Lennon Tool Bar Bixi

[yazeh]

Lennon Tool Bar Bixi 贔屭

 

Ink Review # 237

 

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🧾 Description

 

Ink: 2024 Summer Limited - Guardian Beasts - Bixi 贔屭

Brand: Lennon Tool Bar 

Country: Taiwan

Bottle size: 30 ml

 

From the Yoseka website (redacted): 

“Guardian Beasts refer to the loyal protectors often seen in Taiwanese traditional beliefs. Bixi is one of them. It has the appearance of a turtle, but it is a child of the dragon. Unlike its eight siblings, Bixi excels at carrying heavy stone tablets, silently protecting inscriptions across the vast expanse of time.”

 

Bixi is a legible but pale blue-black or blue-grey with average to slightly below average flow and lubrication. It has short dry times and is not suited for copy paper. Shading is subtle, cleaning is easy, water resistance is not so good. 

 

I enjoyed using this ink. It is a muted colour, which was gentle on the eyes and the soul. 

 

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🧪 Chroma

 

 

 

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✍️ Writing Samples (scan & photo)

- Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF, Kaweco (EF/F/M/B/ BB/stub 1.1, 1.9) , Brause Rose dip pen

 

Translations from Chinese are provided for reference only and may differ from published versions.

 

Quotes: 

 

Rhodia

“The past never disappears; it only waits for someone to remember.”

                                                                        Pai Hsien-yung, Taiwanese novelist

Iroful

“Stories are stones; once placed, they remain long after the builders are gone.”

                                                                        Wu Ming-yi, Taiwanese novelist

Midori Codex

“The earth remembers even when we forget.”

                                                                        Wu Ming-yi, Taiwanese novelist

Tomoe River 68gsm A5

“History is a burden we carry even when we walk alone.”

                                                                        Pai Hsien-yung, Taiwanese novelist

 

Hammermill

“The mountain keeps the memory of centuries long after men have passed.”

                                                                        Yang Mu, Taiwanese poet

Rhodia dot pad

 

 

 

Iroful

 

 

 

 

Midori MD Codex

 

 

 

Tomoe River 68gsm (Taroko Design Notebook)

Note: Tomoe River used here is 68 gsm, not the thinner 52 gsm version commonly referenced in reviews.

 

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb copy paper

 

 

 

Closeup

 

 

 

 🔍 Comparison

Col-O-ring swatches. Scans are approximate.

In Montreal Bixi is a popular bike sharing program.  

 

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 💧 Water Test

 

 

 

 

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 🎨 Artwork

Bixi unburdened 

Bixi, the dragon-turtle of Chinese tradition, carrying Cat and Mouse instead of the burden of stone.

 

Lennon Tool Bar Bixi, Talens Mixed Media Sketchbook. 

 

 

 

Window

Inktober52, Prompt 13. 

 

They say eyes are the window to the soul. 

 

Lennon Tool Bar Bixi, Jacques Herbin Bouquet d'Antan, Talens Mixed Media Sketchbook. 

 

 

 

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- Writing Experience: Good.

- What I Liked: Muted colour, short dry times, subtlety, the name. 

- What I Did Not Like: Nothing much. Availability.

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

- Shading: Subtle. 

- Ghosting: A bit. 

- Bleed Through: Yes, with most paper.

- Flow Rate: Ink is not wet but restrained. 

- Lubrication: Average. 

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice.

- Start-up: No problems. 

- Saturation:

- Sheen: No. 

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Yes with a dip pen. 

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen): No. 

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: Very Easy.

- Water Resistance: Passable. 

 

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 🛒 Availability

 

- Available in 30 ml bottles.

 

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 💬 Closing

The perfect ink for those who like subtle, muted colours. Somewhere between, blue, grey and in between. 

 

No fountain pens were harmed in preparing this review.

 

Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier.  

 

[Lithium466]

Thank you for your review. I love the Chinese blue dragon-turtle!

[yazeh]

40 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

Thank you for your review.

Welcome! 

40 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

I love the Chinese blue dragon-turtle!

Thanks! 😊🙏

[LizEF]

10 hours ago, yazeh said:

It has the appearance of a turtle, but it is a child of the dragon.

And if you haven't read Will Wight's Cradle series, you need to!  

 

10 hours ago, yazeh said:

gentle on the eyes and the soul

  It's a nice color.  With good shading in most of the writing samples.  Interesting chroma - suggests the sort of color I like (I usually prefer a bit of green in my blue and that dot looks like a tiny bit of green with the grey).

 

Excellent quotes this round!

 

Huh. Your swatch cards seem to mute the color (compared to your other images).  Or maybe that's your scanner...   (Meanwhile, if those last two cards aren't new to me, I forgot them, and I love them!)

 

Kawaii kitty and turtle-friend!  Love the water-test sketch.  What is Mousey holding?

 

Finally, the reason we came!  Love "Bixi unburdened" - the name, idea, and drawing.  Dragon-turtles should be more of a thing!     And "Window" is wonderful.

 

Thanks, @yazeh, for another fantastic review!

[Sailor Kenshin]

My kind of color!  I see a big-pawed kitteh in the chroma's dark spot; anyone else? 🐾

 

Of course the artwork is wonderful.  And the quotes.

 

 Thanks so much, @yazeh, for this detailed review of an ink I'll never get my hands on.  But reading your review, it's almost like I have.  👏🏻

[yazeh]

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

And if you haven't read Will Wight's Cradle series, you need to!  

I would've loved to.  

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

  It's a nice color.  With good shading in most of the writing samples.  Interesting chroma - suggests the sort of color I like (I usually prefer a bit of green in my blue and that dot looks like a tiny bit of green with the grey).

 

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Excellent quotes this round!

Thanks! 

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Huh. Your swatch cards seem to mute the color (compared to your other images).  Or maybe that's your scanner...   (Meanwhile, if those last two cards aren't new to me, I forgot them, and I love them!)

It's probably the scanner. I've scanned all my swatches and have a program that sorts them for me. But obviously with tricky colours it's misleading. I would sale it's a pale blue-grey.

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Kawaii kitty and turtle-friend!  Love the water-test sketch. 

Thanks. It was inspired.  

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

What is Mousey holding?

Supposedly a camera.  

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Finally, the reason we came!  Love "Bixi unburdened" - the name, idea, and drawing.  Dragon-turtles should be more of a thing!     

Thanks! I really enjoyed doing it. Ironically, both drawings were done in the waiting room.  

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

And "Window" is wonderful.

 

Thanks. I love staring into kitty's eyes. They are so calming.  

10 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks, @yazeh, for another fantastic review!

Welcome. 🙏

[yazeh]

9 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

My kind of color!  I see a big-pawed kitteh in the chroma's dark spot; anyone else? 🐾

Now that you say, yes, I see a Kitty, dragging it's paw in an ink puddle.   

9 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Of course the artwork is wonderful.  And the quotes.

Thanks!

9 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 Thanks so much, @yazeh, for this detailed review of an ink I'll never get my hands on.  But reading your review, it's almost like I have.  👏🏻

Most welcome. Ink is available at Yoseka. The Guardian series are 4 inks.  

 

[inkstainedruth]

Not a color for me (too pale to be legible for writing, except from the dip pen ).  But thanks as usual for the review and the fun artwork (LOVED the one with the "dragon turtle").

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Baggins]

More legible than I initially expected 👍

loved the quotes 😊

loved the art, really enjoyed the Bixi 🤩

Bleeding on every paper, with such high quality paper 😮😟

strange the difference in tone/color in the flex nib.🤔

All the very best. Keep them coming 🤗

[yazeh]

5 minutes ago, Baggins said:

More legible than I initially expected 👍

 

5 minutes ago, Baggins said:

loved the quotes 😊

Thanks!

5 minutes ago, Baggins said:

loved the art, really enjoyed the Bixi 🤩

Thanks! 

5 minutes ago, Baggins said:

Bleeding on every paper, with such high quality paper 😮😟

That's an error, typo.  Bleed-through only on copy paper.   

 

5 minutes ago, Baggins said:

strange the difference in tone/color in the flex nib.🤔

I didn't have enough ink to fill a flex pen. I used a dip pen. 

Normally, with a wet flex pen one "should" have the same effect, depending on wetness. 

5 minutes ago, Baggins said:

All the very best. Keep them coming 🤗

Thanks!

[Baggins]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

That's an error, typo.  Bleed-through only on copy paper.  

Ok. Had me confused there for a minute.😊👍

[yazeh]

Just now, Baggins said:

Ok. Had me confused there for a minute.😊👍

 

[knarflj]

@yazeh, lovely colour, love the quotes, and the artwork is delightful.  I particularly like Bixi unburdened!

 

On 4/2/2026 at 10:03 AM, LizEF said:

And if you haven't read Will Wight's Cradle series, you need to!  

Definitely a connection, @LizEF!  Thanks to your mentioning the first book in some other thread, I finished book seven and started book eight last night.  I am obviously enjoying them (although I confess that I don't always follow exactly what's going on with all the martial arts details).

 

The series I thought of first when yazeh talked about Bixi was Brent Weeks' Lightbringer books--though if I recall correctly, you'd have to read quite a lot of it before you understood why.

 

On 4/2/2026 at 10:17 AM, Sailor Kenshin said:

My kind of color!  I see a big-pawed kitteh in the chroma's dark spot; anyone else? 🐾

 @Sailor Kenshin, I love the way you always find a picture in the chroma or the microscope image (or both).  I wish I could learn to look so attentively and imaginatively!

[yazeh]

6 minutes ago, knarflj said:

@yazeh, lovely colour, love the quotes, and the artwork is delightful.  I particularly like Bixi unburdened!

Thank you so much  Means a lot. 🙏

 

6 minutes ago, knarflj said:

I wish I could learn to look so attentively and imaginatively!

It's a question of training and importance. The more you pay attention, the more your senses become attuned to what you see. It takes time and patience. Also, you need to move the inner critic out of the way and let the creative kid have fun and see all. sorts of improbable and imaginative stuff. We live in a society that prioritizes productivity and efficiency, forgetting that creativity and play are essential to our well-being. 

[LizEF]

56 minutes ago, knarflj said:

Definitely a connection, @LizEF!  Thanks to your mentioning the first book in some other thread, I finished book seven and started book eight last night.  I am obviously enjoying them (although I confess that I don't always follow exactly what's going on with all the martial arts details).

 Glad you're enjoying it!  Not sure you need to follow all the gaming / martial arts stuff - it's the characters I love.  Took me until book 3 to be "all in", but definitely worth my time.  I'll probably read the series again sometime - after I've had long enough to forget.

 

57 minutes ago, knarflj said:

The series I thought of first when yazeh talked about Bixi was Brent Week's Lightbringer books--though if I recall correctly, you'd have to read quite a lot of it before you understood why.

Thanks! Added to my wishlist - I thought I already had it in there, but couldn't find it.  These days, the wishlist is "what to check the library for next".  Books are too expensive.  At the moment, I'm re-reading Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series - am on book L.  When I finish, I'll check if the library has this series.

[knarflj]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

It's a question of training and importance. The more you pay attention, the more your senses become attuned to what you see. It takes time and patience. Also, you need to move the inner critic out of the way and let the creative kid have fun and see all. sorts of improbable and imaginative stuff. We live in a society that prioritizes productivity and efficiency, forgetting that creativity and play are essential to our well-being. 

 

Yes, it is so hard to let oneself really rest or just be.  I am constantly fighting the feeling that every moment must be productive.  Thanks for the advice and encouragement!

 

[yazeh]

6 minutes ago, knarflj said:

 

Yes, it is so hard to let oneself really rest or just be.

 

 

6 minutes ago, knarflj said:

 I am constantly fighting the feeling that every moment must be productive.  Thanks for the advice and encouragement!

Welcome. You can always take an online art class. It helps you see beauty in unexpected places.

 

[knarflj]

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks! Added to my wishlist - I thought I already had it in there, but couldn't find it.  These days, the wishlist is "what to check the library for next".  Books are too expensive.  At the moment, I'm re-reading Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series - am on book L.  When I finish, I'll check if the library has this series.

 

Oh, I hear you!  I do occasionally buy books, but I almost always check them out of the library first, to find out whether I'm going to want to re-read.  I do own all of Brent Weeks' books, mind you, and have read them multiple times.  Point of trivia: signed copies of his last book were done with a fountain pen and Diamine Writer's Blood--how can we not love that? 

 

I have heard good things about Sue Grafton's books from other sources, so I shall have to start those once I finish Cradle.   I am very fortunate that we have a terrific library system here.

[knarflj]

2 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Welcome. You can always take an online art class. It helps you see beauty in unexpected places.

 

 

I am sure it would.  Perhaps when I retire I will be able to find time.  Or I could just stop reading so much.  (But I'm pretty sure that will happen the day they carry me away in a pine box!)

[LizEF]

37 minutes ago, knarflj said:

Oh, I hear you!  I do occasionally buy books, but I almost always check them out of the library first, to find out whether I'm going to want to re-read.  I do own all of Brent Weeks' books, mind you, and have read them multiple times.  Point of trivia: signed copies of his last book were done with a fountain pen and Diamine Writer's Blood--how can we not love that? 

 

37 minutes ago, knarflj said:

I have heard good things about Sue Grafton's books from other sources, so I shall have to start those once I finish Cradle.   I am very fortunate that we have a terrific library system here.

Good libraries are critical. I really wish that the Library of Congress would work faster to digitize everything and offer country-wide access.  At the very least, books which are no longer copyrighted should be free to everyone, without restriction on numbers.  The ones that are copyrighted, we can all wait in line for.