Jim Pingle

Father, geek, serial hobbyist.

For Swatch Wednesday, one of my first PW Akkerman inks: Out of the Blue. Akkerman bottles are fun and useful with their inkwell/marble neck, only downside is size.

Just when you think you have enough "blue w/red sheen" inks, along comes an even better shade of blurple. On Iroful the blue is particularly pleasant. On col-o-ring it's appears much more purple, and Midori is a nice balance.

The sheen doesn't come out much in writing except on Iroful.

Photo of 3 ink swatches & chromatography strip for Akkerman "Out of the Blue" which is a bold blue/purple-ish ink ("blurple") with red sheen. Each swatch contains the ink name followed by "XX" 2 curlicues in both stub and EF widths. Swatch 1: Iroful swatch card with an outline of a paint palette and tube. The palette is mostly filled in with swirls of ink, a few areas are darker and more purple with visible red sheen around the edges. There is an outline of a paint tube which is swabbed and looks similar. The writing is blue with red sheening around its edges and in some shaded areas. Swatch 2: Col-o-ring swatch card with a stamped outline of an ink bottle. The outlined area is mostly full of an ink blob which is darker purple at the bottom and more blurple at the top. Sheen is visible around the darkest area. Swab across "cap" looks more blue. The writing samples look more purple than Iroful but still blurple. Swatch 3: Midori MD swatch card with a stamped outline of an ink bottle. The outlined area is mostly full of an ink blob which is darker purple at the bottom and blue/blurple at the top. Sheen is visible around the darkest area. Swab across "cap" is more blue. The text is blue like Iroful but without obvious sheen Chromatography starts at a light purple line and then stays mostly lighter purple until near the end where it separates into a dark blue near the edge.
Photo of a fountain pen, ink bottle, and note paper with a writing sample all on a wooden table. The fountain pen is an Asvine C80 in Cobalt Blue, which is generally blue but has swirls of black, light blue, and shimmer all through the body and cap. The ink bottle is octagonal at the base, then rises up to a narrow "waist" then changes to a cylinder at the top which extends up several cm to the cap. The writing sample reads "Asvine C80 - Cobalt Blue w/Stub / Akkerman Out of the Blue" followed by several "X" characters and curlicues -- The ink is a shade of blue which is close to the pen.

Iroful seems to concentrate the sheen in smaller areas and it becomes more pronounced and this also shows off the blue of the ink more. Still not sure what they do to that paper that makes it work that way.

Photo of a writing sample under magnification. The center of the strokes are very blue, the edges are shiny red.
Photo of an ink swatch under magnification. Paper fibers are visible. The entire field of view is blue with a few small flecks of red.
Photo of an ink swatch under magnification. There is an outline on the paper visible. The left part is mostly blue, the edge is shiny red with some purple between paper fibers. There is a line of almost gold going through the blue, which is where the ink went over the line stamped on the card.

Col-o-ring looks much more purple overall but the sheen still shows in some areas, though more evenly and not as pronounced as on Iroful.

Photo of writing under magnification. The ink appears purple in the center with red/purple and some shininess toward the rough edges.
Photo of ink swatch under magnification, the whole area appears purple but looking closer some areas between paper fibers are almost cyan, while others are more purple. There is some sheen in certain areas but it looks more purple, less red than others.
Photo of an ink swatch under magnification. The lower left is black from a stamp on the paper. Next to that is a line of cyan, then a wider strip of purple, then an area that is more red and reflective.

Midori seems to be in between the extremes of Iroful and Col-o-ring. You do see sheen in regular writing with enough light at just the right angle, but it isn't as prominent.

Photo of writing under magnification. The center is blurple and the edges are red, only slightly reflective.
Photo of ink swatch under magnification, the whole field appears evenly blurple. Between the fibers in some areas is lighter, some fibers are darker.
Photo of an ink swatch under magnification. The lower right is blank ink stamped on the paper. After that is a wide line of blurple. Then an area that is red and reflective, and finally a little area of purple in the upper left.

Imported from Mastodon

Updated:

Questions or comments? Contact me on Mastodon

You May Also Enjoy