Massdrop sent me 12 of these De Atramentis Standard Inks to have a look at. I’d never heard of them before so had no preconceptions but I have to say I wasn’t expecting anything too exciting. Well… I was wrong.
Sepia Brown – Stunning. A thick dark rich ink that bleeds easily when added to water with reds, browns and greys leaching out around the wash areas. Took a while to react with the bleach but eventually turns a white gold. A deep rich red/brown when used for writing. I will note this one as I haven’t seen colour behaviour like this before. Exciting.
Aubergine – A deep purple ink that bleeds easily when added to water and reveals a bright pink at the edges of the wash area. Took a while to react with the bleach but eventually turns a white gold. A deep rich purple when used for writing.
Lavender Blue – Well, first things first.. is this the correct name for this colour? Does it have the wrong label on the bottle? It’s more of a Fuschia Pink colour that bleeds easily when added to water and washes out evenly with no other hidden colours. Took a while to react with the bleach and eventually turns white. A deep vibrant pink when used for writing.
Poppy Red – A solid even/flat rich red colour that bleeds easily when added to water and washes out evenly with no other hidden colours. Reacts with the bleach and eventually turns gold. A strong solid colour when used for writing.
Apricot – Stunning. A beautiful yellow ink that bleeds easily when added to water and reveals a luminous canary yellow in the wash areas. Doesn’t like bleach too much and turns red in some areas and white in others. A deep ochre colour when used for writing.
Yellow Orange – A shade lighter than the Apricot. A beautiful yellow ink that bleeds easily when added to water and reveals a luminous canary yellow in the wash areas. Doesn’t like bleach too much and turns red in some areas and white in others. A mid tone orange colour when used for writing.
Mint Turquoise – A thick dark rich ink that bleeds easily when added to water and washes out evenly with no other hidden colours. Took a while to react with the bleach eventually turning white. A strong mint turquoise colour when used for writing.
Ebony – Stunning. A thick dark rich ink that bleeds easily when added to water and behaves like a watercolour paint with bright reds and browns visible in the wash areas. Reacted immediately with bleach. A deep rich red/brown when used for writing. Really liked this and by far the easiest to handle. Similar to the Sepia Brown. Exciting.
Sahara Grey – More of a deep flat olive ink than a grey ink that bleeds easily when added to water with hints of browns visible at the very edges of the wash areas. Took a while to react with the bleach eventually turning white. A deep brown/olive when used for writing.
Olive Green – A flat olive ink that bleeds easily when added to water with fluorescent yellows visible within and at the edges of the wash areas. Took a while to react with the bleach eventually turning white. A deep rich olive when used for writing.
May Green – A flat grass green ink that bleeds easily when added to water with yellows visible within and at the edges of the wash areas. Took a while to react with the bleach eventually turning white. A very weak green when used for writing.
Night Black – A solid even/flat black that bleeds easily when added to water and washes out evenly with maybe a hint of green in some areas. Reacts with the bleach and eventually turns gold. A strong solid colour when used for writing.
I have to confess I like these a lot. The colour swatches are gorgeous and there are lots of hidden colours happy to reveal themselves but they don’t like bleach too much. They are bright and vibrant and when washed with water reveal some stunning characteristics as you can see. I have no idea how their other inks behave (of which there are many) but I’d love to find out… HINT! As a comparison, they are similar in content and behaviour to Diamine but are 3 to 4 times the cost. That said, DeAtramentis do have a very very big range of colours on offer.
Inks kindly supplied by Massdrop.
FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART 