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Wearingeul – King Lear I’m sure I have more than enough inks already, but sometimes an opportunity rises to explore a new brand that wasn’t on my radar before. Some time ago Scrittura Elegante – a stationery shop from the Netherlands – announced that they would stop their business. Definitely a sad thing: this lovely little webshop carried some interesting and lesser-known brands, with Wearingeul being one of them. They started a sale to empty the warehouse, and I took this opportunity to place a last order, loading up on couple of Wearingeul inks. Wearingeul is a stationery brand from South Korea, that gets its inspiration from arts & literature. In their own words: “We re-interpret novels and poetry with colors. You can find characteristic inks with stories and also notes/papers which are suitable for ink users.” The ink under review is named after the tragedy of King Lear written by William Shakespeare. The bard tells the deeply sad tale of a king that falls into poverty and slowly descends into total madness. King Lear is an unsaturated grey-green with a red-pink shimmer (I don't use shimmer myself, so I haven't explored this aspect of the ink - I leave the shimmer particles at ease at the bottom of the bottle). The ink’s grey-green gives off an old-and-worn vibe that fits the desperation of the decrepit king, with the red-pink shimmer symbolizing his descent into madness. Again, Waeringeul delivers an ink that completely fits my personal taste. This pale and muted grey-green ink is really beautiful, giving off a firm vintage vibe. It instantly reminded me of J. Herbin Vert Empire that gives me a similar feel. The colours are fairly different though, with this King Lear being a much greyer-looking ink (see also related inks). Like other Wearingeul inks, this one also writes with sub-par lubrication, making it a bad ink for dry pens where the writing feel is fairly scratchy. Although the ink is pale and undersaturated, it still manages to provide sufficient contrast with the paper in most pens. But its sweet spot is definitely a wet writer with a finer nib, and this for two reasons: 1/ the increased ink flow of a wet pen compensates for King Lear’s sub-par lubrication, and 2/ you get a more saturated line which keeps the otherwise heavy shading of this ink under control. Again a beautifully complex ink for the ink connoisseur who is willing to spend some time to discover that perfect combination of pen/nib/paper where the ink shows its full glory. Wearingeul King Lear writes fairly light and unsaturated, and needs a wet pen to compensate for this. Surprisingly, contrast is quite ok even when using a dry-writing pen. Not so for lubrication, which is terrible when combined with a dry writer, resulting in unpleasant and scratchy writing. Using a wet pen solves the lubrication issue, and also increases the ink’s saturation. This combination is what the ink needs to truly blossom. King Lear works with a wide range of papers, and looks good on both white and more creamy ones. Personally, I prefer this ink on slightly off-white paper like Midori – absolutely beautiful. To illustrate the colour span of this Wearingeul ink, I did a swab on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. King Lear shows a moderately wide saturation range, from a wispy grey-green up to a much more saturated version that still maintains that vintage feeling grey-green colour. This wide contrast range makes it a strong shader, especially with dry writers that lean towards the left side of the contrast range. On the smudge test – rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab – the ink behaved perfectly. There is no visible smearing at all. Water resistance is exceptionally good for a dye-based ink. The ink’s grey base colour remains firmly attached to the paper and can survive even longer exposures to water. Definitely an ink that can survive an accident. With its serious looks it won’t be out-of-place at the office, and make for a nice change from more traditional blacks and blues. I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap of paper I show you: An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation An ink scribble made with my M-nib Lamy Safari The name of the paper used, written with a B-nib Lamy Safari A small text sample, written with a wet writing M-nib Pelikan M120 Source of the quote, written with a Lamy Dialog 3 with M gold nib Drying times of the ink on the paper, with the M-nib Lamy Safari King Lear works almost flawlessly with all my test papers. I did notice though that the ink’s low lubrication shows more on very smooth and hard-surface paper: the nib doesn’t glide well and you need more force to draw the pen across the paper. Wet pens tend to compensate for this, but I still liked the writing feel better on the more absorbent papers that draw more ink from the nib. The ink can handle both pure white and cream-coloured paper, but it’s the slightly off-white paper where the aesthetics work best. The ink looks absolutely stunning on e.g. Midori paper. I used photos for the writing samples above to get the most accurate results. In scans, the contrast is exaggerated and the ink’s colour loses much of its punch. See the scanned image below: Below you’ll find some zoomed-in parts of writing samples. Notice the high shading contrast in the paper names, which were written with a dry Lamy Safari (B-nib). With wet pens, shading gets much more subtle, which I personally prefer. Writing with different nib sizes The photo below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing (written on Rhodia N°16 80 gsm paper). The initial lines were written with Lamy Safaris. The ink looks a bit undersaturated, but contrast is good enough to make for easy reading. Unfortunately, dry pens and low lubrication don’t work together well: the writing feel with the Safari is not good! Using a wet pen solves problems all over the board: saturation increases, flow and writing feel improve dramatically, and shading becomes more aesthetically pleasing. My personal favourite is the wet Pelikan M120 with M-nib, which shows off this King Lear in all its glory. Related inks To compare this Wearingeul King Lear with related inks, I use my nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test – all in a very compact format. King Lear stands on its own among its peers. J. Herbin Vert Empire has a similar vibe, but cannot compete with the grey-ness of this King Lear. Inkxperiment – lost and FOUND (part 2) As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing. I really enjoy the couple of hours I spend on these monochrome little paintings – experimenting with the ink and discovering all the shades that can be extracted from it. Inspiration for this drawing comes from the Witcher 3 game I’m currently playing, with a Mountain Troll chasing after a damsel in distress. In this second drawing the flesh-devouring monster has FOUND the fair maiden. Too bad that she climbed into a high tower – out of reach from the hungry troll. I started with an A4 piece of HP photo paper. I first used some washi tape and a paper mask to cover parts of the drawing. Next, I drew in the central background with water-diluted ink applied through a kitchen towel. Left and right parts were coloured in with cotton swabs. Finally I drew in the young woman with a fine brush, and added some finishing touches with pure King Lear. The resulting picture shows what can be achieved with this Wearingeul ink in a more artistic context. This grey-green ink surely is a dream to draw with! With this drawing, the two-part “Lost and Found” mini-series of drawings is complete. Below you see them side by side. These two pieces nicely complement each other: both muted, soft-toned colours with heavy grey undertones. Inkxpired – computational art I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper. I started by using a “focal zoom” filter centered on the fair maiden, that softened up the picture a bit. Next I used an over-exposure filter, and brightened the colours. The result is similar to the computational troll version. The original inkxperiment drawing looks better though. Conclusion Wearingeul King Lear is a winner in my book: a beautiful grey-green that gives off a strong vintage vibe – a faded and toned-down look that I personally find truly wonderful. The ink’s lubrication is not so good, but that’s easily compensated for with a wet-writing pen. And for artwork, this King Lear is definitely a winner. Another great ink from Wearingeul! Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari M-nib Backside of writing samples on different paper types

Wearingeul – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer I’m sure I have more than enough inks already, but sometimes an opportunity rises to explore a new brand that wasn’t on my radar before. A couple of weeks ago Scrittura Elegante – a stationery shop from the Netherlands – announced that they would stop their business. Definitely a sad thing: this lovely little webshop carried some interesting and lesser-known brands, with Wearingeul being one of them. They started a sale to empty the warehouse, and I took this opportunity to place a final order, loading up on a couple of Wearingeul inks. Wearingeul is a stationery brand from South Korea, that gets its inspiration from arts & literature. In their own words: “We re-interpret novels and poetry with colors. You can find characteristic inks with stories and also notes/papers which are suitable for ink users.” For my very first experience with the Wearingeul brand, I decided to go with a green ink – “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (Mark Twain). And boy, was I pleasantly surprised! This ink’s colour is right up my alley... a muted, toned-down, pale grey-green that looks stunningly beautiful. It’s soft on the eyes, looks really delicate and shows lots of depth and complexity. Also an ink with a few quirks, that you need to get familiar with, and one that demands the right pen/nib/paper combination. For my part, I’m completely enamoured of this pale green beauty. It’s my loveliest discovery of the year! The Adventures of Tom Sawyer writes very light but is still quite readable. For me, the end-result works, with a soft & delicate look on the page. A really nice ink for personal journaling. The ink writes with fairly low lubrication in dry pens (like the Safari), and is therefore best paired with wet writers. I also enjoy it most with fine-nibbed pens: these tend to concentrate the ink on a smaller surface, making it look just a bit more saturated. You get less shading, but that’s a plus for this ink because its shading tends to be a bit too extreme and needs some taming. For this review, I had to resort exclusively to photos: my scanner greatly exaggerated the contrast between light & darker parts, and the results were definitely not what the eye sees. To illustrate the colour span of this Wearingeul ink, I did a swab on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer shows a very wide saturation range, from a wispy pale grey-green up to a saturated grey-green with blue undertones. Due to this wide contrast range, the ink is a strong shader. Not really suited for dry-writing pens that lean towards the left side of the range – shading can become too extreme, with the light strokes showing insufficient contrast to their darker counterparts. For me, the ink looks best with fine-nibbed wet pens, that explore the right side of the saturation range. With these, the ink looks superb and shows great aesthetics. On the smudge test – rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab – the ink behaved perfectly. There is no visible smearing at all. Water reisistance is also remarkably good. A lot of the colour dissipates, but a light blue line remains that is still perfectly legible. Well done! That is much better than most non-waterproof inks. This is also evident from the bottom part of the chromatography. The chroma also clearly shows the complex mix of dyes that constitute this ink. Fascinating! I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap of paper I show you: An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation An ink scribble made with a Lamy Safari M-nib fountain pen The name of the paper used, written with a Lamy Safari B-nib A small text sample, written with an Esterbrook Estie with Journaler nib Source of the quote, written with an Edison Collier with 1.1 nib Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib Safari) This Tom Sawyer ink writes fairly scratchy in my Safari pens with subpar lubrication. It really needs wet writers. Furthermore, I prefer the ink’s looks when paired with fine-nibbed pens – they tone down the otherwise a bit too heavy shading. This Wearingeul ink can handle all types of paper. It even writes well on Moleskine: no visible feathering, and just a touch of bleed-through. From my writing tests, I also discovered that the ink works best on rougher-surface paper. You get a thinner & sharper line! With very smooth coated paper, the ink spreads out a bit on the surface, resulting in a broader line with less defined edges, and it just doesn’t look at its best. Like I hinted at before: a quirky ink that you need to get acquainted with. I used photos for the writing samples above to get the most accurate results. In scans, the contrast gets blown up, and looks totally unrealistic – see the scan below. My scanner really messed this one up! Writing with different nib sizes The photo below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing (written on Rhodia N°16 80 gsm paper). The initial lines were written with Lamy Safaris. The EF and F concentrated the ink, and worked remarkably well (although lubrication is quite horrible). But M and above with the dry-writing Safari result in too harsh a contrast, and mess up the inherent beauty of the ink. I therefore added a couple of wetter-writing visiting pens. This Tom Sawyer ink is definitely a tricky one – you need to hunt for the right pen/nib combination. The ink looks great in the Estie with journaler nib (basically an M-based stub), and the Collier with 1.1 nib. Searching for this goldilocks combination is definitely worth the effort though: you are rewarded with a great-looking result – pale grey-green, pastel-toned, soft and delicate. Related inks To compare this Wearingeul with related inks, I use my nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test – all in a very compact format. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fairly close to fumisome chorlophyll – these are definitely related. The ink is quite different from the other grey-greens in my collection. Inkxperiment – Christmas Trees As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing. For me, that’s where the fun starts: experimenting with the ink to see how it behaves in a more artistic context. I love doing these little drawings – always good for a fun couple of hours. Since it’s almost Christmas, I just had to do an inkxperiment that fits this time of the year. So I decided to draw a Christmas tree. And although I can appreciate the dressed-up versions that have entered many people’s houses, I do enjoy the trees more in their natural habitat where they create an oasis of tranquility. There are some pine tree woods just around the corner from where I live, and I enjoy an evening walk there to decompress after a long day. I started with an A4 piece of HP photo paper. I drew in the background with cotton swabs, starting with heavily water-diluted ink, and gradually adding more ink to the mix. I then used a brush to draw in the trees, starting with heavily diluted ink for the background, and moving toward pure Tom Sawyer for the trees in the foreground. To complete the drawing, I added the man and his dog walking through the woods, and the couple of birds in the distance. The resulting picture shows really well what can be achieved with this Wearingeul ink in a more artistic context. A very fine ink to draw with, and one that hides a whole range of shades that can be extracted from it. Nice! Inkxpired – computational art I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper, and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper. I started by using a neon filter to darken up the original scene. I then used a colour filter to add some contrast and brighten up the result a bit. This created a night-time variant of the original inkxperiment. Finally, I removed the birds from the drawing (it just felt wrong with these birds flying around at night). Conclusion Wearingeul The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a beautiful ink – a delicate and pale grey green that looks so lovely. Not an easy ink though! Don’t expect to just plop it in a pen and get good results. No, this is an ink you need to get intimate with, learn to know it … and once you do, it rewards you with some spectacular results. A wonderful discovery, and one of the nicest inks I’ve tried this year. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Backside of writing samples on different paper types

I ordered a sample of #49 alongside my bottle of #45, just to check it out. Both are rich, complex inks, but #45 is so severe that, if you're looking for a Grey-green, #49 might be an option worth looking at? Here's to mysteries worth exploring!

J.Herbin - Vert Empire La Société Herbin, Maître Cirier à Paris, was established in 1670. This makes J. Herbin probably the oldest name among European ink makers. Today, Herbin produces a range of beautiful fountain pen and calligraphy inks, writing instruments, gift sets and accessories. Herbin inks are made in France, and the finishing touches on the bottles are still done by hand in Paris. Recently, I've been looking into Herbin's "La Perle des Encres" series. I've had my eye on "Vert Empire" for some time now, and decided it's time for a review of this ink. Vert Empire is a terrific grey-green ink, that's right up my alley. Muted, subdued, greyish... yummy! The ink's colour has to be seen to be fully appreciated - the scans in this review don't do it full justice. This ink has the cunning ability to change character with the available lighting: sometimes showing off a more yellow-green hue (under artificial light), and at other times appearing almost as a pure grey. The scans in this review capture reasonably well the way the ink appears in normal daylight. This is an ink that immediately appealed to me. A tranquil colour, full of character, and with heavy grey undertones that give the ink a vintage vibe. The ink looks beautiful on all paper types, with good contrast even with finer nibs. Shading is very present even in finer nibs, but remains aesthetically elegant. I really like the looks of this ink - a prime candidate for my top three of 2019. The ink has quite satisfactory lubrication, even in drier pens like my Lamy Safari. With my wetter Pelikan pens the ink is very well saturated, and writes like a dream. Vert Empire also has a broad colour span. To illustrate this, I did a swab on Tomoe River paper where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. This beautifully illustrates the ink's wide colour range. This J. Herbin ink moves effortlessly from a very light grey-green to a very dark, almost black green. On the smudge test - rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab - the ink behaved perfectly with almost no smearing. Water resistance is a bit disappointing though. The ink loses all colour, but still leaves behind a perfectly readable light-grey ghost image of your writing. Not great, but your writings will be recoverable. This is also apparent from the lower part of the chromatography, which shows that the grey components of the ink remain on the paper. This is an ink that might still be at home in the workplace. Vert Empire is also a fast-drying ink - with typical drying times in the 5-10 second range with my Lamy Safari (M-nib). I was surprised at this, because it totally feels like a really wet ink. As such, this ink might also be suitable for lefties. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap of paper I show you: An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation An ink scribble made with a Lamy Safari M-nib fountain pen The name of the paper used, written with a Lamy Safari B-nib A small text sample, written with an M-nib Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib) Vert Empire looks really nice on both white and more yellowish papers. On low-quality paper (yes that's you, Moleskine) it exhibits a small amount of feathering, but all-in-all not too bad. With Moleskine paper, there is significant show-through and a bit of bleed-through - not unexpected for this fountain-pen unfriendly paper. Writing with different nib sizes The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing. All samples were written with a Lamy Safari, which is typically a dry pen. I also added a visiting pen - a wet Pelikan M120 with an M-nib. Here the ink leaves a very saturated line. As you can see, Vert Empire manages to look really nice in all nib sizes, with great contrast and elegant shading. Nice. Related inks To allow for a good comparison with related inks, I employ a nine-grid format, with the currently reviewed ink at the center. Each grid cell shows the name of the ink, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test - all in a very compact format. Inkxperiment - Mining Tower As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I'm reviewing. I find this to be a fun extension of the hobby, and these single-ink drawings often present a real challenge. It also gives you an idea of what the ink is capable of in a more artistic setting. For this drawing I used 300 gsm rough watercolour paper. For my topic, I went back to the industrial heritage of my home town (Genk, Belgium), where the last coal-mine shut down in 1988. The mining tower is now the centerpiece of a lively cultural complex. I started off with heavily water-diluted ink to paint in the background. I then used mildly diluted Vert Empire to draw the mining tower and foreground. Final highlights were added with a broad-nibbed fountain pen filled with Vert Empire. The end result gives you a good idea of the colour span that Vert Empire is capable of. Conclusion J. Herbin Vert Empire is a truly great ink, that pleasantly surprised me on all fronts: georgeous grey-leaning green colour, beautiful shading, good saturation - and all this even in finer nibs. Even better, the ink is relatively fast-drying and works well with all paper types. Combine all this, and you've got a winner. This ink went straight to my top three for 2019 ! I heartily recommend it. Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Backside of writing samples on different paper types

Papier Plume - Streetcar Green (New Orleans Collection) Papier Plume is a stationary shop in New Orleans, that’s been getting some attention lately on this forum with their "New Orleans Inks", that celebrate the rich colours and history of the city. One of their inks in this series is Streetcar Green, a grey-green with a unique personality. Fellow member ManofKent was so kind to send me a sample to play around with – thank you Richard! Be sure to check out his excellent review, and also the reviews of visvamitra and Jackokun. Highly recommended! Streetcar Green is a grey-green ink that really attracted me. For one - it is a subtle and understated colour, easy on the eye, with a dusty old feeling. For another - it is an ink that shades really well, in an aesthetically pleasing way. The shading is really noticeable, but it works great with not too much of a contrast between the light and darker parts. Personally I find this ink's appearance really attractive. Nicely executed! I do find the ink to be a bit undersaturated - this is clearly visible in swabs, which turn out to be very light on most papers. It's also apparent in finer nibs, where I find that the contrast with the paper is not strong enough. This is an ink that loves broad or wet nibs, that result in a more saturated line, bringing out the best in this ink. Below you'll find a writing sample with my drier Safari M and B nib, and the wet golden M-nib of a Pelikan M400. It's obvious that Streetcar Green prefers the broad & wet nibs. On the smudge test - rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab - this Papier Plume ink behaved perfectly with no apparent smearing. Water resistance is also remarkably good! A 15-minute droplet test left almost all the ink in place. And even with running tap water an easily legible residue of the text remains. The ink's water resistance is demonstrated clearly in the chromatography, which shows that the ink's grey components remain in place when coming into contact with water. If you need a water-resistant ink, Streetcar Green won't disappoint. I've tested the ink on a wide variety of paper - from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap 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)Streetcar Green behaved perfectly on most of the papers I used, only with Moleskine there was a tiny amount of feathering. Be aware that the ink doesn't look too good on yellowish paper (green ink on yellow paper is not a good combination in my opinion). There are also some papers where the ink looks extra nice, a.o. OCM cotton paper, Paperblanks & Tomoe River paper. The ink dries quickly - in the 5 to 10 second range - making it a good ink to use at the office. At the end of the review, I also show the back-side of the different paper types, in the same order. The ink behaved superbly on most papers. Only with Moleskine and Graf von Faber Castell, significant show-through and some bleed-through were present. Streetcar Green is a well-behaving ink. Conclusion Streetcar Green from Papier Plume is a charming green-grey ink - dusty and understated, with a vintage feel to it. For me, the colour is right up my alley, although I would have preferred a bit more saturation. Be sure to use a broad or wet nib to bring out the personality of this ink. Being water-resistant and fast-drying, Streetcar Green is also well placed for use in an office environment. Overall, I find it to be an excellent ink, that scores well on both looks and performance. Recommended! Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib Backside of writing samples on different paper types