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Inkxplorations – an inky tribute “capturing university history with an ink drawing” The drawing below was done with a combination of Sailor Manyo yamabuki, TAG Kyoto kyo-no-oto yurushiiro and Diamine Blood Orange. At KU Leuven university, we recently completed a multi-year project – Fiber 2.0 – where we upgraded the old fiber network, installed in the 1990’s in the cities of Leuven and Heverlee (Belgium). This involved replacing the old 20-fiber network with a next generation, using a 6-tube design with up to 144 fibers per tube. And at the same time we introduced extra redundancy for all connected sites. A substantial effort, requiring lots of preparation, coordination and field work. A leading figure in the project is Prof. emeritus Van de Capelle, who spent huge amounts of time in design-work, and financial follow-up. We just celebrated the end of the project with a thank-you dinner for the key players. For this occasion, I wanted to present Prof. Van de Capelle with a small physical token of our gratitude: an inkxperiment drawing capturing this moment in our university’s history. For the background, I used Sailor Manyo yamabuki, applied to HP photo paper through a kitchen towel. I then used kyo-no-oto yurushiiro and Diamine Blood Orange for the ring structure, that represents our redundant fiber backbone. The bits flowing along the fiber spell the words “Fiber 2.0” in ASCII code. The fiber connects multiple campus sites, represented by the building clusters on the drawing. And of course, we have our little workers, putting the actual fibers into the ground. I also added some decoration in pigpen code, spelling out the one-liner motto’s of our IT department. I had a lot of fun coming up with the concept and implementation of this drawing. Inks are definitely not limited to writing only, you can also use them creatively in contexts that are not immediately obvious – such as a personalized thank-you present for a job well done.

Diamine Earl Grey Ink Review # 218 --- 🧾 Description I never thought I would appreciate grey inks. But since I’ve taken up drawing, I can’t get enough of different variations of grey inks. Diamine Earl Grey is lovely warm grey. The ink is wet, with slightly below average lubrication. Best with wet pens and soft nibs. The Ink has no water-resistance and ghosted and bled through copy paper. The ink couldn’t handle the flex nib’s ink demands, despite the ebonite feed. For writing, it’s a neutral grey with a hint of purple and lovely shading, best on Japanese paper and M nibs and above. For drawing and washes, it’s a gorgeous ink with a complex colour. If you're looking for a water proof grey with a purple tinge, Tintenlabor Basalt ( iron gall) and Octopus W&D Fox Grey (pigment ink) are better candidates. --- 🧪 Chroma --- ✍️ Writing Samples (scan) Quotes: “An Earl is but a man who had good fortune in his ancestors.” — Samuel Johnson “Titles do not make men noble; deeds do.” — Ovid “The color of truth is gray.” — André Gide “In the grey light of dawn, truth often looks less heroic.” — John le Carré “Grey has the greatest value—it makes all colors beautiful.” — Giorgio Morandi Rhodia / Iroful Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm Note: Tomoe River used here is 68 gsm. Many older reviews refer to a thinner 52 gsm version, which behaves differently. Hammermill 20lb 📸 Photos Rhodia/ Iroful Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm Hammermill 20 lb copy paper Closeup 🔍 Comparison Col-O-ring. Scans are approximative. --- 💧 Water Test --- 🎨 Artwork Inktober Monthly Challenge -Scorpio I appropriated and combined the ancient Egyptian goddesses of Bastet (the feline goddess of home, fertility, music, and joyful protection) and Selket (goddess of protection, healing, and the breath of life in death.). With apologies to the long-gone hardworking Egyptian scribes, the hieroglyphs, created by ChatGPT, read: “Protects the mouse the cat from evil scorpion.” Diamine Earl Grey, Karas Customs Vertex with an FPnibs full flex nib, Talens Mixed Media Notebook. A Rose for You Inspired by a photo I took of my cat. Diamine Earl Grey (purple-grey ink), Tintenlabor Encre Royal (purple), Jacques Herbin Vert Cactus, Uniball Signo White Gel, Talens Mixed Media Notebook. Me and my Gang A manga-like take on the artist and his muses. Diamine Earl Grey ink on Talens Mixed Media. Villain Who was the villain : the off-key singer or the one with the perfect pitch? Diamine Earl Grey, Jacques Herbin Rouge Amarante, Vert Cactus, Van Dieman's Here Kitty Kitty, Tintenlabor Basalt, Uniball Signo white gel, Talens Mixed Media Notebook. Merry Grinchmas! Inspired by a photo of my cat and a handwoven Santa made by my wife. Diamine Earl Grey, Noodler's Eel Red Rattler's Red, Jacques Herbin 1798 Bleu Diamant, Uniball Signo white gel, Talens Mixed Media Notebook. --- - Pens Used: Pilot F3A EF, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Karas Customs with FPnibs full flex and ebonite feed. - What I Liked: Drawing, Ink washes. The purple coming out with wider nibs on Japanese paper. - What I Did Not Like: Lack of water resistance. Nothing special with finer nibs. - Writing Experience: Good. - Pros: Excellent for drawing, washes, price, availability. - Cons: Lack of water resistance. 🧷 Ink Characteristics - Shading: Gorgeous. - Ghosting: Yes, on copy paper. - Bleed Through: Yes - Flow Rate: Wet. - Lubrication: Slightly below average, improve with time. - Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. - Start-up: Good. - Saturation: Yes. - Sheen: Did not notice. - Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. - Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice. - Staining (Pen): No. - Clogging: No. - Cleaning: Easy. - Water Resistance: Nope. --- 🛒 Availability - Available in 30/ 80 ml bottles worldwide. --- 💬 Closing I have enjoyed sketching and drawing with this ink. As a writing ink, I have other preferences, but still this one has a lovely, elegant colour and feel. No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier.

Diamine Grey Ink Review # 209 --- 🧾 Description It’s a pure pencil grey, with below average lubrication, like most greys. I thought flow was wet, but the ebonite feed of the Karas was ink starved at times. Dry times are off. I think the higher ones were done when the feed was saturated. If there’s shading, I don’t see it. There's some show through and bleed through on copy paper. Cleaning was easy-peasy. --- 🧪 Chroma --- ✍️ Writing Samples (scan) Rhodia / Iroful Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm Hammermill 20lb 📸 Photo (artificial light, LED) Rhodia/ Iroful Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm Hammermill copy paper (20lb) Close-up on Iroful 🔍 Comparison --- 💧 Water Test --- 🎨 Artwork Inktober 2025 - Day24 - Rowdy Inspired by the “rowdy” Stanley Kowalski from A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), reimagined through my cat & mouse theme: Stanley Chatowski & Blanche DuSouris. Talens Mixed Media notebook. Inktober - Day25 - Inferno Cat & mouse fight forest fires. Diamine Grey, Noodler's Apache Sunset, J Herbin Corail des Tropiques, Buton d'or, Talens Mixed Media Notebook. Inktober - Day 27 - Onion (Twist) A square took a free spirit to a diner, not knowing that she would launch the hula-hoop craze in the 50s and change his life forever. Diamine Grey, Tintenlabor Echinacea, Blausee (iron gall inks), Uniball Signo White Gel pen. Pebeo metallic marker Red, Talens Mixed Media notebook. --- - Pens Used: Pilot Elite EF, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Karas Vertex with FPnib flex and ebonite feed. - What I Liked: Drawing. - What I Did Not Like: Lack of lubrication, dryness, paleness. - What Some Might Not Like: Same as above. - Writing Experience: Depended on the nib, paper combo. But generally, not memorable. - Pros: Neutral darkish grey. - Cons: Same as above. 🧷 Ink Characteristics - Shading: I didn’t see much. - Ghosting: Ok with most nibs. - Bleed Through: Ok with most nibs. - Flow Rate: ok, but couldn’t handle flex nib. - Lubrication: below average. - Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. - Start-up: ok. - Saturation: Medium grey. - Sheen: No. - Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. - Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice. - Staining (Pen): No. - Clogging: No. - Cleaning: Easy - Water Resistance: Meh. --- 🛒 Availability - Available in 30/80 ml bottles and cartridges. --- 💬 Closing I don’t appreciate grey inks for writing. Only for drawing. This was darker than Herbin Gris Nuage, but sort of neutral. I wasn’t wowed. If I were to choose one, I would go for Diamine Graphite. No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier.

Diamine Graphite Ink Review # 206 --- 🧾 Description Diamine Graphite is wet, dark grey color with green undertones. Shading is minimal, only with M/B) nibs. Color is most intriguing with a Stub nib as the green comes through. But with other nibs it was good, i.e. even with the Japanese EF Pilot Elite. Ink behaves well in general, but there might be some ghosting. Bleed-through will happen if you use a very wet pen. I kept the inks for a month in my pens, so in the end I resorted to cleaning solution and pen jacuzzi to clean the pen. 🛀 I most enjoyed this ink for drawing. As a writing ink I enjoyed it most with a very wet flex pen. --- 🧪 Chroma --- ✍️ Writing Samples (scan) Rhodia / Iroful Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm Hammermill 20lb 📸 Photo Rhodia/ Iroful Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm Hamnmermill 20 lb 🔍 Comparison --- 💧 Water Test --- 🎨 Artwork One can appreciate Diamine Graphite's impressive tonal range, shifting from deep black to pale greenish blue in art. Inktober 2025 - Day 4 - Murky Inspired by film noir's murky, moody aesthetics. It was inspired by a scene from the Third Man (1949). It also shows off the dynamic range of Diamine Graphite. Karas Customs Vertex with FPnibs ultra-flex, Pilot Kakuno, Water brush, Talens Mixed Media notebook. Inktober 2025 - Day3 - Crown Now who is the king? Diamine Graphite, Tintenlabor Schokolade, Pebeo gold marker Inktober challenge 2025: Day 5 : Deer Diamine Graphite, Hosia Ink Studio Gardenia, Talens Mixed Media Square pocket. --- - Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1) , Karas Vertex with a Ultralfex bock nib from FPNibs. - What I Liked: Color for artwork, wetness, - What I Did Not Like: I was surprised by the low lubrication with EF/F European nibs. - What Some Might Not Like: Not much shading, lack of water resistance. - Writing Experience: Good with most nibs. The dark grey makes it’s legible, - Pros: Price, colour, artwork. - Cons: Low lubrication with EF/F nibs. 🧷 Ink Characteristics - Shading: minimal. - Ghosting: With some nibs. - Bleed Through: Same as above. - Flow Rate: Wet - Lubrication: Low with EF/F Safari - Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. - Start-up: Great. - Saturation: Dark Grey - Sheen: No - Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. - Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice. - Staining (Pen): No. - Clogging: No. - Cleaning: It’s best using an ammonia based cleaning solution. - Water Resistance: Meh! --- 🛒 Availability - Available in 30/80 ml bottles from most vendors. --- 💬 Closing I really enjoy working with this dark grey, complex with green undertones for the 2025 Inktober challenge. As a writing inks, it’s fun for those who must use black inks, but need to rebel. No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier. :)

Nice, well behaved, ink from Diamine. Well lubricating, vivid blue-green closer to the green end of the spectrum. The significantly compressed scan is showing a greener and lighter tinge than it is. E.g. the Ku-Jaku comparison I have shows up bluer than on the scan.

Diamine Burgundy Royale (150th Anniversary II) The ink maker from Liverpool is one of the staple brands in ink-land. They consistently produce solid inks for a very reasonable price. In 2017, Diamine released their second ink series to commemorate their 150th Anniversary. I obtained my set shortly thereafter, but it has taken me a while to review all of its members. This review covers the last missing ink: Burgundy Royale. Burgundy Royale is a reddish purple that has an old-rose quality to it. Usually not my type of colour, but for some reason I find this Diamine implementation really attractive. This ink is well-saturated, and works without problem with all pens and nib sizes that I tried it with. Using really absorbent paper (like Peter Pauper), Burgundy Royale has a tendency to overflow the page with ink – way too much liquid – resulting in fat lines that don’t look too pleasing. Other than that, the ink worked well with all the papers in my test set. This Burgundy Royale is one of three purple colours in the 150 Anniversary II Series. Its siblings are Lilac Night and Purple Dream. This red-purple ink shades easily, with hints already showing in the EF nib, and becoming more pronounced as you move up in nib size. I personally like this ink best with nibs in the F-M-B range. Anything wider and the lines get a bit too saturated, and I find that the result becomes too dominating, disturbing the aesthetics. To illustrate the colour span of Burgundy Royale, I did a swab on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. Burgundy Royale has a fairly narrow dynamic range, without too much contrast between light and darker parts. This translates to subtle shading with excellent balance and aesthetics. Nicely done! On the smudge test – rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab – the ink showed only a tiny bit of smearing, leaving the text itself crisp and clear. Water resistance is a mixed bag: most of the colour washes away, but a reddish-grey residue remains attached to the paper, resulting in a ghostly image of your writing that can still be read. This is also evident from the bottom part of the chromatography. I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap 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 a Lamy Safari M-nib fountain pen The name of the paper used, written with a Lamy Safari B-nib A small text sample, written with the Lamy Safari M-nib Source of the quote, written with an Esterbrook Estie with 1.1 stub Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib Safari) The multi-paper writing test shows that Burgundy Royale handles most papers well, looking good on both white and cream paper. There is a small amount of feathering on low-quality paper, but nothing really extreme. With cheap paper, you do get a bit of bleed-through, making it impossible to use the backside of the paper. Drying times are mostly in the 10-15 second range, going up to 20 seconds on shiny coated paper (with my M-nib Lamy Safari). I also add a scan to give you an alternative look on this Diamine ink. To my eye, both scan and photo capture the colour well. Below you can find some enlarged details of writing samples. Shading is most pronounced on the Sakae Iroful paper. You can also see that the absorbent Peter Pauper paper sucks up so much ink that you get really fat lines that are oversaturated. Writing with different nib sizes The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing (written on Rhodia N°16 80 gsm paper). All samples were written with a Lamy Safari. I also added a couple of visiting pens: a Pelikan M600 with F-nib, an Esterbrook Estie with 1.1 stub and a Wancher Dream Pen with M-nib. For me, the sweet spot of this ink is with the F-M-B nibs, where the saturation is just right and the aesthetics of the subtle shading add character to your writing. Related inks To compare Diamine Burgundy Royale with related inks, I use my 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. Papier Plume Red Beans and Rice is a nice alternative that is just a touch less saturated, which – for me – improves the overall aesthetic. Inkxperiment – BubbleFest I 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 are great for exploring the colour-range nuances that are present in the ink. I love doing them! For this drawing, I wanted to experiment with drops of ink to create a bubble pattern. I will continue this experiment across a couple of ink reviews, just to see how things turn out. No specific inspiration, but let’s call it a Bubble Fest 😉 I started with an A4 piece of HP photo paper, which I divided in sections. I then added drops of water, to which I added a tiny bit of ink. I let these drops dry naturally, and then added a few more layers. The dried fluid creates a nice texture, which could probably be better-looking with a less saturated ink. Well, that’s for a future inkxperiment. I finished the drawing by adding some background colour, and some bigger bubbles stamped in with fruit-juice bottle caps. The final drawing gives a good idea of what can be achieved with Burgundy Royale as a drawing ink. Inkxpired – computational art I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper, and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper. Starting from the original “BubbleFest” drawing, I first used a filter that created some really bright neon-like colours. I then followed up with a comic-book filter to accentuate lines in the drawing, and finally applied an antique paper filter with the brightness turned up. I like the resulting picture, that works really nice as a screen background on my laptop. Conclusion Diamine Burgundy Royale is a solid red-purple that tends to oversaturate sometimes (either on overly absorbent paper, or when using really broad nibs). Although this is not my type of colour, the ink has an old-rose quality to it, that – for me – saves this ink from the ink graveyard. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Backside of writing samples on different paper types

I'm currently reviewing some of my favourite Diamine inks. This is Diamine Red Dragon. I think it's a very good alternative for Montblanc Hitchcock. In fact it's more saturated. It also leans less pink than several other dark red inks. It's what I would call a blood red ink, but it isn't as dark or brownish as Diamine Oxblood. If you prefer your red inks to be a bit darker and not eye-poppingly bright red, then Red Dragon fits the bill. This ink is neither waterproof nor archival but it's water resistant.Bearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, and I write with M and B nibs, this ink took 25-30 secs to dry.It flows quite wet, especially in broader nibs, and lubricates the nib very well so that it's smooth to write with across the paper.It is currently available in 30ml plastic bottles and 80ml glass bottles.Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.It's reasonably priced.

Manufacturers since 1864, Diamine Inks relocated to this purpose built 'state of the art' factory in Liverpool in 1925, where they successfully carried on using the traditional methods and formulas for ink production. Over the years the company has changed hands and are now located close to the world famous Aintree Race Course http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/images/DimaineFactory.gif http://www.diaminein...uk/AboutUs.aspx I think that Diamine Chocolate Brown is rather enjoyed among pen & inks users. What's not to like? It's saturated, well lubricated, the flow is good and the writing experience is enjoyable. It's not safest ink for vintage sac pens and it tends to cause some nib creep (but ONLY after long time of not using the pen, like two months). If you clean pens rehularly, it won't cause any issues. There's no useful water resistance to this ink. Personally I don't care but if you do, look elsewhere. All in all, I think this is good ink worth trying. Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Color range Maruman - Kaweco Classic Sport, broad nib Tomoe River, Pelikan M805, medium nib Leuchtturm 1917 - Kaweco AL Sport, broad nib Maruman, Hero 5028, stub 1.9 Water - resistance

Diamine – Weeping Willow The ink maker from Liverpool is one of the staple brands in ink-land. They consistently produce solid inks for a very reasonable price. Each year, Diamine brings out an Inkvent Calendar with 25 inks to try. This Weeping Willow was the Day 13 selection of the 2023 edition. As we will see, that number 13 is totally appropriate… I recently added a bottle of this ink to an order so I could claim free shipment. I went for this particular ink because the colour looked intriguing – the pictures of ink splashes showed a complexity that spoke to me. Weeping Willow’s base colour is a beige-looking olive-brown with tons of multi-hued undertones. I can see green and pink, but also darker brown and yellow tones that drift to the surface, and work together to create a complex, but balanced, kaleidoscope of hues that looks amazing. What you get is a truly unique colour with tons of character. The name “Weeping Willow” is chosen well: it reflects the multi-hued brown of a willow tree at the start of autumn, just before the falling of the leaves. I filled up a couple of pens with this ink, and started writing and sketching with it – just to get an impression of how it feels. Immediately, it became clear that the number 13 fits this ink so well. Weeping Willow is a demanding ink – superb for drawing, but a really difficult one for writing. It only works with a narrow range of pen, nib & paper combinations. Choose wrongly, and the ink sucks big time. Choose wisely, and you’re in writer’s heaven. So it truly combines the unlucky-lucky aspects of its number. This Diamine ink tends to write very light and with super extreme shading in most of my pens. With dry writers, the ink is quite frankly unusable. First, lubrication is fairly bad which makes writing with a dry pen a very unsatisfying experience… yuk! Second, shading gets really extreme with wispy lighter parts that are barely there, making the text almost unreadable. Both of these issues can only be solved by using seriously wet writers. So far, an unlucky number 13. Once I found the right pens for it, the ink blossomed and showed its true beauty. It gets an almost water-colour aspect, with multi-tonal looks that rise to the surface in the darker parts of the text. The result has a mesmerizing quality to it, and makes for a truly unique experience. Use the ink for drawing, and all these multi-tonal qualities come together to create colours with wonderful aesthetics. And so, definitely also a lucky number 13. To illustrate the colour span of this Diamine ink, I did a swab on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. Weeping Willow has a very wide colour range, with tons of contrast between the wispy light and darker parts. This translates to extreme shading when writing, too harsh for my taste with most of my pens. I advise the use of wet pens that stay at the right side of the contrast range – you still get heavy shading, but the result now becomes well-balanced with great aesthetics. On the smudge test – rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab – the ink behaved perfectly, with very limited smearing. Water resistance is mostly absent though – some ink remains on the paper, and with great effort you might be capable to reconstruct some of your writing. But no, not a water-resistant ink. The ink’s chromatography looks stunning, and shows that kaleidoscope of colours that surfaces so easily with this ink. Nice! I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. My normal Safari test pens were completely useless, so I picked wetter pens for the writing samples. On each scrap 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 a Pilot Capless M-nib fountain pen The name of the paper used, written with a Kaweco Sport with BB nib A small text sample, written with the Pilot Capless M-nib Source of the quote, written with a wet Pelikan M405 Demonstrator with cursive italic M-nib Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib Pilot Capless) The multi-paper writing test shows another of Weeping Willow’s weaknesses. This ink only works well with certain types of paper, even when using wet pens. Hard-surface coated paper won’t cooperate with the ink: not enough ink is left on the page with the lighter strokes, which leads to super extreme shading that looks harsh and totally unappealing. Not nice at all. Furthermore: light olive-brown and yellow-toned paper – not a good combination! So you should restrict yourself to mostly white and ivory paper. But still – there is that narrow zone where paper/pen/nib come together perfectly, and manage to create something beautiful. I warned you: a very very demanding ink, that you need to spend some time with to get to know it. I guess most people would throw their bottle out of the window, but I enjoy that search for circumstances that can make even the most demanding ink shine. And shine it does! When all things line up perfectly, the results are totally worth the trouble. Below you can find some enlarged details of writing samples. The extreme shading on Tomoe River and Iroful paper is obvious. When you have a full page of text, such extreme shading makes it too hard to read the text with ease. More absorbent paper tames that extreme shading, and brings the contrast to a tolerable level. Writing with different nib sizes The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing (written on Rhodia N°16 80 gsm paper). At the top are some samples written with my Safaris – a bit too light for an easy read. Descending the page, I started using wetter pens. It’s fairly obvious that readability improves, and that the ink starts to show off what it is capable of. Related inks To compare Diamine Weeping Willow with related inks, I use my 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. Weeping Willow shares complexity with Swan Illusion, but is a lot more yellow than the Mont Blanc ink. Inkxperiment – Exploration 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 often present a real challenge. These inkxperiments allow me to explore the colour-range nuances that are present in the ink. I love doing them! The drawing reflects my personal journey of exploration in the world of math and physics. I’ve always been in awe of the complexity of the world around us - from the smallest to the largest scale. And it’s by building models of reality that we can try to gain an understanding of how things really work. Since my university days, lots of new discoveries have been made, and I’m now slowly building up my skill-set again so I can better appreciate and understand all that new science. The drawing's background symbolizes reality – cells in a petri dish? nano-tube material? stars against the microwave background radiation? The connected cubes floating above this reality represent the models we build to make sense of all that complexity. And then there are the people on their life-long journey of exploration… I started with an A4 piece of HP photo paper. I put some circular cutouts on the paper, covered it with a kitchen towel, and dripped some water-diluted Weeping Willow on it. This produced a really nice background. I then coloured the circular parts with cotton swabs dipped in water-diluted ink. Next I drew in the cubes that appear to be floating as a space-station above reality. Finally, I added the explorers and used my fountain pen to add some finishing touches. The end result gives you a good idea of the colour range that can be achieved when using Diamine Weeping Willow in a more artistic context. An interesting ink to draw with! Inkxpired – computational art I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper, and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper. I started by applying a cartoon art filter that emphasized lines in the drawing, and as a side-effect created a more grainy background that works quite well. I then used a couple of colour filters to shift the hues to blue tones, and added a few extra explorers to the scene. Conclusion Diamine Weeping Willow is a difficult and demanding ink that has lots of shortcomings and could oh so easily be dismissed. But spend some time with it, learn to know all its nooks and corners, and you’ll find that right combination of pen, nib and paper where this ink will surprise you with some unexpected greatness. I really enjoyed the journey of discovery that this ink provided me. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Pilot Capless, M-nib Backside of writing samples on different paper types

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Diamine Master of Puppets (German Exclusive) This is an another German exclusive, which I bought from fountainfeder. It’s a burgundy ink with heavy murky green/gold sheen, most visible on Midori/ Tomoe River 68 gsm paper. Surprisingly, only a few gold specks were visible on Iroful and Rhodia, well maybe if you pour it on the paper, you'll be surprised So, if you want sheen go with a wet pen and preferably, Japanese paper. Ink has no water resistance, so ink it is suitable for ephemeral thoughts. The name is after Metallica’s song. It’s my understanding that theme is about how the master, (drugs, or one can expand to any addiction, i.e. inks ) controling the puppet (human). While I couldn’t appreciate the music, I actually found the purple/burgundy ink with the green murky sheen intriguing. You can read more about these inks, and Diamine Guitar series on the Nick Stewart website. https://nickstewart.ink/2022/07/08/hells-bells-its-master-of-puppets-stephan-lucht/ Chroma: Holy chroma Note the green sheen on the feed of Lamy Safari Writing Samples: Photo: (artificial LED light) Rhodia: Iroful - While I captured the sheen, it's nothing compared to TR and Midori below. Tomoe River 68 gsm Midori Comparison: Water test: Left side (10 seconds under running water. After 24 hours) Art Work: For some reason I could not create a lot /or write with this ink. I don't know if it's the name, or lack of water resistance, I could not appreciate this ink, which is a pity. It's a solid Diamine ink. Tick Tock Inktober yearlong challenge 2025 with my usual cat and mouse theme. Diamine Master of Puppets Kala Nostalgia Gemstone Onyx (brown grey) And De Atramentis Document Cyan/ Turquoise Sleeping volcano... Diamine Master of Puppets Paper is Talens pocket book. · Pens used: Pilot Kakuno Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Osmiroid Copperplate · What I liked: Colour. Gold/ Green sheens. · What I did not like: Not water resistant, name. · What some might not like: Maybe if they don’t like Mettalica · Shading: It won’t win any awards. · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Excellent · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Good. · Saturation: Saturated · Shading Potential: Nope. · Sheen: On most Japanese Paper, the wetter the pen the better the sheen. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Easy. · Water resistance: Non-existent. · Availability: 30ml/ 80 ml bottles from fountainfeder, Papier & Stift [Germany] and Sakura fountainpen Gallery [Belgium]. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier