Penbbs #217 – Iris Tectorum Maxim

[crahptacular]

Penbbs #217 – Iris Tectorum Maxim

 

This ink was an impulse buy while shopping for cheap Chinese pens on eBay. At the time, it was roughly $16/60mL including shipping. It came in a tall, octagonal glass bottle with a moderately wide mouth (comparable to the openings on Iroshizuku bottles). I expect that if I ever use up more than two thirds of this ink, it could start getting tricky (or at least messy) to fill pens directly from the bottle, but I also expect that anyone who manages to use over 40mL of fountain pen ink will know how to get around this inconvenience.

 

The color is a sapphire blue with some purple undertones. Compared to other blues of a similar hue, this one seems a little flatter in color when dried on the page. One notable property of the ink is that it sheens relatively little; there is a tiny hint of sheen visible when the ink is heavily pooled and viewed obliquely, but when viewed directly, the pooled ink merely looks darker, without the red glare that comes with most blues in this range. So for those of you who prefer your blues to stay blue instead of turning red in direct sunlight, this ink might beat out other similar offerings. Otherwise, to me this isn’t an ink I would go to special lengths to procure. After all, there are many easily-accessible nice blues to choose from.

 

Lubrication: Moderate-Low

Shading: Low

Sheen: Low; only visible when pooled

Water resistance: Just a bit

Other notes: No misbehavior noticed in the last week of use. Ink performs well on FP-friendly papers, but feathers more than average on poor quality copy paper. I usually use relatively resistant paper (like TR) so it doesn’t bother me, but if you find yourself writing with copy paper or Moleskines (why though…), this probably isn’t the ink for you.

 

The following sample was done with a Pilot Falcon (SF) on Tomoe River (52gsm, white, loose-leaf), and a water brush for the doodle.

 

Bad Scanner Disclaimer: In my attempts to color-correct the scan, the final image is somewhat brighter than it ought to be. The actual color should be darker and purple than the scan indicates. Photo included is a better representation of actual color, but I only have a phone camera, so the quality is what it is.

 

Scan:

 

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

Kobe #37 Minatojima Island Blue, Diamine Majestic Blue, Sailor Souten, Sailor Nano Seiboku, L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Bleu Atlantique

 

Photo:

 

This is my first review, so feedback on what to improve is welcome! I plan to write one of these each time I finish a fill, but I don't like to ink up multiple pens with the same color, so each time there will only be one pen/nib/paper configuration. I've got a handful of these written that I'll scan and edit over the next week .

[visvamitra]

Excellent review. I find these PebBBS ink interesting.

[ehemem]

Nice review, and I like the rendition of the iris. The color of the ink is OK, but if it feathers, well, that is a drawback.

[crahptacular]

Nice review, and I like the rendition of the iris. The color of the ink is OK, but if it feathers, well, that is a drawback.

Thank you The idea was to represent the ink in several different contexts (print, script, flex, painting) in the hopes that the review would be useful to a broader range of people. And also to have fun.

 

As far as feathering, I've only noticed it on copy paper (where most inks feather to some degree, this one fared slightly worse). On the FP friendly stationery that I've used (TR, Rhodia, Mnemosyne, Kokuya Campus, etc.) it has not misbehaved. That being said, in hindsight, I don't think the color is special enough to justify the price of obtaining this overseas.

[senzen]

That drawing is mesmerizing, great review.