EFNIR: Yunjingtang Garden Stroll

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Yunjingtang Garden Stroll

This is review #370 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: This ink from China was gifted to me by a generous FPNer. My apologies for not including the Chinese name of this ink-my database language doesn't support double-byte characters, nor do I know how to write them properly. Please see my inks spreadsheet which now has a tab with both the Chinese and English ink names. This is a chroma-shading ink. Since this attribute can be less stable over time, I'm reviewing all of them out of sequence.

After one use (logic puzzle), I'm shocked by how much I like this ink's color. It reminds me of the corrosion we sometimes see on US pennies and also of some of the pale green lichen I've seen. It is ridiculously pale, but I like it! This doesn't really chromashade much, and not at all from this nib. The small inset on the swatch has a hint of pinkish color in it, but just barely.

I have nothing like this. The comparisons are as close as I could come, but not at all close. Cleaning was ridiculously easy with plain water.

Zoomed in photo (Color is quite close, maybe a tiny bit too dark.)

Screenshot (Text is too dark and desaturated.)

Scan of Completed Review (Very close to what my eyes see. Probably the best reproduction.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Text in both seems a little too dark, but the color's not too far off.)

Line width (Roughly 306µm. The "I" in "Ink:". Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. With 370 inks measured, the average line width is 299µm.)

Swatch card comparison (Darks are too dark. Everything's a little too blue. It could be worse, though. (Inset is CRENA swatch card paper.))

Microscope image (400x. Colors are fairly close.)

Additional Papers (Colors are fairly close.)

Previous Review: De Atramentis Document Blue Grey.

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. Or read Part 8: The Ice Fields Adventure.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[InkyProf]

Thank you for another really interesting ink and review!

 

This also reminds me of the pottery glaze called "celadon" (I don't know its Chinese name), and it's interesting and a little surprising that there don't seem to be many close comparisons, as it's a beautiful color. They've done a really nice job straddling the line between giving it a sense of lightness and keeping it readable.

[Sailor Kenshin]

The micro looks like a sea with freckles.  I do like muted greens, though I never picked up on the green in Silver Fox.

 

Though I can't see myself buying any, this calm Chinese ink pleases my taste.  And @InkyProf, I get the celadon reference.

 

Our heroes seem to be drawing near a crucial point.  Can't wait for the next!

 

@LizEF, you make Tuesdays magical and fun... I always look forward to the review and story.  🐍 💝 👏🏻

[A Smug Dill]

38 minutes ago, LizEF said:

This is a chroma-shading ink. Since this attribute can be less stable over time,

 

My bottle, from which your sample was drawn, is at least two if not three years old; and that may account for why it looks so very different from the manufacturer's marketing image for the ink:

[LizEF]

33 minutes ago, InkyProf said:

Thank you for another really interesting ink and review!

You're most welcome!

 

34 minutes ago, InkyProf said:

This also reminds me of the pottery glaze called "celadon"

Yes! Not quite the same, but share a similar vibe.  (Perhaps there are shades of celadon that match this - it seems more like a range than a single color.)

 

35 minutes ago, InkyProf said:

and it's interesting and a little surprising that there don't seem to be many close comparisons, as it's a beautiful color.

Well, there may be more, it's just that I don't have them.

 

35 minutes ago, InkyProf said:

They've done a really nice job straddling the line between giving it a sense of lightness and keeping it readable.

 Yep!

[LizEF]

28 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

The micro looks like a sea with freckles.

 I was thinking measles or chicken pox.  

 

29 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I do like muted greens, though I never picked up on the green in Silver Fox.

There's just barely a hint of green in Silver Fox. You really need the right comparison to see it.  (Either one that enhances the green, or one that shows the green lean in contrast.)

 

30 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Though I can't see myself buying any, this calm Chinese ink pleases my taste.

Yes, I'm liking these pale inks more than expected. They're quite relaxing.  They're probably not good for long-term use in this fine a nib though - as you'd expect, not enough lubrication.

 

32 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Our heroes seem to be drawing near a crucial point.  Can't wait for the next!

 Thanks!  Yes, our ice structure is pivotal.

 

32 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

@LizEF, you make Tuesdays magical and fun... I always look forward to the review and story.  🐍 💝 👏🏻

 Thanks!  Happy to do it!

[LizEF]

19 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

My bottle, from which your sample was drawn, is at least two if not three years old; and that may account for why it looks so very different from the manufacturer's marketing image for the ink:

Thanks!  At least the base color is similar, just paler.  I'd imagine they put down a lot of ink in that sample. And as your swatch card vs mine shows, paper makes a big difference.  Still, that marketing image makes the ink more appealing - and the difference supports the idea that chromashading inks should probably be used up quickly!

[yazeh]

What a great review @LizEF for #370. 

The color of this ink is so relaxing and soothing. This is a prized colour in the plant world. 

Unlike @InkyProf, the first ink that came to mind was something between Herbin's Vert de Gris and Les toit de Paris. Another ink was Kakimori Kurun. 

 

An alter in the ice? That's intriguing. Are we in the realm of the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe? Kudos for keeping on at the story. It's tricky to create a sense of urgency when the characters are static.👏

 

I don't agree with the quote. Ice is life in my mind, even though the streets of Montreal  have turned into a skating rink today. ⛸️

 

Thanks for bringing magic and chromo or chroma shading inks from the Land of the Middle Kingdom. 🙏🙏🙏

[inkstainedruth]

@LizEF I'm generally not a big fan of pale greens, but this one looks kind of interesting....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

42 minutes ago, yazeh said:

What a great review @LizEF for #370. 

 Thanks, @yazeh!

 

43 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The color of this ink is so relaxing and soothing. This is a prized colour in the plant world. 

 Now that you mention it, I have vague memories of plants with leaves similar to this color.

 

44 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Unlike @InkyProf, the first ink that came to mind was something between Herbin's Vert de Gris and Les toit de Paris. Another ink was Kakimori Kurun. 

Well, I have Kakimori Kurun - it's much more saturated and darker.  The Herbin looks much darker, though perhaps not so far from this ink "fresh", based on Dill's image.

 

45 minutes ago, yazeh said:

An alter in the ice? That's intriguing. Are we in the realm of the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe? Kudos for keeping on at the story. It's tricky to create a sense of urgency when the characters are static.👏

Thanks!   No lion, no witch, and no wardrobe in this adventure!

 

47 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I don't agree with the quote. Ice is life in my mind, even though the streets of Montreal  have turned into a skating rink today. ⛸️

 'Twas a challenge finding ice quotes that fit even slightly with the story.  And I'm sure there are plenty of perspectives on ice.  I imagine Kay probably had some specific story or set of stories in mind.

 

48 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for bringing magic and chromo or chroma shading inks from the Land of the Middle Kingdom. 🙏🙏🙏

 You're most welcome!

[knarflj]

I think it's probably a good thing that these inks are not easy to get in the US.  This is another lovely one.  Thanks for the review and the story, Liz!

 

The quote is apparently from Kay's novel Tigana, but I'm afraid it's been too long since I read it, so I don't remember the context. 

[LizEF]

14 minutes ago, knarflj said:

I think it's probably a good thing that these inks are not easy to get in the US.  This is another lovely one.

 Sometimes we need saving from ourselves!

 

15 minutes ago, knarflj said:

Thanks for the review and the story, Liz!

You're most welcome!

 

15 minutes ago, knarflj said:

The quote is apparently from Kay's novel Tigana, but I'm afraid it's been too long since I read it, so I don't remember the context. 

The internet claimed he said this, but didn't cite its sources.  Who am I to call the internet a liar?   

[Penguincollector]

This ink is lovely, as is your saga.

[yazeh]

15 hours ago, LizEF said:

15 hours ago, knarflj said:

The quote is apparently from Kay's novel Tigana, but I'm afraid it's been too long since I read it, so I don't remember the context. 

The internet claimed he said this, but didn't cite its sources.  Who am I to call the internet a liar?

Well when I did a first check with my over-optimist, know it all AI, it was confident that it was from Game of Thrones, spoken by Melisandre. But not verbatim. 

Then it dug deeper, and said" "The quote is attributed to Guy Gavriel Kay because readers condensed and paraphrased a thematic passage from Tigana, where ice symbolizes cultural stasis and an ending without renewal—the wording is not verbatim, but a redacted aphorism extracted from that context." 

 

In retrospect I understand why you used the quote. If ice is used as "frozen" mind, culture, if professor Eenees is kept in ice-stasis magic then it makes a lot of sense.

 

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

This ink is lovely, as is your saga.

 Thanks, @Penguincollector!

 

Happy New Year! 🎉🥳

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Well when I did a first check with my over-optimist, know it all AI, it was confident

The very definition of AI!

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

it was confident that it was from Game of Thrones

Yes, an easy thing to believe.

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Then it dug deeper, and said" "The quote is attributed to Guy Gavriel Kay because readers condensed and paraphrased a thematic passage from Tigana, where ice symbolizes cultural stasis and an ending without renewal—the wording is not verbatim, but a redacted aphorism extracted from that context." 

What!? The internet lied to me!? Say it isn't so!  

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

In retrospect I understand why you used the quote. If ice is used as "frozen" mind, culture, if professor Eenees is kept in ice-stasis magic then it makes a lot of sense.

Dude, you're way too deep. This is a silly ink-review story. I used the quote cuz we're stuck in the ice fields, looking at a strange ice-structure with an ice-altar with frozen stuff on it.  Or did I......  You'll just have to tune in next week.   

[A Smug Dill]

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

Beautiful!  Thanks, Dill.  Great addition to the thread.

 

Happy New Year!

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

What!? The internet lied to me!? Say it isn't so!  

 

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Dude, you're way too deep.

That's one of my defaults. Cat & Muse tell me to take it easy and draw them more.n😺 

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

This is a silly ink-review story.

It has a lot of potential for being a fun adventure for kids who have not been desensitized by video games. Or they might need it to connect with their imagination.n

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

I used the quote cuz we're stuck in the ice fields, looking at a strange ice-structure with an ice-altar with frozen stuff on it.  Or did I......  You'll just have to tune in next week.   

I know. But the fun part of these reviews is to go beyond inks and travel through different colours of life

 

[Penguincollector]

Happy New Year, Liz! 

 

@A Smug Dill, beautiful ink test, those Diplomat steel nibs are such nice writers, really shows off the shading.