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I'd like to do some comparative reviews of a few dark turquoise/teal/green-black inks and will start with this super-long name ink: Organics Studio's "Masters of Writing" series Volume No. 14 Henry David Thoreau "Walden Pond Blue" (Handmade in Maryland) http://i.imgur.com/uZHMquL.jpg?1 The ink comes in a 55ml plastic bottle, labeled simply "Walden" and appears to be highly saturated. I've seen sample reviews of this ink showing a high amount of sheen, and I can confirm it is indeed the case, though of course the sheen level depends on how much ink your pen puts down. For high flow feed/wet nibs, and especially for dip pens, this ink is an absolute sheen monster! The sheen is of very metallic burgundy/magenta color, quite nice. Shading is low to moderate, depending on pen and paper. Lubrication is at least moderate. For my review I chose my favorite paper to show off inks: Fabriano's EcoQua dot notebook made with Bioprima 85g/m2 paper. It is a bit toothier than Rhodia or the glass-smooth Clairefontaine, and is a nice pale ivory color. It also shows off color and ink saturation well, compared to my Clairefontaine paper, which makes even saturated inks look more pale and anemic (you can probably tell I'm not a fan of that paper). Unlike some of my more watery inks, I was able to use this ink with a dip pen without having to re-dip after every few letters. It seems to be more viscous/coating in that regard. This could be a great ink for ornate writing with a dip pen, if lots of metallic sheen is desired. Here is a [slightly overexposed] scan, though also see photographs that follow, the paper is actually a cream color, not white: http://i.imgur.com/Of2QhWf.jpg?1 The water test was done with a single droplet of water from the tap (more toward the left) followed by more droplets on the right side of the grid, after the ink had about 3 minutes to dry. I think it's fairly water-resistant in that the color washes away, but the lines are still visible. Because it is so saturated, it takes a while to dry, depending on your pen. I used a Lamy Safari with 1.1 italic nib for dry time testing. In the scan above, I also wrote with Noodler's Aircorp Blue Black, which is VERY close in color to this ink but completely lacks sheen. Other differences between the two are: - Noodler's ACBB is a tad less vivid teal and a shade more subdued. It also seems to be just a bit darker. I would say that ACBB is the closest match for the Lamy Safari "Petrol" pen barrel in person, followed by this Walden Pond Blue. I have also made some test writing samples for color fastness comparisons, which I will add to this review at a later date. Eventually, beside Noodler's Aircorp Blue Black, I plan to compare this ink to Sailor's Jentle Yama-Dori, Robert Oster "Tranquility", Robert Oster "Fire & Ice", Robert Oster "Aqua", and J. Herbin's "Emerald of Chivor", samples of which are on the way to me as I type this review. Photographs that show the colors and the sheen (very difficult to show correctly, but it's a greenish teal, not quite as intense as on the photos, but more intense than ACBB): http://i.imgur.com/c09I9fJ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/3Qs2kJD.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/TUd99uM.jpg?1 And here's the crazy levels of metallic sheen with a dip pen, basically the teal base gets completely covered up with the metallic burgundy (on Clairefontaine french ruled Triompe notebook paper): http://i.imgur.com/0fSWdJq.jpg http://i.imgur.com/R2OjUP1.jpg http://i.imgur.com/f9QNI63.jpg

This evening I was mixing up the faux-waterproof Noodler's Turquoise recipe I found in the ink mixing forum and I decided to do a second mix while I was at it. Taking 2 ml of Turquoise I slowly started adding Noodler's Heart of Darkness to it, testing it with a dipped pen as I went. When I got to a half-ml of HoD added, I got a lovely dark green-black color that looked a lot like Noodler's Aircorp Blue-Black after I had diluted it lots. I had to stop experimenting then due to time, but I intend to add a bit more HoD and see if it keeps getting closer to undiluted ABB in color. I'm hoping it does, because I liked that ink and if I can mix something similar to it from two inks I already have I won't have have another bottle starting at me reproachfully. ("Why aren't you using me? WRITE MORE!")