added a visiting pen - a wet-writing Lamy Dialog 3 with gold M-nib. But even with one of my wetter pens, the ink remains almost unreadable. I therefore added a line written with a glass dip pen - here you get maximum saturation, and a readable line with acceptable contrast. With smaller nib sizes, this is an ink to avoid. Related inks To compare Green Olive with related inks, I use a nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test - all in a very compact format. I hope that you'll find this way of presenting related inks useful. It's a bit more work, but in my opinion worth the effort for the extra information you gain. Inkxperiment - petites danseuses As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I'm reviewing. For me, this brings some extra fun to the hobby, and these single-ink drawings present a real challenge at times. With these small pictures, I try to give you an idea of what the ink is capable of in a more artistic setting. For this drawing I started off with HP Premium photo paper, and zero inspiration. So I used a variant of the random line-drawing technique (drawing random lines on paper, and then try to lift something meaningful out of the messy randomness). In this case I submerged the photo paper in water, and added drops of ink. From the random ink blobs that formed on the paper - and using my imagination - I extracted the figures of two dancing children. I then used a glass dip pen to trace "les petites danseuses" - using maximum saturation of the ink. This mini-picture gives you an idea of what can be achieved with Green Olive as a drawing ink. And I must admit - as a drawing ink, Green Olive has lots of potential. Conclusion Robert Oster Green Olive is a yellow ink that is totally unsuitable for writing. The only way to get readable results is to use broad and broader nibs in wet pens, so that the ink reaches maximum saturation. As a drawing ink though, this one shows lots of potential. I enjoyed the experience of trying it once, but this is an ink that's not for me. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

Robert Oster Signature - Eucalyptus Leaf Robert Oster is an Australian ink maker that is well-known for his unique range of colours. On his website, he describes our shared love quite eloquently: "Robert Oster Signature originates from one of the most famous wine producing regions of the world, the Coonawarra district of South Australia, an idyllic setting with great influence on the senses. There is my inspiration. It's a joy to share it with you." Well, we are certainly fortunate to have inspiring ink makers like Robert Oster to satiate our thirst for glorious inks. In this review, I take a closer look at Eucalyptus Leaf. Catherine from Sakura provided me with a sample of this ink to play around with - much appreciated! Eucalyptus Leaf is an enchanting mossy green, with a slightly brownish streak to it. This is definitely my kind of green! It looks absolutely beautiful on all kinds of paper. This ink shows tons of shading, without too much contrast between the light and darker parts, exactly as I like it. It really enhances your writing, and clearly shows that your words have been written with a fountain pen. Nicely executed! To show you the impact of saturation on the ink's look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. As you can see, Eucalyptus Leaf strikes just the right balance in its colour spectrum, with not too width a gap between the light and darker parts. This explains its expressiveness, and the aesthetics it shows off in its shading. Like most Robert Oster inks, Eucalyptus Leaf has zero water resistance. Short exposures to water completely obliterate the text, leaving next to nothing on the page. As the chromatography shows, only a faint pale-pink residue remains on the paper. Smudge resistance is acceptable: although there is lots of smearing of the ink, the text itself remains perfectly readable. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band of paper I show you:An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturationAn ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain penThe name of the paper used, written with a B-nibA small text sample, written with an M-nibDrying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)Eucalyptus Leaf is a well-behaving ink on most paper types, with no visible feathering (except on Moleskine paper, which should not come as a surprise). With lower quality paper you can experience some bleed-through. The colour looks great on both white and more yellowish paper, which I also appreciate. The ink dries quite quickly within the 5-10 second range (with the M-nib). I also show the back-side of the different paper types at the end of the review. No troubles there, except with the Moleskine paper, which shows significant bleed-through. All in all, a well-behaving ink. Writing with different nib sizesThe picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing. All samples were written with a Lamy Safari, which is typically a dry pen. I also added a visiting pen - a wet-writing Parker Sonnet with F-nib. With this pen the ink leaves a very saturated line, which diminishes the expressiveness of its shading. In my opinion, this is an ink that looks at its best with drier pens (like the Safari), where you get more contrast between light and darker parts, which improves the aesthetics of the shading. Related inksTo compare Eucalyptus Leaf with related inks, I use a nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test - all in a very compact format. I hope that you'll find this way of presenting related inks useful. It's a bit more work, but in my opinion worth the effort for the extra information you gain. Inkxperiment - Fawlty FlowersAs a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I'm reviewing. For me, this brings some extra fun to the hobby, and these single-ink drawings present a real challenge at times. With these small pictures, I try to give you an idea of what the ink is capable of in a more artistic setting. For this drawing I used Moleskine 200 gsm Cold-Pressed Watercolour Paper. I soaked the outline of the rectangle with water, and applied a line of ink, letting it bleed out. Here the brownish streak in the ink really comes to the surface. I then drew the flowers using ink diluted with a bit of water (in different ratios). The stems and leafs were painted in with pure Eucalyptus Leaf. This mini-picture gives you an idea of what can be achieved with this ink in a more artistic context. ConclusionRobert Oster Eucalyptus Leaf is a beautiful mossy-green writing ink, that really excels when used for drawing. The ink shows great shading with drier pens, that leave a not too saturated line. Overall, I enjoyed using it. I only got a sample, but this is an ink that definitely deserves a full bottle. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

Robert Oster Signature - Direct Sun Robert Oster is an Australian ink maker that is well-known for his unique range of colours. On his website, he describes our shared love quite eloquently: "Robert Oster Signature originates from one of the most famous wine producing regions of the world, the Coonawarra district of South Australia, an idyllic setting with great influence on the senses. There is my inspiration. It's a joy to share it with you." Well, we are certainly fortunate to have inspiring ink makers like Robert Oster to satiate our thirst for glorious inks. In this review, the spotlight is on Direct Sun. Catherine from Sakura provided me with a sample of this ink to play around with - much appreciated! Direct Sun, to my eye, is a slightly brown-leaning blood-red type of colour. It represents the Australian summer sun at sunset, when it is just above the horizon. The ink is well-saturated, and writes pleasantly in medium nibs and above. With fine nibs in my Lamy Safari, the ink feels a bit dry with subpar lubrication. Just something to be aware of. I quite like the appearance of this red ... not too vibrant, and just enough off-red to draw your attention, and give it a second look... "Oh nice looking red!". Direct Sun is not what I would call a great shading ink, but with broad & italic nibs a subdued type of shading appears, just enough to let you know that you're looking at the writings of a fountain pen. I would have liked a bit more expressiveness with the finer nibs, but overall I like what I see. To show you the impact of saturation on the ink's look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. Like most Robert Oster inks, Direct Sun has zero water resistance. Short exposures to water completely obliterate the text, leaving next to nothing on the page. As the chromatography shows, only a faint pale-red residue remains on the paper. Smudge resistance is also bad, with terrible smearing of the text. The text itself remains perfectly readable though. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band of paper I show you: An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturationAn ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain penThe name of the paper used, written with a B-nibA small text sample, written with an M-nibDrying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)Direct Sun behaved impeccably on most paper types, with no visible feathering. Only with the Moleskine paper a tiny amount of feathering is barely visible. The colour looks great on both white and more yellowish paper, which I also appreciate. The ink dries quite quickly within the 5-10 second range (with the M-nib). I also show the back-side of the different paper types at the end of the review. No troubles there, except with the Moleskine paper, which shows significant bleed-through. All in all, a well-behaving ink. Inkxperiment - Sunny Circles As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I'm reviewing. I find this to be a fun extension of the hobby, and these single-ink drawings present a real challenge at times. With these small pictures, I try to give you an idea of what the ink is capable of in a more artistic setting. For this drawing I used Original Crown Mill Cotton Paper. I had only a few drops of Direct Sun left from the sample, so I had to be really conservative with ink use. I took a fine brush to draw in the circles, and used a felt tip brush to paint in the lighter coloured accents. Overall, I'm pleased at what I could achieve with a very limited amount of ink. Conclusion Robert Oster Direct Sun is a rich red ink with slightly brown undertones, that manages to look good on all of my test papers. The ink is a timid shader though - shading only appears when broader nibs are used. I quite enjoyed Direct Sun for both writing and drawing. My personal opinion: a good-looking ink, different enough from a standard red to make it interesting. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

The Australian Fountain Pen Community is a small one and pen makers, ink makers and retailers are part of that community. They play their role in the community by providing products and services that enable and enrich the passion we all follow. When I first became interested in making ink back in 2013, there were no Australian made fountain pen inks available and the range of imported inks was limited and expensive. Now we have Robert Oster with his amazing array of colours, Bookbinders, Van Diemens and Blackstone. And now, there is a steadily increasing number of enthusiastic pen makers, making unique hand made pens and James Finniss of Pensive Pens is one of them. James is the guy who worked with Robert Oster to develop the Serendipity Pen, a unique, Australian designed and made pen. Recently James took a bad hit when his workshop was flooded and Yagan Kiely (Macchiato Man), another well known figure in the Australian Fountain Pen Community has started a GoFundMe Fundraiser to help James replace his equipment so he can get back to making pens. As Yagan pointed out, James isn't the kind of guy to ask for help but we're a small FP community here in Australia and we should support each other to help keep our passion and our industry alive and flourishing. If you can help by supporting the GoFundMe Fundraiser or by patronising Pensive Pens, either would be great. Here is what Yagan said on the GoFundMe website: Good friend of the Australian Fountain Pen community, James Finniss, owns the business that many of us have enjoyed and used, Pensive pens in the NSW Southern Tablelands. Flooding this year in his region has caused the destruction of the equipment he uses to turn pens. James was insured but the insurer won’t pay for the specific machinery to be replaced. While James is saving to replace and repair as much as he can, there is still a long way to go to make right was was destroyed which he puts at a little over AU$50,000. James isn’t the person to ask for help but the fountain pen community is a great community and I’m sure we can help James recoup the costs. If the funding goal isn’t reached, James will still get what is raised. There’s no obligation for James to immediately replace the equipment but it was his goal to eventually do so; whatever is donated will hasten that end.

Got this ink almost on a whim. I'm kind of a sucker for ocean theme inks. There is another RO ink in my collection, Australian Sky, which I'm not super pleased with the performance. This ink, however, has very good performance especially for a lefty like me. It's fairly saturated but dries fast and does not smear. Yeah! Paper for this review is Staples Bagasse. Like most inks this looks wetter and more vibrant on Tomoe River paper, but it does not sing on Tomoe like some inks. This ink is beautiful on basic papers. I really like this ink. Good color for work without being boring. Not for security as it easily washes away with water.

Robert Oster Signature - Blue Water Ice Robert Oster is an Australian ink maker that is well-known for its unique range of colours. On his website, he describes our shared love quite eloquently: "Robert Oster Signature originates from one of the most famous wine producing regions of the world, the Coonawarra district of South Australia, an idyllic setting with great influence on the senses. There is my inspiration. It's a joy to share it with you." Well, we are certainly fortunate to have inspiring ink makers like Robert Oster to satiate our thirst for glorious inks. In this review, I take a closer look at Blue Water Ice. Catherine from Sakura provided me with a sample of this ink to play around with - much appreciated! This particular incarnation of a Robert Oster ink is a cerulean-style blue, that is quite similar in colour to Pelikan Edelstein Topaz or iroshizuku kon-peki. It's a nice vibrant sky-blue, that provides good contrast with the paper in all nib sizes. The ink also writes pleasantly, with a wet and well-lubricated feel to it. Blue Water Ice shows nice and aesthetically pleasing shading, especially in broader nibs. But even with finer nibs, the shading is present, although less pronounced. Personally, I quite like the expressive shading that this ink displays - not too much contrast between light and darker parts, just as I like it. To show you the impact of saturation on the ink's look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what Blue Water Ice is capable of in terms of colour range. Like most Robert Oster inks, Blue Water Ice has zero water resistance. Short exposures to water completely obliterate the text, leaving next to nothing on the page. As the chromatography shows, only a faint blue residue remains on the paper. Smudge resistance is also bad, with terrible smearing of the text. One more thing I noticed: although not water-resistant, the ink clings to your pen's insides, and it takes a lot of rinsing with clean water to remove all traces of ink. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band of paper I show you:An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturationAn ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain penThe name of the paper used, written with a B-nibA small text sample, written with an M-nibDrying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)Blue Water Ice behaved impeccably on most paper types, with no visible feathering. Only with the Moleskine paper a tiny amount of feathering is barely visible. The colour looks great across the different paper types, which I also appreciate. Despite feeling wet & lubricated when writing, this ink dries quite quickly within the 5-10 second range (with the M-nib). I also show the back-side of the different paper types at the end of the review. No troubles there, except with the Moleskine paper, which shows significant bleed-through. All in all, a well-behaving ink. Inkxperiment – Triangle SeaportAs a personal experiment, I try to produce interesting drawings using only the ink I'm reviewing. I find this to be a fun extension of the hobby, and have found these single-ink drawings a nice challenge. For this drawing I used OCM cotton paper, which has a nice texture to it. The background of the picture was painted with heavily diluted ink (20:1 water/ink ratio). For the scene itself, I used 5:1 diluted ink for the lighter blocks, and undiluted ink for the others. The dynamic range of this ink's colour is not very broad, but it's still possible to get an interesting result. At least you get a good idea of what Blue Water Ice is capable of in a more artistic setting. ConclusionRobert Oster Blue Water Ice is a nice cerulean-blue ink, that manages to look good on all of my test papers. The ink shows some prominent but still subtle shading, that is very pleasing to the eye. I really like this ink for writing, because it works very well with my usual F/M nib sizes. A pity that the ink has zero water resistance. My personal opinion: a good-looking ink, but no threat for Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, which remains my king of the cerulean blues. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

Robert Oster Signature - Blue Night Robert Oster is an Australian ink maker that is well-known for its unique range of colours. On his website, he describes our shared love quite eloquently: "Robert Oster Signature originates from one of the most famous wine producing regions of the world, the Coonawarra district of South Australia, an idyllic setting with great influence on the senses. There is my inspiration. It's a joy to share it with you." Well, we are certainly fortunate to have inspiring ink makers like Robert Oster to satiate our thirst for glorious inks. In this review, the spotlight is centered on Blue Night. Catherine from Sakura provided me with a sample of this ink to play around with - much appreciated! This particular incarnation of a Robert Oster ink is a glorious dark blue. Definitely not a blue-black, but also definitely leaning to the dark side of the blue spectrum. The name "Blue Night" is well-deserved in this case. The ink provides good contrast with the paper, which is good. It also wrote pleasantly with good lubrication and a decent wet feeling, even with finer nibs. Blue Night shows nice and aesthetically pleasing shading, especially in broader nibs. With finer nibs, the shading is barely visible though. Personally, I found the expressive shading that this ink displays very pleasing to the eye. Well executed.To show you the impact of saturation on the ink's look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. Like most Robert Oster inks, Blue Night has zero water resistance. Short exposures to water completely obliterate the text, leaving next to nothing on the page. As the chromatography shows, only some purplish residue remains on the paper. This residue runs all over the place, meaning that there remains insufficient detail to reconstruct your writing. Smudge resistance is acceptable - there is quite some smearing, but the text itself remains totally readable. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band of paper I show you:An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturationAn ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain penThe name of the paper used, written with a B-nibA small text sample, written with an M-nibDrying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)Blue Night behaved impeccably on most paper types, with no visible feathering. Only with lower quality paper (like Moleskine and HP printing paper) there appears some minor feathering. The colour looks great across the different paper types, which I also appreciate. The ink dries quite quickly within the 5-10 second range. I also show the back-side of the different paper types at the end of the review. No troubles there, except with the Moleskine paper, which shows significant bleed-through. The GvFC paper also shows a bit of bleed-through. All in all, a well-behaving ink. Inkxperiment – Blue Night CityscapeAs a personal experiment, I try to produce interesting drawings using only the ink I'm reviewing. I find this to be a fun extension of the hobby, and have found these single-ink drawings a nice challenge. For this drawing I used 90 gsm sketch paper. This time, I had a very limited amount of ink available, so the drawing was made using the same Q-tip cotton swabs I used for the writing samples. The night sky background was created by colouring the page with the Q-tip, and then using lots of water to wash out the ink. This brings forth the purple components in the ink, resulting in a glowing late-evening sky. The cityscape itself was drawn with undiluted Blue Night ink, rubbed on with a Q-tip swab. For the details, I used my Lamy Safari fountain pen to scribble in the building details on the drawing. I'm pleased with the results I obtained with this ink. The end result also gives you a good idea of the colour span that Blue Night is capable of in a more artistic setting. ConclusionRobert Oster Blue Night is a gorgeous dark blue ink, that manages to look good on all of my test papers. The ink shows some prominent but still subtle shading, that is very pleasing to the eye. I really like this ink for writing. A pity that it has zero water resistance. This Blue Night ink is also great for drawing, looking quite beautiful. All in all, I'm quite taken by this creation from the Australian ink maker. I'm seriously considering getting a full bottle of Blue Night - even though my rational self keeps saying that I already have enough inks in my collection ;-) Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

Hello FPN, Does anyone have Robert Oster "Fire and Ice" and "Water Ice" I could sample? I've really wanted to buy both of these inks as they look interesting. But I'd like to try some samples first. Admins: Is this the correct place to post a request like this? Thanks for your time everyone

Robert Oster is new player in fountain pen ink market. He operates worldwide through distributors. The inks are sold in 50 ml PET bottles with a tightly secure twist cap. I don't know who makes the inks for the shop, but the colors look interesting and fresh. At the moment Robert Oster inks are available in billion colors - I lost track how many. Green Diamond is just another green. Not bad. Not exciting. The shading can be strong but there's way too many similar colors to impress me with this one. It's decent, well behaved ink. Drying time is reasonable, it doesn't feather on copy paper and doesn't cause any starting problems. Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Color range Field Notes, Diplomat Excellence, M Copy paper, Diplomat Depeche, M Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic, broad Water resistance

Robert Oster is new player in fountain pen ink market. He operates worldwide through distributors. The inks are sold in 50 ml PET bottles with a tightly secure twist cap. I don't know who makes the inks for the shop, but the colors look interesting and fresh. At the moment Robert Oster inks are available in billion colors - I lost track how many. It's decent ink with decent behavior and the hue that I loathe. Simply disgusting. Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Color range Munchen Pure Rough, Diplomat Depeche, B Maruman, Diplomat Depeche, B

Robert Oster Signature - Melon Tea Robert Oster is an Australian ink maker that is well-known for its unique range of colours. On his website, he describes our shared love quite eloquently: "Robert Oster Signature originates from one of the most famous wine producing regions of the world, the Coonawarra district of South Australia, an idyllic setting with great influence on the senses. There is my inspiration. It's a joy to share it with you." Well, we are certainly fortunate to have inspiring ink makers like Robert Oster to satiate our thirst for glorious inks. In this review, I take a closer look at Melon Tea. Catherine from Sakura provided me with a sample of this ink to play around with - much appreciated! This particular incarnation of a Robert Oster ink is a kind of brown-olive, with a chameleon trick. Let's get this out of the way before continuing with the review - this ink looks different when viewed in daylight or under artificial light. To illustrate, I've taken a picture in both lighting conditions and placed them side-by-side. Under artificial light, Melon Tea leans towards the green, while in daylight it's definitely a brown-looking ink. A strange effect, and just something to be aware of. My scanner simulates daylight, so the scans in this review will show the brown side of this ink. The ink provides good contrast with the paper, which is good. It writes smoothly even in finer nibs - it doesn't feel dry at all, unlike some other RO inks. All in all a satisfying writing experience. Colourwise I prefer the ink's looks under artificial lighting where it is a nice murky olive-brown. In daylight, the ink looses some of its charm (my personal opinion). Melon Tea shows subdued shading, with not too much contrast between the light and darker parts. I prefer my shading this way, finding it more aesthetically pleasing. The ink itself is a complex mixture with multiple undertones. In washes, the pink undertones in the ink easily come to the surface which provides for nice-looking effects. To show you the impact of saturation on the ink's look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. Like most Robert Oster inks, Melon Tea has no water resistance to speak of. Even short exposures to water obliterate your writing. All you're left with are some pinkish smudges. This is also evident from the bottom part of the chromatography. Smudge resistance is also lacking - the ink smudges easily, but at least you're left with perfectly readable text. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band of paper I show you: An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturationAn ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain penThe name of the paper used, written with a B-nibA small text sample, written with an M-nibDrying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)Melon Tea behaved perfectly on all paper types, with no visible feathering - not even on Moleskine paper, which is quite a feat. On the other hand, the ink looks rather sickly on Moleskine paper, something I also noticed with other RO inks. Overall, the ink dries fairly quickly near the 10-second range. I also show the back-side of the different paper types at the end of the review. No troubles there, except with the Moleskine paper, which shows a bit of bleed-through. All in all, a very well-behaving ink. Inkxperiment: cave of swimmers I've recently started to experiment with ink drawings, keeping things simple and more-or-less abstract due to my lack of drawing skills (which can use lots more practice). But I find it to be a fun extension of the hobby, and have found single-ink drawings a nice challenge. For this drawing I got my inspiration from the Cave of Swimmers in the movie "The English Patient." I used a Q-tip cotton swab to draw some circles and surrounding dots. This is the backdrop for the cave paintings. The surrounding border was done with Melon Tea, smeared out with a moist Q-tip. The resulting drawing gives you some idea of what can be obtained with Melon Tea in a more artistic setting. Conclusion Robert Oster Melon Tea is an olive-brown ink with some chameleon properties. I quite like the ink's look under artificial lighting, less so in the more dull brown colour shown in daylight. The ink behaves superbly on all paper types, writing smoothly and with good contrast even in the finest nibs. I'm personally not smitten with this particular Robert Oster creation. I would have liked it much better if it kept its greenish tinge in daylight. For drawing, this ink has some potential, due to the complex undertones that easily surface in washes. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

Ink Review: Robert Oster River of Fire Robert Oster is an Australian ink manufacturer and has developed a large number of colors in recent years. I have tried several of these inks, and have found most of them to behave quite well. Some of the colors are unique, and have unique names. Overall I like the brand and the inks that I have tried. River of Fire is a lovely dark green ink with a very nice red sheen, especially when used on Tomoe River paper. I purchased a sample of this ink from Anderson Pens last fall during a period of time when I was trying many dark green inks. This ink does not disappoint. It behaves very nicely in every pen I have tried with it. It is deeply saturated and flows well. There are some not so positive issues with the ink. It does show through on lesser quality papers, and also bleeds through when pooled. While I would likely not use this ink to take notes at a conference (conference materials are generally printed on very cheap paper), I would not hesitate to use this ink at work on even good copy paper. While it does have a nice sheen, it does not shade well. Here is my handwritten review of the ink: This is a very nice ink which I do recommend.

Robert Oster Signature - Charcoal Robert Oster is an Australian ink maker that is well-known for its unique range of colours. On his website, he describes our shared love quite eloquently: “Robert Oster Signature originates from one of the most famous wine producing regions of the world, the Coonawarra district of South Australia, an idyllic setting with great influence on the senses. There is my inspiration. It’s a joy to share it with you.” Well, we are certainly fortunate to have inspiring ink makers like Robert Oster to satiate our thirst for glorious inks. In this review, the center stage is taken by Charcoal. Catherine from Sakura provided me with a sample of this ink to play around with – much appreciated! This particular incarnation of a Robert Oster ink is a purple-leaning grey. The ink provides good contrast with the paper, which is good. On the other hand, I found it to be quite dry in smaller nib sizes, which is not good (this with my Lamy Safari, which is itself on the dry side). Only with broader nibs did I achieve a pleasing writing experience. I liked the writing experience a lot when paired with a B-nib. Charcoal shows some heavy shading, with quite a bit of contrast between the light and darker parts. I prefer my shading to be more subtle though – for me personally, heavy shaders are less aesthetically pleasing. The ink itself is a complex mixture, with multiple undertones. When used for drawing, you can bring these blue, red and green undertones to the surface in washes. To show you the impact of saturation on the ink’s look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. Like most Robert Oster inks, Charcoal has zero water resistance. Short exposures to water completely obliterate the text, leaving next to nothing on the page. This is evident from the chromatography – the ink detaches easily from the paper, as can be seen in the bottom part of the chroma. Smudge resistance is quite good though. I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On every small band of paper I show you:An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturationAn ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain penThe name of the paper used, written with a B-nibA small text sample, written with an M-nibDrying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)Charcoal behaved perfectly on all paper types, with no visible feathering – not even on Moleskine paper, which is quite a feat. On the other hand, the ink shows some unusual chemistry on Moleskine paper, resulting in a sickly greenish colour. Really strange, and something I also observed with Purple Rock, which is also an ink with purple components. Could it be something with the chemistry of Robert’s purple dyes that clashes with the Moleskine paper ??? The same occurred – to a lesser degree – with Tomoe River paper. Charcoal manages to look quite ugly on Tomoe River. Overall, the ink dries quickly near the 5-second range, with makes it a suitable ink for lefties. I also show the back-side of the different paper types at the end of the review. No troubles there, except with the Moleskine paper, which shows a bit of bleed-through. All in all, a very well-behaving ink. ConclusionRobert Oster Charcoal is a purple-grey ink, that is at its best in broader nibs, where it truly shows off its colour range and heavy shading. Unfortunately, the ink has no water resistance – the briefest touch of water completely obliterates your writing. The ink also has trouble with some types of paper – it looks horribly green on Moleskine paper, and looks rather sickly on Tomoe River. All things considered, I’m personally not impressed by this particular Robert Oster creation as a writing ink. For drawing, this ink has some potential, due to the complex undertones that easily surface in washes. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

Not the same, but all 4 pretty close to each other, see the chromo's

Sakura Fountain Pen Gallery generously sent me Robert Oster Red Clay. It is an ink in the inkArt.ink line ( http://www.inkartink.com/ ) They are available in 50 and 100 ml and have added UV protection. Red Clay is a a nice "muted" red. Clay can have a lot of different colors, but this looks for me like the red bricks used for building in the Netherlands. The ink shows shading and what I particularly like is the dark outline of the letters (see writing and dip pen). There is some black sheen. Behavior of the ink is good, like most Robert Oster inks, and especially the use with dip pen and for calligraphy is excellent, as expected for an Art ink The chromo shows three colors, 2 of them very distinct. Closest thing to the chromo is Shaeffer Skrip Red, but this red is far more brighter. I like the color and behavior of the ink, not only for art but also for writing.