Octopus Write & Draw Brown Seahorse

[yazeh]

Octopus Write & Draw – Brown Seahorse

 

This is a gorgeous, complex grey/brown with hints of burgundy, a match made in heaven for a dry pen and Japanese paper.

Unfortunalty, I misplaced the chroma, but if it's any indication of the Octopus write & draw inks, it's a single dye component.  

 

It is very wet, well lubricated, and is one of the fastest drying inks, I ever used, which explains why there’s some bleed through /ghosting on Rhodia, even more so than on Hammermill! 

 

Writing Samples:

I used respectively a Sheaffer Targe F reverse, Lamy Safari and for the final flex lines I used a Kanwrite Desire with an Ahab semi flex nib and for the name of the author I used the Sheaffer Targa, which has a semi-flex nib. 

 

Photo:

Too my eyes, ink in more elegant with a drier pen that brings out the complexity and shading only on Japanese paper.

There’s a hint of silver sheen/ reflection, under led lights, like most Octopus Write and Draw inks. 

Here you can see how it reflects on Iroful paper. Please note that the camera exaggerates the "sheen". This is only seen under certain angles with artificial lighting. 

 

 

Comparison:

 

Water test:

Left side 10 seconds under running water. 

 

Art Work:

This was a quick sketch on a Talens Pocket sketchbook. 

 

Jacques Herbin Turquoise de Perse

Noodler's Lexingtion Gray

 

 

 

·      Pens used: Sheaffer Targa F (reverse), Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Kanwrite Desire with Ahab nib

·      What I liked: Colour. 

·      What I did not like: Bleed through on c 

·       What some might not like: Bleed through on Rhodia. It loves most Japanese paper.  

·      Shading: Yes, on Japanese paper. 

·      Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper, Rhodia. 

·      Bleed through: Same as above. 

·      Flow Rate: Very Wet

·      Lubrication: Lovely. 

·      Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

·      Start-up:  Ok

·      Saturation:  Not saturated. 

·      Shading Potential: Japanese Paper. 

·      Sheen: Faint silver sheen on Japanese Paper, like most Octopus inks, under artificial light.

·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. 

·      Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice.

·      Staining (pen): No. 

·      Clogging: Did not notice.

·      Cleaning: It's a pigment ink, so you might need a cleaning solution. I had to use one for the targa.

·      Water resistance: Excellent. 

·      Availability:  50 ml bottles, 

 

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier  

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

That's an interesting color.  Not really seeing the red except on the swab (on my screen it's more of a sepia tone -- not that that's a bad thing, mind).  The fast dry time is an added bonus.   And LOVE the "joust" drawing!

This is one I'd have to think about.  Thank you as usual for the comprehensive review (my wallet, of course is saying OTHERWISE.... ).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

27 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

That's an interesting color.  Not really seeing the red except on the swab (on my screen it's more of a sepia tone -- not that that's a bad thing, mind).  

You're absolutely write about the red. As I do my reviews in advance, I write my impressions, write away. The problem is that by the time, I post my review, I've forgotten why I wrote what I wrote  

27 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

 

The fast dry time is an added bonus.   And LOVE the "joust" drawing!

Thank you. There's another version of the joust drawing, with different inks here:

27 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

This is one I'd have to think about.  Thank you as usual for the comprehensive review (my wallet, of course is saying OTHERWISE.... ).

Thanks and sorry for the wallet  Btw, how did the driveway turn out?

[LizEF]

This looks like a very nice brown.  The attempts at bleeding through the paper aren't so likeable, though...  That second quote is lovely.

 

Ah, the photo shows the hint of burgundy, but just a hint.  And holy sheen, Batman!   (Camera exaggeration or no, is still quite impressive.)

 

Love those swatch cards.   And that water test drawing is fantastic!!  Very fun.  Go, Mousey!   Oh, and even more fun drawing - seahorse jousting!   (Love the green one, too!)

 

Great review, @yazeh, of a very likeable ink.

[yazeh]

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

This looks like a very nice brown. 

It is

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

The attempts at bleeding through the paper aren't so likeable, though... 

Yep. I was surprised too. It's not for Rhodia but for Japanese paper

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

That second quote is lovely.

Sadly so. It was written by one of the youngest victims of Hiroshima 😿

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Ah, the photo shows the hint of burgundy, but just a hint.  And holy sheen, Batman!   (Camera exaggeration or no, is still quite impressive.)

 

That's the combination of Iroful and led light for you. I've noticed that sheen is most prominent with artificial light, especially led. If I take the same photo at the window, there would't be much sheen

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Love those swatch cards.   And that water test drawing is fantastic!!  Very fun.  Go, Mousey!  

Thanks! Hopefully @InesF would be appeased as cat was "wearing" waterproof ink  

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Oh, and even more fun drawing - seahorse jousting!   (Love the green one, too!)

Thanks! The greet one is 10 times the size of the original, to give you an idea of size

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Great review, @yazeh, of a very likeable ink.

Thanks Milady

[inkstainedruth]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thanks and sorry for the wallet  Btw, how did the driveway turn out?

Arrrggh.  At the moment?  it HASN'T.  GRRRRR.   And with bad weather (supercold temperatures and snow) coming in?  Gonna be at LEAST another week before they can start pouring concrete... 😡 -- and I'm gonna be out there making sure they ACTUALL put the "well" retainers around the basement windows -- as originally promised (when I brought that up a few weeks ago, one guy told me that would cut into the driveway -- OH BOO HOO...).  The one bright side is that we don't have to worry about juggling cars over alternate side parking a couple of days a week until I think the beginning of April....  

If these people had come ON TIME (and now I'm wondering what screwups they did on PREVIOUS jobs) this would have been over and done with.  But the "five days" we were originally told is looking more like five WEEKS -- and the retaining wall we suddenly needed (which means that "Bob" -- the guy who originally gave us the estimate?  Is either a crook or an idiot... or both!   He better be out here when the work is finished....   Because the wall basically DOUBLED the price of the job.... [insert a long string of swear words here....].  My husband doesn't want me to say anything to them until the work is finished, for fear they'll just leave.  But when it's done?  Yelp! and possibly the PA AG's Consumer Division are gonna get an EARFUL about this FUBAR....  Not even bothering with the BBB because we'd likely be told that "They're a member in good standing" -- meaning they pay their dues to the BBB on time and in full) or that "They aren't affiliated with the BBB" -- meaning that the BBB can't do ANYTHING.  

OTOH?  THE PA AG's Consumer people actually have TEETH....  Heh heh....  That's something I learned from my mom DECADES ago.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

9 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Arrrggh.  At the moment?  it HASN'T.  GRRRRR.   And with bad weather (supercold temperatures and snow) coming in?  Gonna be at LEAST another week before they can start pouring concrete... 😡 -- and I'm gonna be out there making sure they ACTUALL put the "well" retainers around the basement windows -- as originally promised (when I brought that up a few weeks ago, one guy told me that would cut into the driveway -- OH BOO HOO...).  The one bright side is that we don't have to worry about juggling cars over alternate side parking a couple of days a week until I think the beginning of April....  

If these people had come ON TIME (and now I'm wondering what screwups they did on PREVIOUS jobs) this would have been over and done with.  But the "five days" we were originally told is looking more like five WEEKS -- and the retaining wall we suddenly needed (which means that "Bob" -- the guy who originally gave us the estimate?  Is either a crook or an idiot... or both!   He better be out here when the work is finished....   Because the wall basically DOUBLED the price of the job.... [insert a long string of swear words here....].  My husband doesn't want me to say anything to them until the work is finished, for fear they'll just leave.  But when it's done?  Yelp! and possibly the PA AG's Consumer Division are gonna get an EARFUL about this FUBAR....  Not even bothering with the BBB because we'd likely be told that "They're a member in good standing" -- meaning they pay their dues to the BBB on time and in full) or that "They aren't affiliated with the BBB" -- meaning that the BBB can't do ANYTHING.  

OTOH?  THE PA AG's Consumer people actually have TEETH....  Heh heh....  That's something I learned from my mom DECADES ago.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I'm so sorry to hear that. It has been my experience that with any contractor, the job will be delayed, underquoted, overcharged, and by the end when they're near the end, you're so sick and tired of them, you want them out of your hair as soon as possible. I think maybe it's the nature of the work.  I pray you get the driveway, that you dream of 🙏

[inkstainedruth]

Well I have to say that the retaining wall DOES look nice (I'm glad I got talked out of the original block color, because that probably would have been way too dark especially at night).  But of course we hadn't budgeted for that at ALL.  And we had already scrapped the idea of putting a turn-around behind the house because that would have cost $17K US in addition to the main part of the driveway.  And honestly -- I didn't see how much back filling they did when it was installed, or if the blocks were attached to each other with concrete....

I shudder to think what the price of replacing the driveway all the way back to the barn would have been (given that we had long since scrapped the idea of having that torn down and replacing it with a garage.

The thing that is REALLY scaring me, though, is with the bad weather and plummeting temperatures coming in tomorrow, that some moron will go barreling down over the hill and skid and go slamming into one or both of our cars -- OR that of our next door neighbors, who don't even HAVE a driveway (and they both have BIG SUVs and not a lot of room to park both of them in front of their house, and there are parts of our street where you're not allowed to park at ALL (and not JUST down at the corner in front of our house where there's a fire hydrant).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Sadly so. It was written by one of the youngest victims of Hiroshima

Read the story. 😥

[Sailor Kenshin]

I like gray-brown inks.  This Octopus one is a nice, dutch cocoa color.  Seeing how both Kitteh and Mousie are warm and dry on this sodden, chilly, blustery day makes me feel warm too.  And I loved the seahorses!

 

If I ever get hold of a decent glass dip pen I could consider using this antique-looking color.  It would be great as a drawing base for watercolor wash.  

 

Another fantastic and thoroughly entertaining review, @yazeh, thanks!

[Mercian]

The colour of this ink reminds me of R&K Sepia.
And also of their 'Sketch INK' 'Lilly' too.

 

It's a colour that (for writing purposes at least) I find to be pleasingly murky

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Well I have to say that the retaining wall DOES look nice (I'm glad I got talked out of the original block color, because that probably would have been way too dark especially at night).  But of course we hadn't budgeted for that at ALL.  And we had already scrapped the idea of putting a turn-around behind the house because that would have cost $17K US in addition to the main part of the driveway.  And honestly -- I didn't see how much back filling they did when it was installed, or if the blocks were attached to each other with concrete....

I shudder to think what the price of replacing the driveway all the way back to the barn would have been (given that we had long since scrapped the idea of having that torn down and replacing it with a garage.

The thing that is REALLY scaring me, though, is with the bad weather and plummeting temperatures coming in tomorrow, that some moron will go barreling down over the hill and skid and go slamming into one or both of our cars -- OR that of our next door neighbors, who don't even HAVE a driveway (and they both have BIG SUVs and not a lot of room to park both of them in front of their house, and there are parts of our street where you're not allowed to park at ALL (and not JUST down at the corner in front of our house where there's a fire hydrant).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Glad there's some silver lining. I really feel for you, went through this whole drama a few year back. Don't want to see a contractor anymore  

I also know how it is when one feel powerless when elements go mad, work is undone. All I can do is hope for the best and see that everything will work out fine 🙏

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Read the story. 😥

😿

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I like gray-brown inks.  This Octopus one is a nice, dutch cocoa color.

I had to check dutch cocoa online. It's been a while I would say, it depends on the pen, I prefer it with a dry pen   

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

 Seeing how both Kitteh and Mousie are warm and dry on this sodden, chilly, blustery day makes me feel warm too.  And I loved the seahorses!

Thanks! 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

If I ever get hold of a decent glass dip pen I could consider using this antique-looking color.  

I would say, you can use one of your "many" Jinhaos or similar you'd be fine. Octopus inks are in general quite fun to use  

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

It would be great as a drawing base for watercolor wash.  

Yes it would be. 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

Another fantastic and thoroughly entertaining review, @yazeh, thanks!

A pleasure!

 

[yazeh]

36 minutes ago, Mercian said:

The colour of this ink reminds me of R&K Sepia.

Probably! 

36 minutes ago, Mercian said:

And also of their 'Sketch INK' 'Lilly' too.

I believe Lilly is grey. This is more on the brown side. With a wet pen, it's brown  

36 minutes ago, Mercian said:

It's a colour that (for writing purposes at least) I find to be pleasingly murky

Yes it is very nice and murky. Though I won't like it on a wall, but love it in a pen