Ink Review #1778: IWI Grain in Ear

IWI Grain in Ear is from IWI’s standard collection. You can find this ink for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

The color:

Grain in Ear is a bright sunshine yellow.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has some nice shading.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

• EF Pilot Vanishing Point

• F, M, B Pilot Ishime

• Vintage Mabie Todd Swan (flex nib)

• Rhodia Goalbook

• Taroko Enigma notebooks (68gsm TR)

• Leuchtturm A5

• Pen & Gear Paper from Walmart

Dry time: 5 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Low

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there is some feathering in all nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Grain in Ear is similar to Ink Institute Circular Line. Click here to see the yellow inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Yellow with a broad nib on an Odyssey notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, the color is nice and bright in a broad nib, but can be too light in the smaller nib sizes. It also has a lot more feathering than I like to see, so it’s not a must-have ink for me.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.