Kingdom Note (Sailor) Mandarin Duck Flex Art Review

[Sinistral1]

Kingdom Note (Sailor) Mandarin Duck:

This review might look different, because it is. I wanted a compact, informative way to organize my inks, so I put the information I want on these cards. I am an artist who loves to write with wet, flexible nibs, so I wanted to see how each ink behaved on the various papers I like and use, including the nasty paper at work.

I used an iPhone 4S to take and upload the photos. Color accuracy was not within my means to convey.

I have included the date and time I created the card, as well as the temperature and humidity.

There is a list of pens and paper used on the front of the card, down at the bottom.

Please see other reviews of this ink if you want to know about its waterproof qualities, lubrication, saturation, archival or fade/light resistance properties.

I was not concerned about bleed-through, smearing, or drying time. I did want to know how well the ink would wash with water, so you can see the two symbols for that, one using a wet paintbrush while the ink was still wet, the other using a wet paintbrush after the ink had thoroughly dried.

I wanted to have a large enough swatch to quickly see the color as it relates to other, similar colors, which is how I will sort the cards when I'm done. This swatch also shows shading and any sheen the ink exhibits.

Miscellaneous Comments: A beautiful red brown, with minimal bronze sheen. Part of the Kingdom Note store's 5th Anniversary Bird Series custom made for the store by Sailor.

 

 

[JowBow]

Wow, looks like you've purchased the entire bird line from KingdomNote! I have one from the insect line and am getting a mushroom soon. Thanks for displaying the color of each! I sorta skipped over this brown while browsing their shop, but after your review, it looks like it's going to be my next bottle!

 

I really like the way you have made a little reference card for your inks. I'm picturing some sort of rolodex of inks that you flip through whenever you feel like writing. Cute drawings too!

[visvamitra]

This one I like. A lot.

[Sinistral1]

I must confess, I only have one of the ten in a bottle - the other nine were provided as samples to me by TinJapan. He lives in Tokyo and the Kingdom Note store is his favorite local pen and ink haunt. I own Tanna Japanenosis (Cicada) and love it dearly. I also have a bottle of Ishida Hakodate Gagome (brown algae), Maruzen Athena Sepia, Maruzen Athena Akane, Pen & Messager Cigar and Shousaikan Deep In The Mountains. I got them through eBay seller cool-japan and another source. I'm working on the "bug" cards plus a few other exclusives I have managed to secure lately.

 

As far as the cards go, they become handier and more useful the more I add to them. Especially for comparing an ink I am thinking about getting to what I already have. I am using identical papers and pens for them, so a direct comparison can be done. They are inexpensive (JetPens) and have a ring holding them together - very handy.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Sinistral1

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for these flex reviews!