Ink Review #2769: Taccia Sketch Earth Blue

Today’s ink is Taccia Earth Blue from the Sketch collection. You can find this ink for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

The color:

Earth Blue is a bright sapphire blue.

*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 a little bit of red sheen.

Writing samples:

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

*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: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: There’s some bleeding in the flex nib and swab on Rhodia, but I think that’s due to a flaw in the paper rather than the ink. I’ve had this happen with most inks on this most recent batch of paper.

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had feathering in all nib sizes and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Earth Blue is closest to Colorverse Stars & Stripes. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Montegrappa Elmo with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has an average flow.

Overall, I enjoyed this ink. It’s a gorgeous bright blue with a little bit of sheen.

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

Rohrer and Klingner Sketch Inks

Let’s take a look at five of the Rohrer and Klingner Sketch inks today. You can find these inks for sale at Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Frieda, Jule, Emma, Klara and Marlene.

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 40 seconds

Water Resistance: High

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: All had medium shading.

On Walmart Pen + Gear copy paper there was some feathering in every nib size and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Frieda is less saturated than KWZ Blue Black.

Jule is closest to Akkerman Lievens.

Emma is a little lighter than Ferris Wheel Press Peter Moss.

Klara is more blue than Ferris Wheel Press Morningside Mint.

Marlene is lighter than Robert Oster Kids on the Block.

Longer Writing:

All of the inks had wet flows. I used a Taroko Enigma notebook.

Overall, I enjoyed all five of these inks. Frieda is my favorite out of the five, but all are well behaved and water resistant.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #873: Rohrer and Klingner SketchINK Carmen

Rohrer and Klingner SketchINK Carmen is designed for sketching and drawing, but also works well for standard writing. This ink has a large color range-from pale yellow-orange to bright red. I purchased my sample of ink from Vanness Pens.

The color:

Carmen is a medium yellow-orange. At the palest it’s almost a yellow and at the darkest it reaches a bright red.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink shows off some of the darker red tones.

Writing samples:

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

Dry time: 5 seconds

Water resistance: High

Feathering: Low-there was some feathering on Rhodia

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there was some bleeding on Rhodia.

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

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering in every nib size, and some bleeding in the flex and broad nibs.

Comparison Swabs:

Carmen is similar to Papier Plume Sazerac, maybe just a little bit more vibrant. Click here to see the Rohrer and Klingner inks together, and click here to see the orange inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a medium Pelikan M600 Vibrant Orange on a Lochby A5 Lined Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I really like this ink. It dries super fast, is very water resistant, has a wide range of shading colors and is pretty affordable too. There are some downsides to this ink though-it looks chalky and washed out on Rhodia, and feathers and bleeds a bit on Rhodia as well. This doesn’t bother me since I don’t usually use Rhodia personally, and it performs well on the other papers. Since the ink is pigmented instead of dye-based it is important to shake the ink before filling, and have good pen hygiene. I would absolutely use this ink again.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.