October 28, 2022

Ink Flight #69 Reveal, October 2022

Medical professional by day, ink connoisseur by night - Dr. Sreekumar is the mind behind Krishna Inks, a small ink manufacturing workshop based in Kerala, India. What started out as a hobby in 2010 has now become a passion appreciated by a worldwide audience.

In case you're not a frequent flyer who subscribed since the beginning, we previously explored Krishna inks way back in Ink Flight #11 & #18, as well as including several colors in April Fool's surprises as well as last year's October Flight. InkJournal was one of the first US retailers to sell Krishna Ink and we even had the honor of naming "Jungle Volcano" - one of Krishna's super sheening inks.

So, we've had quite a lot of history with Krishna leading up to this Ink Flight. It's fun to revisit this brand with new colors introduced earlier this year.

October 2022 Ink Flight Box #69 "Currently Inked" Color Selection

Krishna Cassia Flora
Along with Bamboo Shoots & Mountain Breeze, Cassia Flora is part of the Spring '22 ink collection of shading colors. Cassia Flora has a chartreuse hue with tones of teal and reddish brown.

Krishna Bamboo Shoots
A fresh, light green ink that shades with a blueish halo and clouds of ochre.

Krishna Mountain Breeze
This bright and juicy purple ink looks exceptional when used with broad, flex, or stub nibs. It also changes color as it dries, going from a pinkish lilac to a cool violet purple.

Krishna Golden Summer Blue
Introduced in the Summer of 2022, this ink has a bluish-purple base with a lustrous golden sheen.

Krishna Ghat Green
This lush olive green shades nicely. Krishna decided to reformulate and reintroduce this fan favorite as part of their "Revolution Series."

Krishna Sindhoor
A bright red ink with wet flow, some shading, and a hint of sheen.

Krishna Sailor's Blue
This vivid blue ink is well-saturated with a pop of magenta sheen.

Tasting notes: This will probably be the last time we purchase Krishna Inks for an Ink Flight. These inks brought Mrs. InkJournal to tears. Nothing wrong with the ink itself - it's more of a logistical problem. See, in order to make sure we have enough ink for all the subscription boxes that go out each month, we need to order the correct volume of ink. We always over-order to have extra (just incase!). Well, we were short. So short that I had to scramble to find several more bottles of three colors just to make our minimum.

It wasn't for a lack of preparation on our part. After all, we've done this 68 times so far. We should know how much ink to order. No, it was the bottles themselves. Krishna inks are only 20ml capacity and most of them hardly produced 8 samples per bottle, meaning were lacking volume. We e-mailed Krishna to report the shortage and received no reply.

Plus, the bottles had plastic plugs stuck in the bottle mouths. These plugs needed to be pried open by sliding one's fingernail underneath the lip of the plug and popping it out. Imagine opening a can of soda with a stubborn metal tab over and over, getting ink all over fingers, under fingernails, and on the surrounding surfaces. That did not help the fact that the bottles were short ink. I can get behind the idea that Krishna was trying to be safe and ensure the bottles would not leak in transit. But, there has to be another solution that is easier to open and would be less wasteful of the product inside.

TL;DR: I did not get a chance to write extensively with all the samples this month because there wasn't enough ink.

I did get a chance to write and enjoyed the three Spring '22 colors: Cassia Flora, Bamboo Shoots, and Mountain Breeze. If you started writing as the leaves changed color, you could have started with Bamboo Shoots, switched to Cassia Flora, and finished the month with Sindhoor to mimic the changing colors of the fall foliage. Bamboo and Cassia are on the lighter, less-saturated side, but have good flow and have nice shading. They're easy on the eyes. Mountain Breeze excited me with its subtle shift in color as it dries. It also has a lovely shading quality.

Box Extras: Write Notepads & Co. Pocket Ledger, Midori “Chat Monsters” Stickers, Peter Pauper Press Pen Loop

The handy, spiral-bound "Write notepads" Pocket Ledger makes jotting down lists fun and convenient. Made in the USA, the sturdy, 40pt letterpressed board stock contains 120 pages of 70# paper stock printed with vegetable-based ink. Keep ledger notes private and secure using the rubber band closure.

The 3" x 8" size makes this Ledger the ideal size to stash in a pants pocket or bag. The ruled format is suitable for making lists of all kinds - shopping, to-do, directions, recipes, movies to watch, books to read, pens to ink, etc.

To ensure you have a pen at the ready, we included a peel-and-stick elastic pen loop to attach your pen to a journal, planner, or pocket ledger. Made by Peter Pauper Press, the elastic Pen Loop fits pens of various sizes.

Sticker your journal, planner, or diary every day leading up to Halloween with the goofy ghouls found on the Midori Chat Monsters sticker sheet. The expressively illustrated critters add some whimsical fun wherever you put them.

And, let's not forget our trick-or-treating Inktopus! Eric (@e_bear_ink on Instagram) illustrated this month's sticker of our masked mascot gathering ink samples door-to-door.

What are your thoughts on October's Ink Flight? Please feel to share them on social media by tagging me @inkjournal or send me a quick e-mail to provide your feedback.

======

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, Ink Flight #61 - Wearingeul, Ink Flight #62 - Van Dieman's Underwater Series, Ink Flight #63 - April Fool's Surprise IV, Ink Flight #64 - Pennonia Inks, Pt. 2, Ink Flight #65 - Vinta Inks, Pt. 2 feat. "Fairytale", Ink Flight #66 - Monarca Stationery, Ink Flight #67 - Sailor Yurameku Inks, Ink Flight #68 - Troublemaker, Pt. 2