I’ve gone a bit mad with ink purchases (and review samples) in the past few weeks.
You’ll no doubt have seen the Pure Pens roundup.
Well, I now have samples of six beautiful new Blackbird inks from British maker Mabie Todd. Here’s a sneak peek:
I can tell you now that a couple of these inks are real winners — Mallard Green and Starling Purple are lovely, and bang on trend (particularly the Green, eg with the Edelstein ink of the year being a dark olive green too).
In a desperate attempt to kill winter with orange (yes, it’s March, but it’s currently snowing):
…I’ve added to my orangey stock with the recently launched Graf von Faber-Castell Burned Orange:
and I’m gradually expanding my Herbin collection with the lovely Ambre de Birmanie, which is lighter and less brown than KWZ Honey, but less firey than something like Autumn Oak:
Pinks are getting some love too. I finally succumbed to the Lamy limited-edition hype and got a bottle of Vibrant Pink, plus another Graf ink, Electric Pink:
I am a fan of lubricated and highly saturated inks, so it was only a matter of time until I picked up more KWZ Inks. Continuing my growing love affair with red inks (see Pure Pens Cadwaladr and Colorverse Andromeda) I got KWZ Cherry:
and Grey Plum:
It’s a bit paler than Ink of Witch, darker than Chu Shu, less purple than Shigure — but in that general, wonderful ballpark.
And that’s not all.
Incoming I have Montblanc Unicef blue and William Shakespeare, Herbin Poussere de Lune and Vert Olive, and Seitz-Kreuznach Slate Grey.
That will take me to about 120 inks, and to that end I’ve added a new page to the site: my ink index. Along with my pen review index this will give you a view of the stuff passing over my desk, so if you have a question about anything listed, just shout and I’ll be happy to help.
Anyway, watch out for some more ink reviews to come!
Great title! Those swatches look colourful and fun.
What a gorgeous collection !! The Graff Burned Orange looks amazing !!! When you’re talking about Pure Pens, are you talking about the U.K. shop ? Do they have they own ink line ? Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these wonderful colors ! Love from France, Marjorie
Hey Marjorie! Glad you’re still reading :). Yes, Pure Pens the UK shop, and yes they have their own range now – new colours coming up too.