Search the Community

In addition to the regular line of inks Akkerman in The Hague now offers a range of 'Dutch Masters' inks. Though the bottle says 'limited colors collection'I cannot find a reference to what the limited stands for (limited edition, limited range of colours,...), and I forgot to ask. I'm fortunate that the shop is just a short train ride from my home, so I could have a look at the ink before buying. Here is my review of the ink (bear with me, it's my first review). Sorry for the handwriting The bottle is the larger, non-faceted version. Just like the smaller bottles for the regular addition it uses a small chamber in the neck closed off with a marble. I love these bottles: it's so easy to fill even large-nibbed pens from them (and, by the time I get that far, allow you to get the last of the ink out of the bottle). It's already apparent that the ink contains a fair amount of purple (more so than blue). http://i.imgur.com/cZmScGsl.jpg The ink is wet, and in combination with a wet pen, puts down a very dark line. I would not label this colour as a stormy blue; it might describe a storm cloud just before a heavy thunderstorm. I do like the colour, and it's a welcome addition to the collection. It's a well-behaved ink: wet, lubricating, no feathering or spreading. It shows some shading potential, but needs a drier pen to see that. Drying times are pretty long, certainly on Clairefontaine DCP paper, but on more absorbent paper a wet line will still take quite a while to dry. Once the ink is dried, it is smear resistant. Sorry the only other blues I've inked up at the moment are other Akkerman inks. Addition regarding bleed through/showthrough. After the setting up the report I noticed some showthrough on the white Clairefontaine paper, on the Leuchtturm no such thing. (click on thumbnails for larger view) http://i.imgur.com/jdbKrCzl.jpg?1 The water drip test water drops for 1 min on paper (after that blotted, and see above). Again: once the ink is dry it seems to be http://i.imgur.com/wlCpA3Ut.jpg On leuchtturm paper: http://i.imgur.com/3wsxDqLm.jpg Now the last thing left to do is to go to the Rijksmuseum to see the original painting.... Link to a picture of the painting: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksstudio/artists/jacob-isaacksz-van-ruisdael/objects#/SK-C-211,0