Warning - you will be seeing a lot of these, thirty-two in total!
Of course, I'm not going to subject you to the lot of them all at once, so I'm breaking up the review into three posts to make it more easily digestible.
This post will cover the first twelve inks, and I will admit that I was initially disappointed when I began swatching. I started by swatching Orgona and Balaton-Kek, and was immediately underwhelmed.
They were a barely visible perceptible pastel shade, and while I love pastel colours, these were just too light to be easily seen. This was a real shame as they looked vibrant in the vial. I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that I had another thirty of these to swatch and attempt to write with.
But as I watched the swatches dry, they began to do something... odd. Something almost, but not quite, entirely unlike ink.
(I am indeed a fan of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books).
They began to darken. Not only that, they were changing colour like a developing Polaroid photograph. Orgona started out as a watery, diluted lavender but was now turning blue and pale purple, and Balaton-Kek did the opposite, starting as a very pale blue and ending up as a darker blue with subtle purple areas.
Now, I didn't know what colours to expect anyway because the labels aren't written in English, and in a frantic fit of laziness I couldn't be bothered to translate them (though I have noticed that all the blue ones have 'kek' in their name somewhere).
If you're struggling with pronunciations though, Maté has kindly provided recording of the names on the Pennonia website!
Anyway, when I swatch an ink I expect it to stay the colour it initially was, not go and change itself to whatever it feels in the mood for!
I'm glad it did, because the result is amazing. Orgona and Balaton-Kek have the best shading of any ink I've ever tried, and the others don't disappoint either. Rági doesn't change colour, but it is a lovely colour with shading characteristics that are just as strong as its siblings.
Danuvius is another colour changer, first appearing as a pale blue-green but developing pinkish shades as it dries.
Zuzmo is a delicate green with yellowish patches, another pastel shade that darkens during drying, exhibiting brilliant shading.
Abigél still shades, but less visibly due to the dark pink colour, and the same goes for Kékek Kékje, its blue companion.
Patina is an interesting one (and the only name I know the meaning of)! It is aptly named as the colour perfectly imitates the patina on aged copper or bronze - think the distinctive colour of the Statue of Liberty. The shading serves to enhance this effect and further sells the aged appearance.
The spectacularly unpronounceable Gyer... Gy... Gyerm... um... Gyermeklúncfu? Is a sunny yellow with some burnt orange around the edge of the swatches and writing.
Selyempezsgő is very similar to Rági. In fact, I really can't detect much difference at all, apart from a slightly more pink hue in Rági. They both have the same brillint shading as the rest of the inks.
Fekete Sas is a very dark bluish-grey with a lovely bronze-red sheen that appears on good paper such as Tomoe River. Sheen can often be hit or miss, but your best bet is a very smooth paper. Those usually show it well.
Finally, Almazöld, which has great shading. It's a mint/lime green, very bright and happy.
What about the consistency of the inks? They all have a wet flow, which I often notice in inks with good shading qualities. Luckily it isn't so wet that it takes a long time to dry (good news for lefties).
I'm very pleased with the Pennonia inks. All of the lighter inks are still dark enough to be read easily, and they behave very well.
Stay tuned for the next reviews!
Disclaimer: Pennonia provided these ink samples for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this article are my own.
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