Happy New Year! To start 2021 well, we are bringing back Ink of the Day. This was an extremely popular part of Van Dieman's for the short time it ran in 2020. This is also to coincide with our return to our roots with the return of the classic Van Dieman's 30ml bottle, after our short and unsuccessful stint with the round bottles, and also with the launch of our new 50ml bottles.
Our first ink of the day of 2021 is Firetail Finch, from our 4th, and still high-selling series, The Wilderness.
Firetail Finch is unquestionably the reddest red in the Van Dieman's entire range. This ink was named and meticulously tailored after The Beautiful Firetail, a native bird species endemic to Tasmania and the neighbouring islands, standing out with his lustrous red tail. This little guy is tiny, at only 10-12cm long, and a miniscule 14g, but is absolutely gorgeous, especially when they get into little groups of up to 20. This finch, and many other of Tasmania’s fauna remain abundant, due to the vast stretches of wilderness left untouched.
Firetail Finch is redder than Bay of Fires from the Original Series, which tends further towards orange, and a little lighter than Tasmanian Safron from Harvest, which is ever so darker and a little cooler in hue. If you want a true RED, this is the one to get!
It flows excellently and has good saturation with moderate shading. In the heaviest wettest pens it can create a mild golden sheen, but this is rare. This mixes well with any other Van Dieman's Inks and also waters down well if using in watercolor art.
The first writing sample above was done with a standard dip pen with Nikko G flex nib on Clairfontaine standard 90gsm blank paper. The second below was done using a generic Jinhao branded fine nib pen.
Van Dieman's Wilderness Series is ten fountain pen inks inspired by the majestic, beautiful and ofttimes humbling wonders that await in the Tasmanian wilds. As an extension of our original Van Dieman's Colours of Tasmania, and as a series unto itself, we created the Wilderness Series to encapsulate the natural colours of this awe-inspiring and untouched southern land.
We are very proud to present Firetail Finch as our firs Ink of the Day of 2021, and a 30ml bottle of it is free when added to the cart with every order made before 11:59pm, January the 1st, 2021.
