Here’s a fun multi-shader: Ink Institute Meander Electric Blue Spider Lily. Wonderful chromashading colors, but difficult to work with.
It’s a bit light on the page for small nibs but looks good with the stub dip pen. You can really see the multi-shading between blue and pink in some of the letters that had more ink after dipping the pen.
Scans
The scans are a bit darker than it appears to the eye. As I’ve mentioned on other posts, it may be the scanner software compensating for the ink being so pale.
Photos
The photos are a bit more true to color, and as you can see, it can be quite pale, especially on Iroful.
Usually Iroful looks the best, but in this case, MD came out the most legible and with the nicest separation of colors.
Microscope
The microscope photos really show off the different combinations of colors that show up on each type of paper.
Chromatography
It separates out into magenta and cyan, pretty much as expected.
Nothing too noteworthy under UV light, but there is a slight blue halo past the leading edge.
Verdict
I only have a 5ml sample and it is almost gone and I have never, not once, got it to work acceptably in any pen with any nib size. Only dip pens.
I tried it in an EF Kakuno and the results were not good. I tried it in an FPR Jaipur v2 but it would not flow at all. Other attempts were equally fruitless.
It worked OK with dip pens, but it is a bit watery, so it doesn’t stick too well to the pen. If you have a Sailor Hocoro dip pen with a reservoir that worked the best.
As an alternative, consider Van Dieman’s Natura Dualis Nightfall. It’s close to this, and writes decently in the pens I have tried so far. I prefer the tints in Electric Blue Spider Lily, but I can live with Nightfall and being able to actually use the ink reliably in pens.
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