A perfect pair for Spring…
If you got a chance to real my last post then you’ll recognize these two beauties. Nagasawa recently released the latest in their “Kobe Ink Story” lineup – #56 Rokko Shichidanka (が六甲シチダンカ) and #57 Kobe Hime Hydrangea (神戸ヒメアジサイ です). These were both inspired by the local Hydrangea colors found at the botanical gardens at the base of Mt. Rokkō, and are an excellent addition to the series.
The pair do a great job of spanning the purple end of the ink spectrum with one leaning blue-violet while the other leans to the red side with nice pink shading. Both come in the standard Sailor bottle but do not include the plastic insert (this actually works better for me as the inserts make it hard to fill my dip pens).
The sample below was done with a Pentel brush pen for the large circles – looking for how the ink layered up with each pass done while the previous was still wet. The smaller circles show 3 passes done with a dip pen allowing for drying between each pass. Shichidanka #56 (L) starts in a slightly more medium tone but does reach a great saturation by the second pass. Hime Hydrangea #57 (R) starts off lighter but by the third pass the color is quite rich. The quick doodle in the middle was just an experiment to see how well the inks could be blended and both worked well without any heavy separation in the ink color.
As for writing samples you can see how nib size has a larger impact on #57 – especially when you hit the 1.1mm stub size on my VP. Both inks worked perfectly in a variety of pens from a Metropolitan (F) to a Vanishing Point (1.1mm Stub). I think #56 would be great in a fine nib, but I would probably start at a medium or broad on #57 to get the most out of the shading characteristics.
I did a quick paper chromatography test just to see if anything interesting was hiding in these two but they broke down as expected, with slightly more strength in #56.
Both inks were released at the end of April and tend to sell out quickly. Check the Kobe Ink page at Nagasawa for updates on availability.
Finally just another quick shout out to my friend Sawako-san for getting these inks to me – another great addition to the collection.