Krishna Monsoon Sky

This review was written on my Endless Recorder notebook which uses 68gsm Tomoe River paper, using my Ranga Giant 9B with 1.1mm JoWo stub nib.

To preface this review, let me just say, this is my favourite Krishna Ink yet. Monsoon Sky is aptly named – a stunning Prussian blue, it writes deliciously wet and shows a good amount of shading (my Ranga isn’t the best at showing shading).

There is a tiny bit of sheening around the edges in the writing, but the ink blot shows a decent amount.

It dries a little slow, mostly due to the stub nib.

Not much bleeding except for the ink blot

In conclusion, Krishna Monsoon Sky is a gorgeous teal blue colour. It is well behaved and writes wet. It shows some shading and a tiny tiny bit of sheening, but no shimmering. This is my favourite Krishna Ink so far.

Krishna Azaelia Flora

This is a review of the ink Azaelia Flora, by Krishna Inks.

It’s a gorgeous rich magenta/rose colour which is saturated. It has low to medium shading, no sheening and no shimmering properties.

The following review was performed using the TWSBI Eco Broad on the Endless Recorder journal which uses 68gsm Tomoe River paper.

Average to good drying times. It’s dry time is less than 30 seconds

Lots of ghosting, and there is some bleeding on the ink drops

In conclusion, this ink behaves well on Tomoe River paper, with good dry time, nice saturated colour. It shades minimally but no sheening or shimmering.

It can behave poorly on cheaper paper, but that depends mostly on the paper quality. I’ve seen feathering in some composition notebooks, and not in others.

I purchased this from thepenworld.com for 230 INR, and you get 20ml of ink.

Storytellers

From The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson

It’s been a couple years since I posted to this blog. There were a lot of issues I was going through, and updating a Fountain Pen Blog was at a low priority.

I’ve recently challenged myself to write one quote a day, and this was day 2.

Brandon Sanderson is one of my favourite authors. He has a way with words, and they transport you into his world and with your mind’s eye, you see what he wants you to see.

Pens and inks used:

Ranga Giant 9B 1.1mm stub with Krishna Pencil

TWSBI Eco Fine with Krishna Empty

Winnolam from Krishna Inks

My very first Krishna ink. This ink is a part of their Limited Edition IPS Ink, specially formulated for the Indian Pen Show which I was unable to attend. They have two inks as a part of their collection. Winnolam, which I am about to review, and Sufi, which seems to be a green/brown color similar to the Jungle Volcano.

This ink is a beautiful deep royal blue with a red sheen wherever the ink pools, which kind of reminds me of Organics Studio Nitrogen, but doesn’t show nearly as much sheen. This ink costs Rs. 225 for 15 ml on thepenworld.com. Definitely pricey, but most Krishna inks cost that much.

Supplies Used
1) Parker Frontier (Fine)
2) Classmate Exercise Notebook

Colour: Deep Blue with Red Sheen.

Drying Time: 25-30 seconds. Doesn’t smear afterwards.

Water Resistance: Low. Reacted very quickly. Some line definition is seen but it is low.

Flow: Wet.

Sheen: Medium. Not a sheen monster like the Jungle Volcano, but still visible on the edges of the ink.

Packaging: Like many others who have reviewed Krishna Inks, the packaging leaves a lot to be desired. But for those who don’t care about how the bottle looks, this doesn’t matter. My only issue with it is that there is no larger bottle available.

ASA Translucent Nauka

My first ASA pen and definitely will not be the last. This pen was purchased from asapens.in. After seeing pictures of it on various blogs and FPN, I simply had to own one. It took almost four weeks to reach me, which was what I had expected, but every day I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

It arrived heavily bubblewrapped, which is always good, via India Speedpost. I had ordered it as an eyedropper, and hence it came with a plastic pippette, and an extra feed. It also came with instructions on how to take care of an eyedropper pen.

Appearance

Now getting to the exciting stuff. The pen came in a leather pouch. The feel of it was not smooth, but brushed, and it provides depth to what is an incredible pen. The threads are near the nib and not at the barrel, but isn’t uncomfortable to hold at all. The clip is a chrome ball clip, but honestly, I think I should have gotten it clipless.

Writing

The nib I got was the stock ASA nib in Fine, which writes closer to the German fine than the Japanese fine. It writes smooth, but not as smooth as my TWSBI. I think if it had been ordered with a JoWo nib, which TWSBI uses, it would have been a much better experience.

One thing I have experienced is that this pen leaks into the cap, and since it is a demonstrator, you can see it all, which can be frustrating to deal with. It also leaks from the barrel, but it can be fixed with some more silicone grease.

Even though this pen has some faults (like every other pen), I still consider it to be the most beautiful pen in my collection and I like to use with some stunning inks, as it complements the appearance.

Final Thoughts

Despite some issues, the ASA Trans Nauka is a wonderful pen, and if you aren’t a fan of demonstrators, I still highly recommend the regular ebonite Nauka, and I would suggest you to get the German Schmidt or JoWo nib. It’s ASA’s flagship, and rightfully so. I cannot wait to get more pens from ASA.

TWSBI Eco

This is my review for the TWSBI Eco, Black in Fine nib. The TWSBI is a growing name in the fountain pen community. They created a name for themselves with the TWSBI 580, then came the TWSBI Eco, and then the TWSBI Go, each priced lesser than it’s predecessor.

TWSBI is a relatively new company from Taiwan, founded in 2009. The name TWSBI stands for the phrase, “Hall of Three Cultures”. More information about the company can be found here.

Coming to the pen. It has such a recognizable design. Anyone who has been in the FP world would recognize this pen instantly.

The writing is quite smooth. Even bordering on too smooth for me as I am used to low quality scratchier nibs.

The pen comes in a sturdy plastic box and comes with plenty of instructions how to fill and dismantle it. It also contains a wrench and silicone grease. The pen quality is great and it looks very stylish. Definitely a head turner when you do take it outside. The material is a resin and it feels very sturdy.

As we see, the not writes very wet, takes about 15 seconds to dry completely.

All in all, it’s a great pen. It costs around Rs. 3700, which is definitely a bit pricey as you are paying a premium since it’s shipped to India. It’s cheaper when bought in countries like the US.

About me

Thank you for joining me! I am a young engineer from South India rediscovering their love for Fountain Pens.

With the advent of gel pens and roller balls, fountain pens have become something that people seek out deliberately. It has become less out of necessity and more of a hobby.

I cannot tell you why you should use FPs, that is for you to decide. But I love them because of their timelessness. A fountain pen never goes out of fashion. The more you write with it, the better it becomes.

In the chance that you do get into fountain pens, prepare for a journey, as you get sucked into this weird but wonderful world of pens, nibs and inks. Prepare for your hands to get inked up, and prepare yourself for the inevitable hole in your pocket.

The purpose of this blog is to document my, hopefully lifelong, tryst with stationery.

None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try — Mark Twain