Ink Flight #61, February 2022

Most of the time, when someone slides into the @inkjournal DM's, it's to advertise some bogus NFT project, pay for "likes" or some other unsolicited spam. Seldom does a great opportunity appear to sample new ink. Yet, that's exactly what happened when Youn from Able Design reached out regarding Wearingeul Inks. 

Drawing inspiration from literature, Wearingeul is an ambitious new stationery brand from South Korea that "distills" art into fountain pen ink. "The Color of Literature" interprets novels and poetry with the beauty and emotion of color. Each of these inks has depth and complexity to mirror its namesake.

Here is a rundown of this month's ink color selection:

February 2022 Ink Flight Box #61 "Currently Inked" Color Selection

Wearingeul Mason's Song
(Author: Kim Myung-soon) Illustrates the color of lonely granite with a warm, red-gray gradient. A lightly saturated brown that has plenty of character.

Wearingeul Flowers on the Way
(Author: Kim So-wol) Portrays the spring season with a toned-down pink base color with bluish undertones. A worthy pink for Valentine's Day love notes.

Wearingeul Keong-hee
(Author: Na Hye-seok) Captures the bright orange and brown hues of golden afternoon sunlight. Beautiful, dramatic shading.

Wearingeul The Mind
(Author: Natsume Soseki) This multi-chromatic ink has a pastel violet base that reveals yellow as it dries. This ink is mesmerizing to use on Tomoe River or Cosmo Air Light paper. 

Wearingeul Architecture Infinite Cube
(Author: Yi Sang) This saturated warm brown ink has an exciting green sheen.

Wearingeul Taxidermied Genius
(Author: Yi Sang) This wine violet ink shades nicely with a green sheen.

Wearingeul Shooting at the Moon
(Author: Yun Dong-ju) This ink expresses the lunar halo in the night sky with a deep green-black hue.

Tasting Notes: Youn was gracious to send me advance bottles of ink to sample prior to obtaining the large quantities of ink for the Flight. I tired several colors by swatching them and loading them into several of my fountain pens. I've been disappointed before with other brands (who shall remain nameless) who had sent inks for review. Wearingeul was far from a disappointment. They are intriguing, unique, and perform well with fountain pen nibs of all sizes. They had to be shared with the Ink Flight subscribers. There's a little bit for everyone here, including low-saturated multi-shaders and rich colors with sheen. Keong Hee is one of my favorites so far. It's a brilliant gold with super shading. I also love how "The Mind" changes color as it dries on the page. Lots of fun here. Thanks again to Youn for reaching out to set this up.

Box Extras: Midori Letter Pad for Fountain Pens and MD Cotton Envelopes

Since February is International Correspondence Writing Month (InCoWriMo), this month's Ink Flight Box included some fountain pen-friendly stationery made in Japan by Midori. The letter writing pad contains 50 blank sheets of smooth paper. The pad includes a guide sheet to help make your handwriting neat.

If you can read Japanese, or use the "translate" feature of the Google app, you'll see that the first page of the pad contains advice on how to space your handwriting and letter-writing etiquette. 

Once Ink Flight subscribers are finished writing a letter, they can fold the completed page(s) into an MD Cotton envelope. To provide more opacity (and privacy) the envelopes are double-layered. The paper is made from 20% cotton pulp to provide a premium, soft feel. 

We hope you fall in love with this month's assortment of Ink Flight goodies. In case you need some persuasion, the "Cupid Inktopus" aims to ignite your passion for writing with a fountain pen. This month's sticker was illustrated by Eric - @e_bear_ink on Instagram.

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Previous Ink Flights

Ink Flight #1 - Noodler's, Ink Flight #2 - Robert Oster Signature, Ink Flight #3 - KWZ, Ink Flight #4 - J. Herbin, Ink Flight #5 - P.W. Akkerman, Ink Flight #6 - Papier Plume, Ink Flight #7 - Platinum Mix-Free, Ink Flight #8 - Franklin-Christoph, Ink Flight #9 - Organics Studio, Ink Flight #10 - Monteverde, Ink Flight #11 - Krishna, Ink Flight #12 - Caran d'Ache, Ink Flight #13 - Rohrer & Klingner, Ink Flight #14 - Blackstone, Ink Flight #15 - Colorverse, Ink Flight #16 - De Atramentis, Ink Flight #17 - Aurora & Montegrappa, Ink Flight #18 - Krishna, KWZ, Papier Plume, Ink Flight #19 - Diamine, Ink Flight #20 - J. Herbin, Ink Flight #21 - Robert Oster Signature 80's Collection, Ink Flight #22 - 3 Oysters, Ink Flight #23 - InkJournal Holiday Blend, Ink Flight #24 - Taccia, Ink Flight #25 - Kyoto TAG, Ink Flight #26 - Kaweco, Ink Flight #27 - April Fool's Surprise, Ink Flight #28 - Pelikan, Ink Flight #29 - Sailor, Ink Flight #30 - Straits Pen Honest Inks, Ink Flight #31 - Colorverse, Season 5, Ink Flight #32 - Inks by Vinta, Ink Flight #33 - Troublemaker, Ink Flight #34 - Monteverde Sweet Life, Ink Flight #35 - Taccia Inks Pt. 2, Ink Flight #36 - Sailor Manyo, Ink Flight #37 - P.W. Akkerman, Ink Flight #38 - Waterman, Ink Flight #39 - April Fool's Suprise II, Ink Flight #40 - Lamy, Ink Flight #41 - KWZ, Pt.2, Ink Flight #42 - Robert Oster, Pt. 3, Ink Flight #43 - Pure Pens, Ink Flight #44 - Kiwi Inks, Ink Flight #45 - Sailor Manyo, Pt. 2, Ink Flight #46 - Colorverse Ink Project, Ink Flight #47 - Van Dieman's Ink, Ink Flight #48 - L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio, Ink Flight #49 - Pennonia, Ink Flight #50 - Jacques Herbin Essentials, Ink Flight #51 - April Fool's Surprise III, Ink Flight #52 - Colorverse, Season 7, Ink Flight #53 - Private Reserve, Ink Flight #54 - Graf von Faber-Castell, Ink Flight #55 - Stipula, Ink Flight #56 - Taccia Ukiyo-e 2nd Edition, Ink Flight #57 - Ink or Treat, Ink Flight #58 - Colorverse Ink Project Vol. 2 Constellations, Ink Flight #59 - Dominant Industry, Ink Flight #60 - Robert Oster Cities of America, vol 1