u/Shosai_Studio

Tested on Tomoe River 52gsm (white) and Cosmo Air Light 75gsm, with both water-diluted drops and pure ink swatches.

November Leaves is a low-saturation, dry-ish ink that's easy to underestimate at first glance — a pale, cool khaki-tan that looks almost washed out in a fine nib. But push it into a wetter/broader nib or let it pool, and the chroma-shading really opens up. In the pooled areas you get a genuine color split: a warm burnt-brown edge ringing a cooler, powdery grey-tan center, almost like the pigment components are separating out as they dry. It's the same phenomenon you'd see in inks like Tono & Lims Laniakea or Great Attractor — where a "single" ink reveals distinct sub-tones under saturation rather than just going darker/lighter of the same hue.

On Tomoe River, that grey-vs-brown split is very clean and almost architectural, with sharp chromatography rings at the edges. On Cosmo Air Light, the paper's higher absorbency softens the transition a bit, so the two tones blend more into each other rather than separating into distinct zones — still shows the effect, just moodier and less contrasty.

Water-diluted drops are a good way to see this ink's "skeleton" — the diluted swatches pull the brown ring out into the paper while leaving a near-colorless center, confirming that the brown and grey really are behaving as separate components rather than one tone lightening uniformly.

Not the easiest ink to read text in on a fine nib, but for anyone chasing that multi-tone pooling effect in a medium/broad or a stub, it delivers.

A bright teal-green from South Korea's Dominant Industry, part of their non-shimmer Standard line. This one shows some real depth — on Tomoe River it separates into a soft, almost blue-tinted teal with a darker jade edge, and there's a hint of sheen showing up in the pooled areas. On Cosmo Air Light 75, the color reads more uniformly teal with less separation, but still shows nice tonal variation between light and dry areas.

Swabbed both papers with a water-drip test up top and straight ink below for comparison — you can see how much the shading opens up once water hits it. Also ran my usual Heart Sutra writing sample to see how it behaves at a finer, sustained writing scale rather than just in a blob.

That's my favorite green up-to-date, and you?

Sharing some swatches of Dominant Industry's Allegory from their Standard series (25 ml, A22). It's part of the second chapter of their Ink Archiving Book: Log of Elixir collection, inspired by alchemists' tales — the theme pairs the Unicorn (the soul, a cool gray) with the Stag (the body, a warm gray) to represent harmony and wholeness.

At first glance it reads as a plain dark gray-black, but there's a lot more going on. When you push it around with water you can see it break into cool blues and a touch of purple, with nice shading. Pretty low saturation and complex — very much a "muted moody gray with hidden depths" kind of ink rather than a flat black.

A note on the swatches so they make sense:

• White paper = Tomoe River. Grid paper = Cosmo Air Light 75.
• On each sheet, the top swatch has water dropped in (to pull out the undertones), and the bottom swatch is pure ink.

You can see the water-diluted areas reveal the periwinkle/blue-violet hiding underneath, while the pure ink dries down as a deep desaturated slate. The Cosmo Air Light pulls slightly cooler/bluer, and Tomoe River shows the chromatography a bit more dramatically where the water hits.

Reported specs: low water resistance, no shimmer, some sheen possible depending on nib/paper. Curious if anyone's gotten sheen out of this one with a wetter nib — I didn't push it hard here.

Swatched this one on Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light 75gsm, water-diluted on top and full-strength ink below on each sheet, plus a Heart Sutra (心經) writing sample for a proper stress test.

Unknown Land is part of Dominant Industry's "Log of Elixir" collection inspired by vintage illustrations and the mysterious tales of alchemists. The golden base is enriched with unique red-brown and green color separation, creating a warm, aged elegance — you can really see that separation come through in the diluted swatches, where the pink/mauve undertone splits out from the sandy brown base.

On Tomoe River the shading is gorgeous — lots of tonal range from pale blush to deep umber, with that low-saturation, almost dusty quality other reviewers have compared to a watercolor wash from an old explorer's journal. On Cosmo Air Light it reads a touch more muted and warm, less pink separation showing through, but still holds the multi-tonal character well.

Full-strength swatches lean into a deep warm brown with just a hint of that rosy undertone peeking through in spots — no shimmer, no sheen, just genuinely complex color-shifting depending on ink saturation. Made in Korea, this 25ml bottle is low water resistance, no iron gall, and behaved well through the full Heart Sutra sample — no skipping, no feathering, consistent flow throughout.

If you're into muted, storytelling-type inks that reward wetter nibs and heavier saturation, this one's worth a look.

Just got this little wooden stamp in and I had to share it. The design is a bubbling cauldron surrounded by crystals, potion bottles, stars, and a tiny planet — very cozy witchy vibes.

I tested it on plain grid paper first (last photo) and the detail came out surprisingly crisp for how much is packed into the image. The lines are fine but clean, so it holds up well.

I'm thinking this would make a fun stamp for ink swatch cards — imagine filling that cauldron and the crystals with a shimmering or multi-shading ink and letting the colour do the work.

Question for you all: would you use a stamp like this to swatch your inks? And if so, which ink would you reach for first?

Swatched this one on Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light 75gsm, both with water-diluted (top) and pure ink (bottom) sections.

Seaweed is part of Dominant Industry's "A Log of Atlantis" collection, paired with the shimmering Atlantis ink — Seaweed is the standard (non-shimmer) counterpart.

Color-wise, it reads as a kelly green with a yellowier base than most mid-greens, which you can really see in the diluted swatches — lots of golden-olive separation at the edges. Full-strength it goes much darker and murkier, closer to a true "seaweed" tone. On Tomoe River it stays brighter and more saturated, while Cosmo Air Light pulls it into cooler, muddier gray-green territory, especially in the diluted swatch (you can see it almost goes blue-gray in spots).

Wrote out the Heart Sutra (心經) as my usual sample — nice medium shading, no red-flash or sheen to speak of, dries relatively fast.

Overall a solid yellow-leaning green if you're building out a green lineup and want something with a bit more personality than a standard forest/pine shade.

Dominant Industry's swatch log turns ink testing into a dive through a lost city. Beneath that deep-blue, gold-stamped, scholar's-study cover lies an ocean of it — coral, sea stars, nautilus shells, whale pods, and sunken towers rising from within the shells themselves.

The method is simple: one ink per box.

• Swatch — brush your ink into the blank box and let the colour speak for itself.
• Record — write the brand, series, and ink name on the lines beside it (say, Dominant Industry Alchemist Alexandrite).
• Mark — tick the little checkboxes for the ink's properties: coverage, shading, shimmer, sheen.
• Colour — treat the whales, shells, and coral line art as a testing ground, watching how the ink pools and layers on paper.
• Write — the remaining lines are yours, for notes and whatever the moment brings.

Once every box is filled, that row of bottles on your desk becomes an entire sea of your own.

So — how much ink will you need to complete this Log?

Picked up Winter Wood from Dominant Industry's Standard line (Korean, small-batch out of Paju, 25ml teardrop bottle). It's billed as a deep brown-black, and in normal writing that's exactly what it is — a dark coal brown that reads almost black on the page.

The fun part is what happens when you flood it with water. Underneath that dark brown-black there's a surprisingly dusty mauve/pink base that separates out when diluted. Top swatch on each paper = water dropped in, bottom = pure ink.

• White paper: Tomoe River. The pure swatch stays a solid dark brown-black; the watered swatch pulls apart into that rosy undertone with olive-tinged edges where it pools.
• Grid paper: Cosmo Air Light 75. Cooler and greyer overall here — the diluted swatch leans more muted lavender-grey than pink, and the pure ink looks a touch more slate/black than on Tomoe River.

That's the same way for Dominant Industry Pearl Series 011 Autumn Forest, there is the pink base that separates out the dark green colour when diluted.

Is there any more ink has the similar feature？

Sharing some swatches of Dominant Industry's Periwinkle Blue from the Standard series, made in Paju, South Korea. This one's a purple-toned blue with some lovely shading — softer lavender-blue tones coming through in the water-diluted areas, giving way to a deeper, more saturated indigo-blue in the pure ink swatch.

Paper comparison: the top set (white paper) is Tomoe River, and the bottom set (grid paper) is Cosmo Air Light 75g — both showing water-diluted swatches up top and pure ink below. The Cosmo Air Light seems to pull out a touch more of the violet undertone in the water-diluted area compared to Tomoe River, which leans slightly cooler/bluer in my hand.

Also included a Heart Sutra (心經) writing sample on grid paper as my usual writing test — the shading comes through nicely in the strokes, especially at the thicker parts of each character.

Is there any more purple-blue ink you used?

Swatched this one on both papers to see how the sheen behaves — top of each sheet is water-dropped, bottom is straight ink.

Dominant Blue is a cobalt-leaning blue from Dominant Industry's Standard line (Paju, South Korea), and it's a serious sheen monster — a coppery-red sheen rims almost every pooled area, with the base color reading anywhere from a bright cornflower blue to a deep indigo-violet depending on how much ink is sitting on the page.

On Tomoe River, the sheen is really dramatic — you get that classic Tomoe "halo" effect where water-diluted areas show a bright blue core with a thick red-copper ring, and the neat ink pools go almost violet-black at the edges.

On Cosmo Air Light 75, the sheen shows up more as fine metallic red threading through the wetter pools rather than one continuous ring, and the base color leans a touch darker/more saturated overall — this paper tends to hold more ink so the red sheen has more to grab onto.

Also attached a Heart Sutra (心經) writing sample for a more realistic look at how it lays down with a fine nib on grid paper — nice shading, dries reasonably fast, no bleed or feathering issues.

Is there any other blue ink with red sheen you used?

Sharing some swatches of Dominant Industry's Leaf Green from the Standard series, made in Paju, South Korea. This one's a deep grass/olive green with some nice shading — lighter, almost yellow-green tones in the water-diluted areas giving way to a much darker, near-black-green in the pure ink swatch.

Paper comparison: the top set (white paper) is Tomoe River, and the bottom set (grid paper) is Cosmo Air Light 75g — both showing water-diluted swatches up top and pure ink below. The Cosmo Air Light seems to pull out a bit more depth/darkness in the saturated areas compared to Tomoe River, at least in my hand.

One note: before doing the Cosmo Air Light 75 swatch, I didn't shake the ink bottle, so there's no shimmer showing in that one.

Also included a Heart Sutra (心經) writing sample on grid paper as my usual writing test — you can see the shading come through nicely in the strokes, especially where the pen slows down at character turns.

Would love to hear if others have used this ink and how it's behaved for you on different papers!

Swatched on Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light 75gsm — top squares have a water-drop technique applied, bottom squares are pure ink straight from the bottle.

Cherishment is described by Dominant Industry as a dusty, cool-toned rose-mauve with grey undertones — part of the debut ink line tied to their new Keyno Stay.tionery pen brand. It's built around a "quiet anticipation" theme (Room 014 of the fictional Hotel Keyno), and the shading really delivers on that mood: with water added you get a huge tonal range, from a pale blush pink all the way down to a deep plum-wine edge, with some lovely purple-grey undertones pooling in the mid-tones. Straight ink is a saturated berry-mauve with much more subdued shading, but still shows some nice tonal variation where it pools.

Tomoe River pulls out the coolest, most purple-leaning tones and the sharpest water-drop separation. Cosmo Air Light 75 is a touch warmer/pinker and slightly more muted, which tracks with how it usually behaves compared to Tomoe.

Also included a full Heart Sutra (心經) writing sample — good way to see how it reads in continuous text vs. swatch.

Curious if anyone else has tried this one yet — it's brand new from the Keyno line. How's it comparing to other DI Standard series inks in your collection?

Picked up the Keyno Stay.tionery Key No. 014 Cherishment, Dominant Industry's debut fountain pen.

The concept: it's built around an imaginary "Hotel Keyno," where each release represents a room/key number. 014 Cherishment is the first "room" — done in Ice Crystal acrylic resin with soft pink and pale blue flecks throughout, paired with warm brass-toned gold trim. Every barrel pattern is unique since it's cast resin, so no two pens look quite the same.

Design details are genuinely thoughtful:

• Cap top styled after the crown of a classic timepiece
• Clip shaped like a key, with a compass + keyhole motif
• Nib has an engraved keyhole-shaped breather hole
• Bottom coin engraved with the Keyno symbol

It's a mid-size flat-top, comes with an ebonite feed and a steel nib (EF/F/M), fills via their proprietary converter (included — heads up that it won't take standard international converters). Comes packaged with a themed postcard and a matching metal keyring, which is a nice unboxing touch.

I didn't yet ink and try the nib. Is that smooth enough?

Anyone else pick one of these up? Curious what nib size others went with and how the converter's holding up for you.

Swatched Keyno Stay.tionery's Serenity No. 001 — the second ink from Dominant Industry's new Keyno pen/ink line — on both Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light 75gsm to see how it behaves across papers.

Serenity is a soft aqua-teal that undergoes some really nice color separation as it dries — the wet swatches (bottom halves in each pic) pull toward a deep, almost inky navy-teal, while the water-diluted top halves reveal the ink's lighter sea-glass green and pale aqua undertones.

• Tomoe River: Sheen and shading are gorgeous here — you can really see the tonal range from pale seafoam to near-black teal at the pooled edges.
• Cosmo Air Light 75gsm: Slightly more muted/matte compared to Tomoe River, but still shows good depth and a hint of reddish-brown undertone at the diluted edges (visible in the top swatch) — an interesting halo effect I didn't expect.

Also attached my usual Heart Sutra (心經) writing sample for a look at line variation and shading in actual use.

Overall really happy with how expressive this ink is for a "everyday teal" — lots of personality without being a maintenance nightmare. Curious if anyone else has tried the Keyno pen this ink is paired with — the ebonite feed apparently pushes even more color separation.

Picked this one up and wanted to share some first impressions.

The resin is a cream/ivory base with turquoise, gold, and copper flecks running through it — really evokes the "hotel key" theme they're going for, especially with the little enamel room-tag charm that comes with it (mine says "Room Serenity 001"). Cap finial has a compass/star medallion, and the nib itself is engraved with an ornate skeleton-key motif, which is a nice touch of detail I wasn't expecting at this tier.

Trim is rose gold throughout — clip, bands, section, nib — and it pairs really well with the cream resin. Comes with a converter, so this isn't an eyedropper-only setup.

Haven't inked it up yet, but I'll follow up with a proper writing sample once I've had time with the nib. Curious if anyone else has tried the Keyno lineup yet — how's the nib quality been for others?

Also open to suggestions — aside from the matching ink in the same series, what would you all pair with this one? Looking for inks that'd complement the turquoise/gold/copper resin.

Sunset is part of Dominant Industry's Pearl Series, made in Paju, South Korea — a pale lilac-purple base loaded with gold and pink shimmer for that signature pearlescent finish. Best pulled out with a medium nib or broader; the shimmer needs a little ink flow to really show up on the page.

Swatched on both Tomoe River (smooth, high sheen, lets the shimmer sit right on top) and Cosmo Air Light 75gsm (a bit more tooth, shimmer reads slightly more subdued). Top swatches on each sheet had a water drop added to show dilution/shading; bottom swatches are straight ink.

Writing sample is the Heart Sutra (心經) in Traditional Chinese — my usual test text since the character density is great for seeing how an ink handles fine strokes vs. fills.

Do you like this purple ink?

Swatched Dominant Industry's Christmas Red from the Pearl series on Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light 75gsm, using a Matsubokkuri glass dip pen. Top swatches on each sheet had water dropped in, bottom swatches are straight ink, and I also did the Heart Sutra (心經) as my usual writing sample.

This is a deep, warm holiday red with fine gold glitter — a close match to PenBBS #520, if you're familiar with that one. It's part of Dominant Industry's Pearl collection, made in South Korea, ph neutral and safe for resin or celluloid pens. One thing to note: the glitter is a solid residue that sinks to the bottom if the bottle sits unused, so it needs a good shake before filling.

On Tomoe River the red stays bright and the gold shimmer pops nicely in the water-diluted swatch. On Cosmo Air Light 75, the color goes a touch darker/more muted and the shimmer is less visible in my photos — that's on me though, I didn't shake the bottle well before doing the Cosmo Air Light swatch, so there wasn't much shimmer suspended in what I used.

Would love to hear if anyone else has tried this one — curious how it compares to other Dominant Industry reds people have in their collections.

Cat is No. 22 from Colorverse's Season 3 Multiverse line (paired with Schrödinger in the two-bottle set), a cobalt/medium blue dye-based ink with silver glistening particles. Reviewers consistently note it flows well, dries reasonably fast, and the shimmer stays subtle enough to read as a normal daily-use ink until it catches the light.

Water drop test:

• On Tomoe River, the water drops pull the blue back to a much paler, glassy sky-blue with the shimmer particles clustering densely and catching light really nicely — Tomoe's coating lets the shimmer sit right on the surface.
• On Cosmo Air Light 75gsm, the water-diluted zone shows more tonal variation and a bit of that reddish/pink sheen peeking through at the edges, which lines up with what other reviewers describe as Cat's sheen character.
• Straight ink (no water) on both papers reads as a solid, saturated cobalt blue with minimal shading — the shimmer needs either water dilution or a wet nib to really show itself.

Writing sample is the Heart Sutra (心經) in Traditional Chinese, my usual test text.

Anyone else running Cat? Curious how it behaves in a wetter vs. drier nib for you.

Two papers, two techniques: top swatch on each sheet is water-dropped, bottom is straight ink, comparing Tomoe River vs. Cosmo Air Light 75g.

Schrödinger is the 65ml half of the Schrödinger/Cat two-bottle set from Colorverse's Season 3 "Multiverse" line — paired with Cat, a blue glistening ink, in a nod to the thought experiment. On its own, Schrödinger reads as a medium grass/Kelly green with decent shading and a sheen that shifts between pink, black, and a hint of electric blue depending on how wet you lay it down.

You can see that shading really clearly once water hits the ink — the water-dropped swatches split into that lighter yellow-green core with darker green/near-black rings, while the pure ink swatches stay a more uniform deep green. Tomoe River pulls a touch more yellow out of it, Cosmo Air Light leans slightly cooler/darker.

Wrote out the Heart Sutra in Traditional Chinese as the writing sample, as I always do for these swatches.

A warm champagne-brown that dries to a rich antique gold, loaded with fine gold shimmer. Ink Tone is described as champagne with gold shimmer, and the characteristics are lustrous, rich, warm, and gleaming. Expect medium shading with no sheen, just the gold shimmer doing all the work.

Swatches: white sheet is Tomoe River, grid sheet is Cosmo Air Light 75gsm — dropped water into the wet ink on both to see how it separates. You can see the shimmer pool beautifully where the water pulled the pigment apart, and the writing sample is the Heart Sutra (心經) on Cosmo Air Light.

This one's part of the King Midas set within FWP's FerriTales line, so if you're into the "fairy tale in a bottle" concept alongside the ink itself, it's worth a look. Because of the amount of particulate used for the shimmer, expect some restricted flow if you're not shaking it well before filling — a broad, stub, or italic nib will show the shimmer and shading best.

Anyone else running this one? Curious what nibs people are pairing with it.