Posts filed under Callifolio

Callifolio Bleu Pacifique Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

There might be something wrong with me, because I can't stop trying turquoise inks to save my life. There's just something about the bright blue shade with hints of green and happiness that I can't get enough of. The latest in this obsession? Callifolio Bleu Pacifique.

Callifolio is made by l'Artisan Pastellier in France, and feature a wide array of colors and properties. With over 30 inks on offer, it's hard to narrow down the list.

Bleu Pacifique is inspired by the calm blue of the Pacific ocean on its best days. It's a light shade of the turquoise family, but still stunning. While not waterproof, this ink still has many positive attributes that make it a solid contender in the wide world of turquoise blue inks.

Depending on the nib you use with this ink, dry time can be pretty fast. In my testing with this EF TWSBI nib, it typically dries completely in about 8 - 12 seconds. That's fast, but it's a small nib. In other nibs, it takes around 15 - 20 seconds to fully dry. Still, not bad at all.

Perhaps my favorite thing about this ink (besides the color) is the shading properties. Like the body of water it's named after, it shifts between a light blue green and a darker blue with only a hint of green under the surface. The entire range of shades is beautiful, and I never get tired of looking at it and watching it morph between the strokes.

The ink flows really well, although it is a bit dry. In the short list of pens I've used with this ink, it wasn't a problem, but those pens are known to have fairly good flow to begin with. Only keep this in mind if you intend to use this in a pen that has known flow problems or tends to write on the dry side.

One area where this ink does not excel is when it comes to less than premium papers. If you use this in a standard Field Notes paper or anything similar (or worse), you can expect some significant bleeding, feathering, and show-through. Even in the EF nib on the TWSBI, this ink feathered like a river in my Field Notes book. But, anything with a coating on the paper or with better GSM will hold up spectacularly well with this ink. As such, I would only recommend this if you intend to use it with papers like Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Leuchtturm, Tomoe River, etc.

Cleaning out this ink is as simple as it should be. No complaints, hitches, or issues.

At the end of the day, I don't need any more turquoise inks in my collection, but I'm really glad I added this one. It's similar to everything else in the turquoise spectrum, but it still shades differently, has a lighter tone, drier flow, and fairly quick dry time compared to the others I have. It's a fantastic ink, and I highly recommend it if you're in the market for a great turquoise ink.

JetPens now stocks all 36 Callifolio inks, including Callifolio Bleu Pacifique, of course.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on May 3, 2017 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Callifolio, Ink Reviews.

Callifolio Olivastre Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

The Callifolio inks from L'artisan Pastellier are a line of non-toxic, non-corrosive, gentle inks made with natural pigments. Olivastre is one of the most saturated colors of the bunch, and the second most fun to say (after Andrinople, of course).

The inks come in 40ml bottles, or 50ml refill pouches. The bottles are interesting. They're the triangular wedge ones that can form a circle if you collect enough of them (or so I hear--it's a theory I'd like to test, as soon as possible). The pouches will only work if you have another container you can pour the ink into, as a pen can't be filled from the pouch itself. But I love the idea of refill pouches--I wish more ink companies would adopt that practice.

The formula is gentle enough that it can be used safely in vintage pens, and the colors can be mixed. I'm anxious to collect a few more colors so I can play mad scientist and concoct my own custom hues of this nice ink. I think that property gives this ink more potential as an art medium, beyond its standard pen-fill purpose.

Olivastre just means "olive green"--and chromatography shows this is a lovely blend of gold, emerald-teal, and some shadow of a warm brown. It's a complex color that shows lovely shading, even with a fairly fine line. It saturates as a deep emerald/olive, and fades to a bright grass green. It's a dark enough color to pass as professional(ish), but bright enough to be fun.

It feels like a dry ink, but it flows very well, especially in a nice broad nib. Though it flows well, it dries quickly. Even on Tomoe River paper, it's dry in around 15 seconds, and seems to dry almost instantly on more absorbent paper. I suspect it would be a workable choice for lefties, though I'd need confirmation on that. But in contrast to some other fast-dry inks, I didn't experience much feathering, even on cheap paper.

It's not water resistant at all. Allowing drops of water to sit for any length of time lifted nearly every trace of the ink from the page. A slight shadow of it can still be seen--but not enough to salvage your notes in a rainstorm. But that's what makes it so easy to clean, and so kind to delicate pens. The more I see people posting about an ink that stained or damaged their pen, the more I want to hug inks that I can trust to be kind to my pens.

Personally, I find this color beautiful. I'm really enjoying using it, and I've got it loaded in several pens, so I can see how it plays with different nibs and papers. I'm decidedly intrigued by the Callifolio line, now, and anxious to try more. They have TONS of colors, including all the shades of blue--and millions of possible permutations when you consider mixing. It's the playground of ink, and it's recess time.

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Posted on April 20, 2017 by Sarah Read and filed under Callifolio, Ink Reviews.

Callifolio Aurora Ink: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Callifolio is an ink brand I had never tried until now. L'Artisan Pastellier, the maker of these inks, is based in France and produces a variety of ink colors which you can buy in 40ml bottles or 50ml pouches. The ink meets the high standards for environmental safety and the colors represent natural pigments found in nature.

I received a sample of Callifolio Aurora along with an order of ink from Vanness Pens. Aurora is an unusual terracotta color. It is highly saturated, moderately wet, and exhibits good shading qualities. The ink is not waterproof.

Chromatography reveals colors ranging from sandy-brown, to pink, to red-orange, to dark brown. This is a complex color.

Ink splats show dark brown sheen that can also be seen with wide nibs.

With my oblique medium nib, I couldn’t detect sheen, but there is some shading.

I’ve decided that Callifolio Aurora is the perfect color for my Montblanc Rouge et Noir fountain pen. I love how unique this color is and how beautifully it writes. You can order it from Vanness Pens, $12.00 for a 40ml bottle, $8.00 for a 50ml pouch, or $2.00 for a 4ml sample.

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