EFNIR: Karas Pen Co. Desert Varnish

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Karas Pen Co. Desert Varnish

This is review #221 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: This is a Karas Pen Co. exclusive, made by Papier Plume. I decided to do a more thorough review since I couldn't find any others.  But it was day 4 of 5 when I decided I would do a water test, so the writing is only ~1.5 days old when I did the water test.  No idea when or whether it will be back in stock, but here's the web page: https://karaskustoms.com/product/desert-varnish-red-bottled-fountain-pen-ink/ .

Cleaning was surprisingly easy - reds are often hard, but this wasn't.  Dry time was between 35 and 40 seconds in testing, 31 seconds from the test hashes, and yet the "Dry Time" label smeared and I wrote it considerably before I started the review, so I don't know what to make of it...  I'm going with 40 seconds on the assumption the "Dry Time" text was when the feed was very wet...

Zoomed in photo (Very accurate, shading is a little too pronounced.)

Screenshot (Text is too dark.)

Scan of Completed Review (Strangely, the text is a little too dark, but the color is close.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (AP: Text is lighter than what I see. CP: Very close.)

Line width (One of the lines used for dry time. Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 300µm. With 221 inks measured, the average line width is 295µm.)

Microscope image (Pretty close in color.)

Water Test Results

Chromatogram (Photo (good)and scan (not as close)of chromatogram. The dot has a hint of dusky purple and my eyes claim there's a tiny bit of yellow at the very top, until I get it under a magnifying glass...)

Previous Review: Anderillium Motor City Peacock Blue.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Sailor Kenshin]

I've got a couple of Papier Plume inks.  They tend to be dry but interesting, and this one looks like the faded brick I usually love.  Just not the dry time.  
 

Cool chroma!  Can't decide whether the micro is a field of Star Trek flowers spewing mind control spores, or a field aflame in a fiery sky.

 

Love the story, and thanks as always!

[yazeh]

Great review as alway @LizEF 

Curious that microscopic image resembles the story line, there must be some magic somewhere

I can see the yellow in the chroma btw. 

I wonder what Makhabesh thinks of the cats of Zanzibar? 

 

[LizEF]

48 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

this one looks like the faded brick

Yep, very similar.

 

48 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Can't decide whether the micro is a field of Star Trek flowers spewing mind control spores, or a field aflame in a fiery sky.

 

48 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Love the story, and thanks as always!

Thank you!  And you're welcome!

[LizEF]

26 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great review as alway @LizEF 

Thanks!

 

27 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Curious that microscopic image resembles the story line, there must be some magic somewhere

  Makhabesh shooting fireballs all over the place!

 

27 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I can see the yellow in the chroma btw.

Glad it came through.

 

27 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I wonder what Makhabesh thinks of the cats of Zanzibar? 

He probably wonders how they survive without wings!

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF for introducing this ink and for the story part!

You drew a certain image in my imagination (ah!, the English language has closely related words) almost feeling and smelling the feather-vein-storm. Wait, smell? Why can I smell them? You didn't describe. Did you also associate a mixture of chicken farm and beetroot when you wrote about the Muridoor emission? 🤫

 

OK, enough distraction from the ink. I like the look (it's red, what else?) that will nicely fit the Pelikan M600 Red Tortoise. But most of all, I like the microscopy image - these are always good for a surprise. 😊

 

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for introducing this ink and for the story part!

You're very welcome!

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

You drew a certain image in my imagination (ah!, the English language has closely related words) almost feeling and smelling the feather-vein-storm. Wait, smell? Why can I smell them? You didn't describe. Did you also associate a mixture of chicken farm and beetroot when you wrote about the Muridoor emission? 🤫

Imagination is the greatest thing, ever!  (No, I never added scent, chicken farms, or beetroot in association with the Muirdoor.)  I forget now what it was I read - book, article, something - but it said to leave the details up to the reader's imagination.  Give them hints and they will fill in details without even realizing they're doing it.  (I have one friend who can't do this - she see no images, only the words on the page - but the other readers I know all do this.)

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

OK, enough distraction from the ink. I like the look (it's red, what else?) that will nicely fit the Pelikan M600 Red Tortoise. But most of all, I like the microscopy image - these are always good for a surprise. 😊

  I guess we should be glad there are other brick-reddish colors out there, perhaps there's one just like this one, I don't know.  I fear it won't come back (the link works, but I can't find a way to navigate to the page via their menus).  Anyway, yes, that microscope image is one of the better ones!