The final seven of the 2022 Inkvent Challenge: Three. Accent. Colors.
Diamine’s inkvent offers up a cadre of inks dominated by blues and pinks to round out my holiday currently inked challenge. This week’s seven inks offer quite the challenge for a functional work-friendly currently inked.
Three blues, a green and three accent colors: two pinks and a purple. Three. Accent. Colors. Playtime.
This week wraps up Days 19 through 25 of the 2022 Diamine Inkvent calendar. I’m letting Diamine, in other words, choose my ink selection. This challenge is obviously an unfair ask for this year’s green Inkvent calendar. But I’m having a good time exploring inks I would not otherwise put in a pen as a result of the challenge. And that, I submit, is a small victory.
Silent Night is the darkest of the blue and purple inks. My choice for the week’s daily driver. A muted blue will work well for distractionless task management and meeting notes, even if Silent Night lightens up after seven nights in a feed.
I split nib choices, one narrow and one wide, within the remaining two blues and both pinks. A F and Zoom for blues. A F and 1.1 mm stub for pinks. The better to show off contrasts within each color group.
My Carolina Pen Co. Charlotte is a color-match for Best Wishes. And the Franklin-Christoph M SIG nib has proven itself capable of handling shimmer heavy inks. The SIG is my go-to this week for Deck the Halls’ glitter bomb.
A functional, adventurous septet.
Grey/Black
Diamine left me high and dry in the black and grey ink color family this week. Likely because they have no idea who I am or how I’m challenging myself to use their inkvent calendar.
Or Diamine does know and is messing with me. How cool would that be?
Blue/Teal
Sailor Pro Gear Blue Train (EF). Diamine Silent Night, Day 19. A dark, muted denim blue. A dry-writing ink that dries quickly on the page. Characteristics for a strong task management ink. Quick drying means minimal smearing on coated papers. Daily driver, meeting notes, lesson plans, reading notes, and scratch notes.
Platinum 3776 Laurel Green (F). Diamine One More Sleep, Day 24. A whispy blue with indigo undertones. Pretty in a classic blurple sense. Platinum’s narrow F nib accommodates shading while ensuring a strong color contrast with the moody Silent Night. Accent notes with detail-favoring narrow line widths. Best of both worlds.
Sailor 1911L Tangerine (Z). Diamine Arctic Blast, Day 20. Arctic Blast is a deep blue with prominent red sheen and ice blue shimmer. A polar bear’s birthday cake. I aim to lean on Arctic Blast’s heavy sheen this week. Strong sheen helps writing remain readable from a distance — and from odd angles. So, this pair will drive half of my lecture notes. The Z nib ensures sheen stays center stage. Also: journaling, lesson plans and teaching reflections.
Earth Tones
Carolina Charlotte in Matte Dragon Scales (B). Diamine All The Best, Day 25. A near-black sheen over a green ink, with green shimmer sprinkled throughout. The haunted part of the forest. Best Wishes writes in deep, near-black green out of the Carolina Pen Co. B nib. This sheen monster will pull heavy duty in lecture notes, presentation notes, teaching reflections and journaling.
Wild Cards
TWSBI 580-AL Lava (1.1 mm Stub). Diamine Celebration, Day 23. A shimmer-heavy salmon. Seafood dinner gone disco. A wet and broad nib/feed combo encourages the dark side of Celebration onto the page. A 1.1 mm stub produces haloing and mid-toned salmon hues. An accent notetaker due to Celebration’s coloring. The stub works comfortably through slow writing tasks like journaling, reading reflections, and lesson plans.
KACO Green Edge in Black (F, Faber-Castell). Diamine Cosy Up, Day 21. I fitted a Faber-Castell F nib into my KACO Edge months ago. A fabulous decision as it writes consistently while bringing out find shading characteristics from my inks. Cosy Up’s happy pink follows suit with noticeable haloing — especially where ink pools at the beginnings of letterforms. Accent notes, paper marking, meeting notes, and reading notes.
Franklin-Christoph 03 Ghost (M SIG, by Franklin-Christoph). Diamine Deck the Halls, Day 22. Deck the Halls is a mid-toned purple that sports pink shimmer and gold sheen. Fabulous, wet, consistent lines. Dark purple in true-to-size M lines contrast readably from Silent Night’s narrow EF lines. This pair will work well as an accent notetaker while reading, for lesson plans, and journaling. I also anticipate trying this combo during slow moving meetings, too.
All in the family
Now with added — and stylish — smearing from me dropping the TWSBI while laying out the week’s currently inked log.
