Blackstone Blue Gum (Scented)

[Jamerelbe]

A few months ago now, I received a surprise parcel in the mail - a set of ink samples from Kevin Watson of Just Write Pens / Blackstone Inks. Kevin explained that he was creating a new range of inks - 'Scents of Australia' - to supplement the existing 'Colours of Australia' line.

 

Only one of the prototypes made it unchanged into the final lineup, and Kevin gave me permission to post a (p)review of the ink on FPN: Blackstone Australian Bush, a kind of eucalyptusy dark green with yellow overtones (check it out at https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/321420-blackstone-australian-bush-a-preview/).

 

Here's a visual of the bottles (minus Australian Bush):

 

http://i.imgur.com/LE5ZB3E.jpg

 

An additional five inks were slated for release - and as of mid-June (the time I'm posting these reviews), the inks are ready to be released. Kevin kindly sent me full 30ml bottles of the five new inks - with permission both to test and to post reviews. I want to be up-front in acknowledging I haven't paid for these inks - but as with his previous releases, I've been really impressed with their colour, saturation and performance. Thus far, none of the 6 new inks show the problems I encountered early on with Uluru and, to a lesser extent, Daintree - both of which showed a tendency to become 'stringy' due to problems with the lubricant. These inks are well-behaved, smooth-flowing, richly coloured, and beautifully scented - and, in the case of the blue inks, are prone to produce a wonderful reddish sheen.

 

Without further ado, here's a scan and photo of the first of these inks - Blue Gum:

 

http://i.imgur.com/7UEJ00L.jpg

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/VrjLe0J.jpg

 

 

These inks aren't particularly waterfast - here's a 'live' photo of the water test:

 

http://i.imgur.com/kKSeAAF.jpg

 

And here's a visual of four of the inks on Tomoe River paper - note the sheen on the blue/green inks:

 

http://i.imgur.com/1cJLhCk.jpg

 

I'm really pleased with how these inks have turned out, and wish Kevin every success in producing and distributing them. Any questions you'd like to ask about the inks, I'm more than happy to answer!

[visvamitra]

Cool review. I'm eager to see Wild Orange review

[Jamerelbe]

Cool review. I'm eager to see Wild Orange review

 

No worries - I'll pop it up next!

[lgsoltek]

Hmm, Wild Orange looks like a low saturation orange, which is a nope for me...

[Jamerelbe]

Hmm, Wild Orange looks like a low saturation orange, which is a nope for me...

 

I think that's more a reflection of the pen I was using - it's actually a fairly strong colour! Check out the review I've just posted...

[Jamerelbe]

Please forgive the poor quality - here's a sample of the sheen available with a very wet (flex) pen:

 

http://i.imgur.com/HGtxNuZ.jpg

[Uncial]

Thanks. I worked my way through your reviews of these and they all look pretty good to me.

[Jamerelbe]

Thanks. I worked my way through your reviews of these and they all look pretty good to me.

 

Thanks for the feedback - I like them a lot too (and not only because they were provided for free !). I like the fact that these aren't 'classic' or 'standard' colours, for the most part - and though I would never buy an ink solely for the scent, the scents on these inks are pretty appealing.

[Jamerelbe]

For anyone who's interested, the full range of Blackstone Scents of Australia inks is available at http://justwrite.com.au/. I believe they should soon be available (if they're not already) from their American and European distributors too.

[NicolausPiscator]

Cool review. I'm eager to see Wild Orange review

 

Jup! Me, too!

[NicolausPiscator]

This colour make a strange impression on me: is it a dark blue, black blue and the more I look at it the more I see teal and turquoise - maybe it is because I have been sitting in front of the computer the whole day. However... Thank you! I will now certainly order some of the Blackstone inks.

[Newjelan]

I think this is my favourite.

[ManofKent]

I like the look of this one. Thank you.

[cleosmama]

I like the red sheen. Until I saw that, it looked a lot like De Atramentis Blue Plum.

[Jamerelbe]

I think this is my favourite too: I really enjoy the Red Kunzea and Wild Orange, but it's hard (for me) to go past the deep rich blue (with a hint of green), with the red sheen the icing on the cake!

[amberleadavis]

OOOO OOOOOO Thank you.