Penbbs #179 – “Ink Of The Year” Serenity

[crahptacular]

PenBBS #179 – “Ink of the Year” Serenity

 

I don’t know too much about PenBBS inks, but I bought a handful of samples to check them out. I believe they are released by “seasons,” and I’ve noticed a few recurring themes for color inspirations, such as cities, famous people, animals, and plants. This one is #179, from Season 13 (which included numbers 175-184). It has the title “Ink of the Year,” but #178 Rose Quartz (from the same series) also has the “Ink of the Year” title, so I don’t know how the distinction was determined. I’ve only a sample of this, so my impressions will be based off of only two pens (writing samples from both are included) and approximately a week of use.

 

Serenity is a pale blue ink with low saturation. It’s got some purple in it—it might be similar in hue to a (very undersaturated) royal blue. As a writing ink, it seems a bit impractical in any nibs smaller than a medium. In my broad nib, the ink flowed well and the low saturation led to a nice “haloing” effect, especially on more resistant paper. In my medium italic nib (which is tuned on the dry side) on the other hand, I had mixed results. While writing the sample on Tsubame Fools, I actually went to check my nib and converter for problems because the line coming out was so faint. On TR, I found it perfectly legible with both nibs. I didn’t write a lot on cheap copy paper, but I scribbled a few lines to see the appearance, and it seemed to do quite well—a darker line due to higher absorbance, and little to no feathering. I do think the color is rather pretty, and definitely “serene,” as the name would indicate. It reminds me of a pale blue flower, like a spring starflower. If you appreciate low-saturation inks, and/or have a fleet of juicy broad nibs, this ink might interest you. Personally, I’d consider getting more of this ink if it came in 15-30mL bottles, but I can’t see myself ever using the full 60mL bottle. I wonder how J Herbin Bleu Myosotis compares…

 

Lubrication: Medium-Low

Shading: Moderate

Sheen: None

Water Resistance: (Edit: I completely forgot to put this on the review, whoops... the ink has low water resistance, leaving behind a faint purple line that is probably legible if you look hard enough)

Other notes: There’s a weird white/orange spot in the doodle because I’m bad at cleaning my brushes and then tried to cover it up but it didn’t work. Oops. Also, I don’t have any good comparison inks.

 

The following sample was done with a Franklin-Christoph p65 (Broad) and Franklin-Christoph 02 (Medium Cursive Italic) on Tomoe River (52gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with a size 0 liner and size 3/0 mop. Flex writing was done with a Leonardt Principal dip nib.

 

Bad Scanner Disclaimer: The scans were completely unrecognizable, so I had to do a ton of color correction for the review as well as the writing samples. It turned out relatively accurate; I prioritized appearance of the writing, both in terms of color and contrast. The photo is okay, but a little green, and is terribly lit. Sorry.

 

Scan:

 

Photo:

 

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

Kobe Nagasawa #42 Rokko Island Sky, Pelikan Edelstein Topaz, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, Sailor Souten, J Herbin Diabolo Menthe

 

Writing Samples (scans; heavy color correction) from Yasutaka Tsutsui’s “The Last Smoker,” written with the same pen/nibs listed above

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

 

Tsubame Fool’s University:

 

Kokuya Campus:

Edited October 9, 2017 by crahptacular

[Notgatherox]

Thank you for your review!

 

Both Rose Quartz and Serenity are Pantone's colour of the year 2016, hence the name ink of the year by penbbs.

 

Side note: This reminds me of diluted royal blue heh.

 

 

~Epic

[namrehsnoom]

Lovely review. The ink is too pale for my writing taste, but looks real nice in your drawing.

[crahptacular]

Thank you for your review!

 

Both Rose Quartz and Serenity are Pantone's colour of the year 2016, hence the name ink of the year by penbbs.

 

Side note: This reminds me of diluted royal blue heh.

 

 

~Epic

This makes a lot more sense! I think there are four "Ink of the Year" colors made by PenBBS, but they seemed to be scattered randomly through the collection, and I couldn't make head nor tails of it. Thanks for clarifying And yes, I definitely got the the "diluted royal blue" vibe as well.

[inkstainedruth]

Lovely review. The ink is too pale for my writing taste, but looks real nice in your drawing.

 

+1 on that. Also, the ink reminds me, color-wise, of Quink Washable Blue. That isn't a good thing.

Thanks for the review, though.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[jmccarty3]

Reminds me a little of Iroshizuku Ajisai.

[swanjun]

It reminds me of Kobe #56 or #57. Those Hydrangea ones. How does one order samples from Pen BBS?

[visvamitra]

Stunning review but the color doesn't look too thrilling.

[Tas]

So pretty.

I'd never use an ink like this but really appreciate your use of it. Thank you.

[senzen]

Reminds me a little of Iroshizuku Ajisai.

 

Yup, a little diluted though. Great review.

[Detman101]

Just now finding this review. I've been thinking about picking up this ink to replace the overly expensive "Sailor - Manyo Nekoyanagi".
Penbbs ink performace is always just perfect for my flex pen.

[WalterC]

On 10/9/2017 at 8:39 AM, swanjun said:

 How does one order samples from Pen BBS?

4 years late, but Van Ness carries samples of this ink and I just got it but haven't tried it yet.  

Very nice review, crahptacular. This inspired me to get the sample.