Search the Community

L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio inks have been around for many years but don't seem to attract much attention in the English speaking community. I guess that we have too much to choose from. Several months ago, namrehsnoom published the most extensive and exhaustive review of Bleu Atlantique: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/316800-lartisan-pastellier-callifolio-bleu-atlantique/. There is nothing new I can add, but since the ink quickly become one of my favourites I decided to post some additional pictures. I tested the ink on four different papers: Clairefontaine, Leuchtturm, Moleskine (of the worst kind) and Xerox Performer 80 gsm using some of my favourite wet writing pens. http://i.imgur.com/iBG1YBi.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Dtt3PJv.jpg Leuchtturm & Moleskine http://i.imgur.com/MXOhGfw.jpg Clairefountaine, Leuchtturm, Moleskine and Xerox. Although some feathering and line widening can be seen on the Moleskine and Xerox, they are not even close to be as bad as with a wet pen filled with most other inks I tried. I'd say that the ink behaves similarly well on some lesser quality papers as Salix, Pelikan Blue/Black and Pelikan Royal Blur but with a bit more lubrication. Ink characteristics Saturation: low to medium (great for shading) Lubrication: above average Feathering/woolly lines/bleed-through: low Flow: average Drying time: average Namrehsnoom gave it earlier A+ score. I'd go for A, simply because I found even better performance in another Callifolio ink. Anyway, either A or A+ are absolutely deserved. It is really hard to find an ink of interesting​ colour one can use almost without limitations on more absorbent papers.

L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio - Bleu Atlantique L’Artisan Pastellier is a small company in southern France that specialises in natural pigments, and offers customers authentic and reliable products in beautiful colours based on mineral or vegetable pigments. In a collaboration with Loic Rainouard from Styloplume.net, the chemist Didier Boinnard from L’Artisan Pastellier created the line of Callifolio fountain pen inks. These pastel-colored inks are traditionally crafted, and can be freely mixed and matched. Overall these inks are only moderately saturated, and have low water-resistance. The inks were specifically designed to work well with all types of paper, and all types of fountain pens. Being pastel-tinted, these inks have a watercolor-like appearance, and are not only fine inks for journaling, but are also really excellent inks for doodling & drawing. I only recently discovered them, and they are already the inks I gravitate towards for personal journaling. In this review the spotlight is on Bleu Atlantique, one of the many blue inks of the series. The blue Callifolio inks are named after rivers, lakes and oceans – this cerulean-type blue gets its name from the Atlantic Ocean (not the wild northern atlantic which in my imagination is more of a blue-grey, but the tropical one near Haiti – think of a mid-summer day on a lagoon beach). This is a really nice true sky-blue ink, without green undertones. I’m a big fan of such blues and colour-wise, Bleu Atlantique did not disappoint. I like it very much. There is of course no way to avoid a comparison with the two other well-loved cerulean-type blues – iroshizuku kon-peki and Pelikan Edelstein Topaz. Below is a small swab and writing comparison on Fantasticpaper. Bleu Atlantique leans more towards Topaz, but is a less saturated ink with a more watercolour-like appearance. Myself – I still think Topaz is the absolute king. But if you collect sky-blue inks, Callifolio Bleu Atlantique is definitely one you should get. Technically, the ink behaved very well. It’s rather dry in an EF-nib, but starting from F it wrote very smoothly. For a Callifolio ink, I also found it to be well-lubricated. The ink shows some really classy shading in the broader nibs, without too much contrast between the lighter and darker parts. Aesthetically very pleasing, and it definitely gives some extra character to your writing. On the smudge test – rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab – Bleu Atlantique behaved acceptably. There is some smearing, but the text remains very legible. Water resistance however is almost non-existent. The droplet test leaves only unrcognisable blue smudges. The test with running tap water washes away almost all the colour – only faint traces remain that are barely legible. If you need some measure of water resistance in your ink, look elsewhere. When using a water-brush with doodling & drawing, you get a nice light-blue shading effect. Like all Callifolio inks, Bleu Atlantique is a very fine choice for inky drawings. I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. For the Callifolio reviews, I’m using a new format to show you the ink’s appearance and behaviour on the different paper types. On every small band of paper I show you: An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturationAn ink scribble made with an M-nib fountain penThe name of the paper used, written with a B-nibA small text sample, written with an M-nibDrying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib)Bleu Atlantique behaved perfectly on all the paper types, with no apparent feathering even on the lower quality papers in my test set. Drying times are mostly around the 10 second mark, with a low of 5 seconds on the more absorbent paper. The ink really shines on white paper where it looks lively and vibrant. In my opinion, it’s not a good ink for yellowish paper, where it looks sickly and underwhelming. My advice – stick to white paper with this colour. I also show the back-side of the different paper types, in the same order. With the low-end Moleskine there is prominent show-through and a little bleed-through. With the other papers, Bleu Atlantique’s behaviour is impeccable. The ink copes really well with a wide variety of paper types. Conclusion Bleu Atlantique is a lovely sky-blue ink which looks best on pure white paper. The ink works well with all nib sizes, and shows some very nice and aesthetically pleasing shading in the broader nibs. Like all Callifolio inks, water resistance is low. If you love cerulean-type inks, you should definitely get this one. If you only need one ink of this colour-type – my personal advice is to go for Pelikan Edelstein Topaz. Nevertheless, this Callifolio ink is a great choice, and I enjoyed using it. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib