Following on from my last post about Stephan Lucht and his passion for exclusive monster sheening inks and heavy rock here is his latest collaboration with Diamine. Another exclusive for the German stationery shop Ortloff.
And it’s quite an interesting story too. Apparently, all the bridges in the German city of Cologne (aka Köln) are painted with the same specially made green paint. And it is very distinct! As Orloff have their main shop in the city centre, they wanted a bridge green fountain pen ink with a silver shimmer. So Stephan has been in touch with Phil Davies at Diamine and this is the result.
When used for hand writing, the green is a close match to the bridge paint but with a silver shimmer. When used for art, it really comes to life and the effect of light on it is dramatic to say the least. When observed in bright light the silver shimmer is very pronounced (check out the abstract calligraphy and shapes). And very strikingly so. When observed out of sunlight, the green colour isn’t flat and even like the bridge paint, it’s actually got a lot going on in terms of chromatography and tonal range.
Right: Observed at an angle in strong light. Left: Observed head on indoors.
So, not only is this a great exclusive ink and bespoke to the city of Cologne, but it also continues Stephan Lucht’s passion for extreme fountain pen inks and here I think we have his first extreme shimmer ink! If you want to know more about what he does please visit his website – click here.
If you want to get hold of the ink you’ll need to go to the Ortloff site. Click here.
All tests on Bockingford Rough 200lb watercolour paper, Seawhite cartridge paper and Tomoe River paper with handwriting using a Serendipity dip pen and an automatic pen.
And HEY! If you’re interested to know more about how to use fountain pen inks in more creative ways – whether it’s simply to observe their chromatic behaviours, or, to recreate one of my swatch cards, or, to learn how to use them in watercolour painting, illustration and calligraphy, why not check out my online course or, even better, sign up for a workshop?
FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART 