Caran d’Ache’s Grafcube is a formidable chunk of graphite. You can letter with it, draw with it, or conceal it in your fist for added punching power. (Pardon the dirty fingers.) The graphite is dense. I did a test run to loosen my shoulder, because big letters call for big arm movements. The Grafcube lets …
First, it’s the name. “Blue Night” leads me to expect a dark blue, like an indigo touched with black. The label on the ink bottle doesn’t help. It is a deep night sky touched with purple light. The ink itself is gray, gray, gray. It is not Blue Night.
One of my favorite ink lines is CdA’s Colors of the Earth. I like the concept (colors inspired by nature) and the bottles (cubist crystal candy). My first favorite was Storm, a deep brownish purple, like the halo of a bruise. My second was Saffron, which is more intense dry than wet. Recently, I’ve been …
The Tibaldi Iride arrived a month ago in a plain, ink-stained Pilot box. I’d asked the seller to not send it in its de rigeur crystal coffin, to avoid damage in transit. Besides, the box is never as important as the pen it holds. I liked the Tibaldi Iride for its celluloid. Celluloid is a …