EFNIR: Van Dieman's Ink Eggplant

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, InesF said:

Hi @LizEF!

Thank you for this ink introduction and for one more glimpse at the ever growing story!

You're very welcome.

 

1 hour ago, InesF said:

Doesn't matter if called Eggplant or Aubergine, these are among my most favorite inks.

Yes, they're growing on me. I particularly like this and R&K Aubergine.

 

1 hour ago, InesF said:

My opinion is surprisingly often similar to yours - as it is this time: purple inks, indeed, suffer a lot from all those nasty absorbent papers!  😉

Thank you for the confirmation!  Of course, it often surprises me when someone who's just paid more than $100 for a fountain pen wants to know where they can find dirt-cheap FP-friendly paper, or an ink that "doesn't feather on the worst possible paper". If you've got that much money to blow on a pen, why not also spend a reasonable amount on good paper and pick whatever ink you like?  Baffles me every time.  (These are pretty common requests on reddit's r/fountainpens.)  I wonder if magic ink feathers...  I'll have to feed that into my subconscious and see what it comes up with.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Well, reddit...

 

On the other hand, I am just now beginning to realize what a huge difference pen, paper, AND ink, in varying combos, can make.  It's like a roulette game.  

[LizEF]

17 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Well, reddit...

 

18 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

On the other hand, I am just now beginning to realize what a huge difference pen, paper, AND ink, in varying combos, can make.  It's like a roulette game.  

It is an adventure, exploring all the rooms in the warren. I think I was fortunate in the beginning - one of our number sending me several ink samples, and me buying Goulet's "paper sampler" (cuz who wouldn't want all those adorable mini notebooks!) - taught me quickly how ink and paper changed the experience.

 

Hmm.  Maybe there are multiple magic inks, and multiple magic notebooks, each doing a different thing.  Quin & Makhabesh may need a magic pen case...

[InesF]

On 12/4/2021 at 3:41 PM, LizEF said:

Of course, it often surprises me when someone who's just paid more than $100 for a fountain pen wants to know where they can find dirt-cheap FP-friendly paper, or an ink that "doesn't feather on the worst possible paper". If you've got that much money to blow on a pen, why not also spend a reasonable amount on good paper and pick whatever ink you like? 

Indeed @LizEF.

When fully committing to fountain pens (I signed my credit card with a fountain pen with non-waterproof ink!), there are so many situation where a wet ink in medium or broader nib will fail. When I can chose the paper (dairy, calendar, notes, drawing, ...) I can adapt with the pen/ink combination. But when I'm forced to fill a form sheet that somebody else has printed on cheap copy paper, I can't adapt in the situation.

So many years I always carried two fountain pens with me, one with the preferred ink for good paper and another one adjusted for the nasty situations. Unfortunately, the use of the most liked purple inks is limited. 😪

[LizEF]

23 minutes ago, InesF said:

I can adapt with the pen/ink combination. But when I'm forced to fill a form sheet that somebody else has printed on cheap copy paper, I can't adapt in the situation.

So many years I always carried two fountain pens with me, one with the preferred ink for good paper and another one adjusted for the nasty situations.

Japanese F nib and Sailor Seiboku has always been my solution for other people's paper.   Of course, I tend toward finer nibs anyway (Japanese and western F are my preferred, with the occasional use of my Lamy stub nib for fun).  And yeah, unless you want the text to look hairy (which might actually be entertaining in some situations¹), purple is out for that pen.

 

¹I'm envisioning an overly-strict administrative type bringing back my form to complain about the feathers (not even knowing to call them that), and me acting all shocked and outraged, demanding to know what they did to my writing!  In a doctor's office, loudly questioning whether that's contagious might create a stir.  Or calmly saying, "Oh, so that's what Ebola looks like on paper.  Fascinating.  Can I see it under magnification?"  Or: "Oh, I had no idea my leprosy could infect ink."  (OK, the real me wouldn't do any of that, but my imagination sure enjoys envisioning the scene.)

[InesF]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Or calmly saying, "Oh, so that's what Ebola looks like on paper.  Fascinating.  Can I see it under magnification?"

In my imagination, I can see the other patients faces ...

ROFL

[LizEF]

19 minutes ago, InesF said:

In my imagination, I can see the other patients faces ...

ROFL

[namrehsnoom]

Thanks for the review. I like the colour, but not enough to go out of my way to find it (already have more than enough purples). Curious about the brand though… at first look not easily available in the EU.

[LizEF]

22 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

Thanks for the review. I like the colour, but not enough to go out of my way to find it (already have more than enough purples). Curious about the brand though… at first look not easily available in the EU.

You're very welcome.  Can't help with availability in the EU, sorry.

[InesF]

On 12/8/2021 at 6:57 PM, namrehsnoom said:

at first look not easily available in the EU.

My first set of 6 bottles I ordered directly from deAtramentis (https://www.de-atramentis.com/en/ink-inks-/). But they are also available in art stores. And, they are among the cheaper inks in Europe!

 

Edit: damm, I mismatched. The Van Diemans inks are hard to get!

Edited December 10, 2021 by InesF
mismatch ofnames

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

I mismatched

So many eggplants, it's hard to keep them all straight.  And De Atramentis like to give each ink multiple names, to keep us confused.

 

Meanwhile, found this in the dictionary¹:

eggplant:

1. the purple egg-shaped fruit of a tropical Old World plant, which is eaten as a vegetable.

    a dark purple color like the skin of an eggplant.

2. the large plant of the nightshade family that bears the eggplant fruit.

3. (of a female bird, insect, reptile, or amphibian) produce (an egg) from inside the body.

 

¹ Two-thirds of that statement are true, actually, it's all true, just not all in the same location...

[LizEF]

Here's the line width measurement. The line is one of those used for dry time.  Magnification is 100x.  The grid is 100x100µm.  The scale is 300µm, with ten divisions of 30µm each.  The line width for this ink is roughly 315µm.