Welcome back to Inktober Skirmishes. As a reminder, I’m using Inktober to work on my resolution to get rid of some inks. The goal is to remove one ink from my collection for each skirmish, but if the two inks are different enough, I’m open to keeping them both.
Skirmishes are similar to Ink Battles, but without scoring, just final judgment. I am writing out the first chapter, one skirmish at a time, of as many of my favorite books as necessary to get through the 31 days of Inktober.
I’ve decided that I’m going to post the skirmishes as I finish a book’s chapter. This post has the rest of the first chapter of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
I’m using F Jowo nibs because I want to make sure that whatever inks I use are dark/saturated enough to actually show up with the nibs I use most often. The paper is lined Maruman loose leaf.
Now, on to the skirmishes!
The Pens
Let’s start with a quick mention of the two pens that housed the nibs and inks for the below battles.
Skogsy Cholla Brown Micarta
Esterbrook Estie Sunflower
October 3, Hana-Ikada and Sakura-Mori
Skirmish three is between Pilot Iroshizuku Hana-Ikada (odd rows) and Sailor Jentle — when I bought it, now it’s Shikiori — Sakura-Mori (even rows). Both are saturated pinks.
Sakura-mori wins this battle. Hana-Ikada is a bit too light for my taste, so it’s out.
October 4, Kelly Green and Elegant Peacock Tail
My next skirmish is between Diamine Kelly Green (odd rows) and Van Dieman’s Elegant Peacock Tail (even rows). Both are bright greens. While Elegant Peacock Tail has gold shimmer, I didn’t shake the bottle, so you won’t see any in the writing sample.
Once again, I thought these inks were more similar. I knew, going in, that I wouldn’t be letting Elegant Peacock Tail go, but I’m not willing to let Kelly Green go, either. Womp womp, another failed skirmish.
October 5, Cat at Noon and 173
The final skirmish for Pride and Prejudice is between Ink Institute Cat at Noon (odd rows) and Sailor Ink Studio 173 (even rows). These inks are very different, but have a similar feel. Cat at noon is a desaturated light red; 173 is a somewhat desaturated coral.
Side note: I had a VERY hard time editing the full skirmish to be true to life. Cat at Noon still isn’t right. But it’s much closer in the close-up images.
When I finished this battle, I realized I didn’t feel any great desire to keep either ink, so, plot twist, they both get the boot!
What do you think of Ink Skirmishes? Do you agree with my choices? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
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Thank you for doing this and somewhat justifying me going through my inks and “condoizing” (I made that word up) my inks. From 265 to 150 including samples, I’m making the ink drawer like me again. Do I really need all those blue inks with red shimmer? Make it a great day.
Yeah, it can be hard to dispose of inks that you paid for, but I got to a point where I just have too many.
Usually when I decide to get rid of an ink or even a pen for that matter, once the decision is made, I don’t second guess myself.