This is the Diamine 2023 Inkvent calendar. It contains 24 doors with 12ml bottles of fountain pen ink behind them, and one 30ml bottle of ink behind door 25. As in every year so far I will review all the inks in the calendar, publishing one post per day for 25 days, and then a summary post looking back at the calendar as a whole.
Inkvent 2023 – this time it’s purple
As I’m travelling this year at the beginning of December, I already wrote the first two weeks of reviews ahead of time (don’t worry, no spoilers). I don’t use dip pens for these reviews, but instead fill 25(!) fountain pens. This year, however, I’ve been a bit smarter about things and haven’t filled them to the brim.
Each review will contain a Col-o-Ring swab and writing sample, and that’s where you’ll get the best impression of the full range of colour of the ink.
I will also be including a writing sample, this year on a Penco notebook, and a sketch in a Midori MD notebook. This year I’m going for a theme for my sketches, sketching teddy bears out of my teddy bear collection. So you’ll also get a photo of a cute teddy bear as a bonus with each review.
At the end of each review I’ll try to give an idea of where and when I think this ink could be used, and whether I’m inclined to purchase a full bottle of it (Diamine will issue gorgeous glass bottles of the Inkvent inks later on next year). Happy Inkvent to all who celebrate!
If there’s a sketcher in your life and you’re looking for some stocking stuffers for them, here are a few ideas:
Sweat Bands
These are not only useful for tennis players, they’re great for Urban Sketchers or anyone who sketches on the go. You can find them very cheaply at any sports brand store, and they’re oftentimes discounted (so you can splurge on brand named ones). You wear one of these on your wrist as you use your waterbrush, and you can quickly and conveniently clean your brush on it. When it gets too “colourful” (pun intended) you just toss it into the washing machine. I have two pairs of these in rotation at all times (one from Nike and one from Lululemon, both cost about $5), and they’re an integral part of my portable watercolour kit.
Well used sweat band
Waterbrush
These are inexpensive and every sketcher can use one – even if they have one or two already. They can be used with watercolour or filled with a mixture of ink and water and used for sketches on the go.
Waterbrushes
Small Spray Water Bottle
These are great for anyone who uses watercolours. They can be used to quickly clean your palette, to wet your paint pans, to create effects on your paper, or even to play with ink. Plus, even if they have one, another one will still come in handy.
Spray water bottle.
Fineliner Pens
My favourites are Staedtler but Sakura may be more widely available (Uniball and Zebra also make good ones). In any case a 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 will always be appreciated, even if they already have them. Buy black and not any wild colours, and avoid buying the Copic metal ones because they’re needlessly expensive.
Staedtler Pigment Liners
Excellent Pencils
These can be a bit more expensive, depending on the quantity you buy them in, but Tombow Mono 100 pencils in 2B, B, H, F and/or HB or Mistubishi Hi-Uni also in 2B, B, H, F and/or HB would be greatly appreciated. Add a Tombow Mono Light eraser or a kneaded eraser for added thoughtfulness. If you can only purchase one harness, go for B or 2B, unless they work exclusively in watercolour, in which point go for F or H.
Tombow Mono 100 and Mitsubishi Hi-Uni
Faber-Castell Pitt Brush Pens
These are waterproof, and great for quick sketches. The tips wear down relatively quickly so even if they have them already, additional ones will be appreciated. Go for cool greys or just wild on the colours, and make sure that they’re brush pens, not fineliners (there’s a B on the end of the pen that denotes brush tip).
Faber-Castell Pitt brush pens. Notice the B on the end of the pens
I’d skip the black, because for that there’s:
Pentel Pocket Brush (GFKP)
A favourite with sketchers, cartoonists and calligraphers, this is the best black India ink brush pen that you can find. Throw in a a few refill cartridges or a Uni-ball Signo Broad white gel pen if you’re feeling generous.
A classic – Pentel GFKP
Stillman and Birn Pocket Alpha Sketchbook
A favourite among Urban Sketchers for good reason, this pocket sketchbook can take anything you can throw at it, has a plenty of pages, and can take a beating. Don’t be tempted by the Beta paper, it’s thicker but also contains fewer pages. Throw in a Fineliner or a Bic (you can splurge for a golden one if you’re bored), and a binder clip to keep the sketchbook closed and you have a complete Urban Sketcher set.
My battered and well-loved Stillman &Birn Pocket Alpha with a Field Notes rubber band to keep it closed.
Hopefully you’ll find some inspiration in this list. If you have any more ideas for stocking stuffers for sketchers, please write them in the comments below. Happy holidays!
I’m coming on my two year anniversary from the end of my chemo (it’s at the end of next month, so basically on Christmas Eve), and I have a check up with my hemato-oncologist in two days. I sketched this to give her with a box of pralines, a small token of my gratitude for the past two and a half years:
Bluebird watercolour
It’s a new kind of paper so it came out a bit more blotchy than I’d like, which made me want to play with it a bit more. I wanted to make another quick card for one of my mom’s doctors, who’s retiring, so I had some pigment fun:
If you don’t like granulating watercolours then you’d hate this paper.
I then used Schmincke’s Aqua Bronze rich gold to add some writing to it. Aqua Bronze is basically a small jar full of glitter powder that you mix with a little bit of water (a very, very small bit of water) on your palette and it turns into metallic watercolour. Unlike other metallic watercolours Aqua Bronze has good coverage and opacity, and it really pops off the page. It’s the very last thing you add to your drawing, after everything else has completely (and I mean completely) dried up. You need very little of the powder and even less water, a cheap plastic palette and a cheap synthetic brush and you’re all set.
Aqua Bronze in action
There are several different kinds of metallic hues, and they all work the same. Do remember that you want to use a cheap brush and a palette you don’t care about because this is glitter. You also don’t want to clean the brush in your regular water pot, or to use the same water for another drawing later on. Aqua Bronze sticks to everything, and you can’t ensure that it was completely cleaned out of your tools, so don’t use your best brush or your usual palette for this.
You mix up the powder with a tiny bit of water and a bit of patience (it takes less water and more time than you think) and then apply it to your dry drawing. The paint stays in place but if you brush your fingers on it, they will come out with a fine dusting of glitter. Here’s how it turned out:
If you want even more opacity, you’re going to have to use a paint marker. In this case I wanted the yellow in the abstract blue rose to be reflected in the thank you written in gold so I wanted the soft edges of the Aqua Bronze.
If you’re thinking about creating watercolour holiday cards and want to add a little bling to them, Aqua Bronze could be an option. I’d select one colour as the jars aren’t cheap, and I’d finish the sketches and then add the glitter highlights in one batch.
I’m torn between writing a post explaining why the calls for ceasefire are utterly disconnected from Hamas’s ceasefire record, the safety of the 240 kidnapped, and the safety of everyone living in the area, and creating an escapist post filled with cat nonsense and pen stuff. On the one hand I want to educate people, on the other hand if people wanted to be educated they’d spend 3 minutes googling before posting fictional maps of the area, calling for “ceasefire now” and ignoring Hamas leadership’s own disownment of their people, saying that they aren’t their responsibility, and having zero qualms about using them as human shield to provoke just the kind of reaction that they’re getting on social media.
So here are kitten sketches, and please take the time to fact check stuff you like and repost on the internet, even if it came from your favourite hairdresser or singer.
Happy fountain pen day to all who celebrate. I purchased a Leonardo Momento Zero Nuvola rose gold fine flex nib from Fontoplumo with the hopes that it will arrive at some point in the future (deliveries are still severely delayed).
Unlike past years I’ve started working on my Inkvent reviews now instead of in real time, as a way to make them less stressful. I decided to theme my sketches this year around my teddy bear collection.
My PTSD has been kicking my ass since Tuesday, when I got caught in a crowded shelter (small room, no windows, closed door, large rocket barrage. Couldn’t have been more triggering if I’d designed it). I’m taking some time off daily posting to take care of myself.
De Atramentis Document Ink Green Grey is a waterproof fountain pen ink that could have easily been called “Sage Green”. It’s dry and offers a fair amount of shading, is quick drying and would be a good addition to any Urban Sketcher’s kit.
Ink swab on Col-o-Ring
While I think that De Atramentis Document Ink Green Grey is much too light to be useful as a writing ink (see sample below) its subtlety, natural shade and waterproofness makes it very useful when coupled with watercolours.
Writing sample with two different pens on Midori MD cotton paper.
When used by itself, particularly in wider nibs, DA Geen Grey gives sketches a “vintage” feel and a good amount of interest: it both shades and allows for dry brushing effects because it’s so dry. Want a dry brush effect? Just work fast, and the tendency of this ink to skip will suddenly be an advantage:
Dry brush effectVintage look to a vintage motorcycleThis shade makes this sketch a bit melancholy, which is what I was looking for.
DA Green Grey truly shines as an under-drawing ink for watercolours. You can freely sketch guidelines and work directly in ink with it, and then add watercolour. It’s light enough to fade into the background, while still remaining permanent on the page and providing you with useful references.
Under-drawing/guideline sketchInk sketch with a Staedtler pigment liner
Can you even see DA Green Grey lines in this sketch? (you can, from very close by and if you know what you’re looking for)
If you work with watercolours, especially if you’re an urban sketcher, I highly recommend adding De Atramentis Document Ink Green Grey to your kit. It can replace a pencil for the under-sketches of your work, and it doesn’t change the shade of the watercolours, nor does it need to be erased. A pen with this is going to be added to my sketch kit, though I will probably use a fine or medium nibbed fountain pen for this ink and not go any finer because it’s so dry.
Writing at Large 