Reformulated and Improved
We have reformulated the entire Wilderness Series, utilizing new technology and higher quality ingredients, keeping the same beautiful colours, inspired by Tasmania's majestic wilds. All our reformulated inks now contain a minimum of 95% Australian ingredients and are, as ever, handmade in micro batches in Launceston Australia. Our reformulated inks now have better flow, less feathering and bleeding, and higher quality dyes. We have also minimized the number and quantity of additional chemicals added, and all our dyes and additives are approved for food and cosmetics. Give your pen a try of the new reformulated Wilderness Series.
Firetail Finch
This ink is a unique and vivid red, inspired by the The Beautiful Firetail, a native bird species endemic to Tasmania and the neighbouring islands, standing out with his lustrous red tail. This finch, and many other of Tasmania’s fauna remain abundant, due to the vast stretches of wilderness left untouched.
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. Try the other inks in this series:
- Azure Kingfisher (Shimmer)
- Black-Tongue Spider Orchid
- Devil's Kitchen
- Eucalyptus Regnans
- Federation Peak
- Firetail Finch
- Hanging Lake
- Hastings Caves (Shimmer)
- Huon Pine
- Spotted Sun Orchid
- This is a 30ml bottle of Dye Based Ink
- This ink is suitable for dip pens, brushwork and all fountain pens
Ink Data
Surface Tension: 42.5mN/m
What is this?Surface Tension affects the flow of an ink through a pen, and how quickly it is absorbed into paper. Ink with a high surface tension generally flows and dries slowly, while a low surface tension causes faster flow and dry time, but can cause ink to gush, and also feather or bleed. Water has a surface tenstion of 72mN/m. Most inks are in the range of 40-60mN/m
pH: 7.3
What is this?The pH of an ink defines it's alkalinity or acidity. The pH is important for the dye in the ink to achieve the correct colour. Inks with a pH between 6.5 and 8.5 are generally neutral and safe to use in all pens.
Saturation: Low to Moderate
What is this?The saturation of an ink is the percentage of pure dye content in the mix. Generally but not always, higher saturation increases sheening and decreases shading, while also improving flow wetness but causing slower drying time. Very light inks can have as little as 2% dye content, while extremely saturated inks have upwards of 20%.
Sheen: None
What is this?The sheen of an ink is the secondary, often shiny colour that appears when the ink is swatched heavily or pools in script. The sheen colour depends on the specific dyes in the ink, while the intensity depends on the saturation of dye. Some inks will never sheen, while some will sheen on almost any paper in any amount.
Shading: Moderate to High
What is this?Shading is an ink's ability to create a range of different tones, from light to dark, depending on how heavily it wets the page. Generally but not always, inks with a lower saturation of dye are more effective at producing shading effects, but the kind of dye used also impacts this.
Shimmer: None
What is this?Shimmer is a pigment added to inks to create a sparkly effect. There are a wide variety of shimmer forms and colours, each with its own qualities. Most inks contain no shimmer, and those that do can contain shimmer in differing quantities. Highly shimmered inks do carry the potential of clogging pens, especially ones with finer nibs. Van Dieman's only uses extremely high quality shimmer pigments that lower (but do not completely remove) the risk of this.
Flow Wetness: Moderately wet
What is this?This, quite simply put, is how well an ink flows through a pen, but also dictates how quickly an ink will seep into a page. Flow is affected by both the surface tension and saturation of an ink, but also by other additives such as humectants and surfactants. Inks with a high flow wetness can sometimes, but not always, feather and bleed more than other.
