Blackstone Inks of Australia are in the process of launching their fountain pen ink CMYK kit – consisting of 1 x 30ml dropper bottle of each Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. And before we do anything experimental… do they write well? See below:

Yes they do. In fact they behave and flow beautifully and look stunning.

But as a concept, this is nothing new, in fact I recently took 3 Diamine colours and did something similar. But what is different here is the purity of the colours. As you’ll see from the swatch tests these are pretty much pure Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The inks wash out evenly with no sheening and no chromatography. They are consistent and true. These are the base dyes, the source of all our beloved fountain pen inks and the fundamental ingredient in desktop printing. From the interaction of these four base colours, we are able to enjoy the full colour experience.

The colour wheel created below is absolutely pure and the full colour spectrum can be achieved with this kit. The abstract alphabet shows this much better with the whole range of blended colours options in evidence – check out the yellow and brown ochres.

But what this exercise also demonstrates is the craft, creativity and skill of the ink maker. Here is fountain pen ink creation at it’s simplest – and we are ALL capable of doing this. BUT it’s when you examine some of my many test swatches – of Noodler’s, KWZ, Robert Oster, the recent Blackstone Scent range for example – that we begin to realise that there’s a lot more to these ink concoctions that just CMYK! Because it’s these ink makers’ extras that give us the fabulous sheens, the hidden hues and ultimately give the individual inks their unique characters that fascinate us.

Understanding colour should really be mandatory for any serious Ink Geek to fully wallow in the wonders fountain pen ink, and what better way to start the journey than here?

Of note: Cyan, Magenta and Yellow all react with bleach but not the Black which turns absolute black.

If you’d like to buy any of the original art featured on my site please contact me direct. I will do my upmost to add value to your investment over time. I am also accepting commissions for swatch tests. So, if you have a favourite ink(s) and some words for someone special, or maybe just for yourself, drop me a line and we can discuss further.

If you’d like to know more about this project, please take a look at the Mission Statement.

All tests on Bockingford 200lb watercolour paper using brushes and a Noodler’s Ahab for the ink work.

Inks provided by Just Write

Just for the record – I do this for myself, I receive no remuneration what-so-ever and I tell it exactly how I see it.

Of possible interest: if you are interested in my techniques and want to try them yourself – workshop details below: