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I've been meaning to write up a quick review of my favorite gray ink: Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun, and here it is, finally. Fuyu-Syogun was not a love at first sight/write. No, in fact I thought it was just too pale, bland, and boring. Only after I kept going back to my sample periodically for sketching and doodling did I fall in love with it. And I can't get enough of this ink now, so I got a full bottle. On the photograph below, you can see my less-than-enthusiastic thoughts about this ink in the older writing in the notebook underneath. I don't have a lot of grays--only a few samples and a full bottle of Paper Plume's Oyster Grey (another great ink), but in Fuyu-Syogun I have found a gray that does not make me wish for any other of its family. It behaves perfectly in any pen and on most papers, even cheap absorbent kind (as long as you use a conservative fine nib on the worst paper). Easy to wash out of a pen, great flow, no problems! It has excellent water resistance. The hue is clearly legible and does not look like pencil writing due to the prominent blue-lavender tint, however it has a familiar kind of appearance for those who've taken a lot of pencil notes in the past, only with better shading and longevity. Due to this gray not being a pure gray but rather having a slight tint (I think lavender-blue is the closest description I can think of), the appearance of the ink changes based on the paper you use it with. For instance, on more bright, clean white paper, like Col-o-Ring cardstock rectangles, you see the pure color of this ink. On white Tomoe River (which is actually quite creamy and not pure white), the hue is warmer, and the lavender is less prominent. On Fabriano Bioprima 85g/m2, which is a pale cream, more creamy than Tomoe River White, the ink is more toward dirty bluish hue. I've added a sample card of Birmingham Pen Co.'s "Midnight Blue". It's not the same (higher saturation of blue in that one), but it from a similar family of colors. I did not photograph it, but Montblanc's old formula IG "Midnight Blue" is similar in hue to Fuyu-Syogun once dried and aged a bit, but is significantly darker. One of the properties of this ink I like a lot is the "outlining" (also sometimes called "halo-ing") effect when written with a juicy enough nib or on low-absorbency paper:

Put them next to other colours and they're just grey; put them next to each other and the differences become pronounced. In this scan you can see my current selection of grey inks next to each other: Diamine Silver Fox (my basic clear grey, the one I chose over Diamine Grey and Herbin Gris Nuage), Diamine Earl Grey (the new kid on the block that triggered this new exploration), Iroshizuku fuyu-syogun and Diamine Graphite (an ink that I had tried and abandoned but with fond memories that made me get a new 30 ml bottle). I've given up trying to correct scans and monitors concerning colour but the above scan seems alright on my computer, except for the hues of Earl Grey and Graphite, which appear too bluish. The following photograph is a bit darker but closer to the colours I see in daylight. I hope this quick comparison helps anyone looking for a grey ink. It has reaffirmed my own preference for Silver Fox as the clearest grey but I'm quite taken with the shading of Earl Grey. All four inks are well-behaved, even in my often temperamental Pilot Capless pens.

Here's an awesome grey ink with gloomy, attractive blue undertones. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/909/rR3jMm.jpg

http://www.rdwarf.com/users/wwonko/images/fpn/iro/05-Fuyu-syogun-header.jpg Iroshizuku - Fuyu-Syogun (Old Man Winter) - CRV - Group Review - 2015-02 The Iroshizuku Group Review color for February 2015 is Fuyu-Syogun ”Old Man Winter”. It is a cool grey, reminding me of the endless grey skies of the Seattle winters I grew up with. Please post your reviews and scans of the ink in this thread. If you want to a partner for a Co-Razy View (CRV) of this ink, please write it up and mail it to Lou Erickson. (PM for the address.) If you want to do a Co-Razy View on your own, please do! Other reviews are welcome, too. NOTE: I have a new address as of January! If you have sent me things in the past, please PM for the new address - the old one will stop forwarding eventually. You can look at the full description of the Iroshizuku Group Review to see how this should work and what we’re doing.http://www.rdwarf.com/users/wwonko/images/fpn/iro/05-Fuyu-syogun-product.jpgThanks to Rachel Goulet, who gave permission to me to use their beautiful product photo and swab.More thanks to Amberlea who gives so much of her time to herding these inky kittens. Please PM me with any questions. I'll admit this month's ink does little for me, yet I know there are people who adore it. Show me what I'm missing!