Ink Swatch - Tono & Lims - Star Light Series - Antares - Jim P.’s Fountain Pen and Ink Nonsense

Tono & Lims - Star Light Series: Antares

Another good & very usable fluorescent ink! It's sort of a dark magenta or fuchsia color depending on the paper. On Iroful it's lighter, on Midori and Col-o-ring it's darker.

Under UV it glows brightly, and each paper brings it out differently. On Iroful the glow is more red, col-o-ring is more purple, and Midori is more pink. The text glows especially brightly on Midori, as expected.

Photo of 3 ink swatches & chromatography strip for Tono + Lims - Star Light Series: Antares, which is a fluorescent magenta/fuchsia ink. Each swatch contains the ink name followed by "XX" 2 curlicues in both stub and EF nib widths. Swatch 1: Iroful swatch card with an outline of a paint palette and tube. The palette is mostly filled in with swirls of fuchsia ink, a few areas are somewhat darker with even darker edges. There is an outline of a paint tube which is swabbed and looks similar. The writing is the same color as most of the palette. 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 magenta and fairly even, some vague areas are darker, but no distinct lines. Swab across "cap" looks lighter and more fuchsia. The writing samples look more pinkish than Iroful. 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 magenta at the bottom and fuchsia at the top. Swab across "cap" is similar. The text is darker and more magenta. Chromatography starts at a gray line and then stays mostly gray until near the end where it separates into bright magenta near the edge.

Same as the last photo, but under UV light: Iroful card: Paper itself is glowing dark blue. Swatch is glowing mostly red, some darker areas. Text is glowing red, but not brightly, and is difficult to read. Col-o-ring card: Paper is glowing bright blue. Swatch is glowing purple. Text appears purple as well and is readable, but hard to see any glow in the text because of the paper glowing so brightly. Midori MD card: Paper is barely visible. Swatch is glowing extremely bright pink in some areas, purple in darker areas. Text is glowing extremely bright pink. Chromatography starts invisible, then glows blue for most of it and then ends in glowing magenta.

It's not a color I typically would have chosen had it not been fluorescent, but I do like it after using it more.

I've ordered two more inks from this series, and there is at least one more my usual shop doesn't carry and is out of stock at others. We'll see how that goes...

See also my previous posts teasing this one:

Photos of Antares under magnification on Iroful paper show off how Iroful is just OK for UV. The paper glows a little which isn't awful but does change the appearance of the ink a bit.

Photo of ink lines on paper under magnification. The ink looks particularly bright magenta / dark pink. Some visible paper fibers are darker, but not so much they stand out. Color is fairly even, no visible shading or pooling. Line edges are fairly smooth.

Same as Photo 1 but under UV light. The paper in the background is glowing dark blue, almost purple. The ink itself is glowing more reddish, some visible paper fibers are glowing lighter pinkish, with wider darker areas between. There is a faint pink outline along the edges.

Photo of an ink swatch under magnification. There are two areas, one lighter and one darker. The lighter area is similar to photo 1, while the second is a darker magenta.

Same as Photo 3 but under UV light. The paper in the background is glowing dark blue, almost purple. The ink in the light area is glowing more pink, and in the dark area it is glowing more reddish, some visible paper fibers in the darker are glowing lighter pinkish, with wider darker areas between. There is a faint pink outline along the edges.

Antares under magnification on Col-o-ring, you can see how the brightly glowing paper interferes with the ink and gives it a much more purple appearance. This is one of the reasons I started making the Midori cards, since most of my paper isn't like this.

Photo of ink lines on paper under magnification. The ink looks dark magenta. Some visible paper fibers are darker, but not so much they stand out. Color is fairly even, no visible shading or pooling. Line edges are rough and uneven.

Same as photo 1 but under UV light. The paper is glowing brightly blue and overpowering everything. The ink appears purple with just some hints of pink in the fibers.

Photo of ink swatch on col-o-ring paper under magnification. The ink looks even dark magenta. Some visible paper fibers are even darker. Color is fairly even, no visible shading or pooling. Line edges are rough and uneven.

Same as photo 1 but under UV light. The paper is glowing extremely brightly blue and overpowering everything. The ink appears purple with some tiny spots of pink.

Antares under magnification on Midori MD paper, the paper itself barely reacts so under UV it doesn't affect the color of the ink and allows it to shine more brightly. A very stark difference in comparison to col-o-ring especially.

Maybe I'll actually get around to publishing my UV paper post over the holidays...

EOT.