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I don't generally write about inks, but I like to post daily instagram entries, each featuring a different ink. I've never met the woman behind this ink, but she's a good pen buddy of mine via the interwebz. Recently she started a Kickstarter project for a new Tomoe River notebook made with the heavier 68 gsm paper. There are still 15 days to go in the project (see https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2016143253/hippo-noto-a-hippo-size-tomoe-paper-notebook?ref=project_share if you're interested.) I'm a dedicated journaller, but what intrigued me most was that she somehow got an exclusive ink from Robert Oster to complement the notebook. There's a good story behind the name of the ink: Hippo Purple and the notebook: Hippo Noto, and the ink turns out to be just perfect for that. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a sample of the ink associated with this project and it turns out to be exactly the color of a hippopotamus. I seriously can't draw, but even my little sketch, filled in with the ink, is really reminiscent of all the hours of nature videos I've watched with my daughter. I should have tried to draw in a river and some rushes, or something, but such as it is, I thought I'd post my pictures of the ink. I'm sure there will be many better reviews when the project ships, but here's an early look. I've included the chromatography strip I made, which has a surprising rainbow of colors behind the brownish purple. There is a lot of shading in this ink, though I don't detect a lot of sheen. Now I can't wait to get my hands on the notebook to go with it.