Sepia 'Carbon Series'
Platinum


     I have been in search of a good water resisting ink for sketching with washes and was excited to find a sepia colour with that quality. This was my first experience with a pigmented ink and was pleasantly surprised by it's performance.
 

Sepia Test Plate after 3 ml water

     The sepia has a romantic character in that most drawings look older than they are. The tone is on the brown side of the Sepia spectrum, like a tan/burnt Sienna colour. The ink has a moderate shading quality and flows nicely. I did not experience any feathering or bleed through. The dry times were nearly unbearable though, I wouldn't recommend this ink to lefties or use it to make quick notes. I would consider it ideal for drawing and art pieces. Once dried on the page the ink is waterproof. Platinum Sepia cleaned off the test plate quite easily, I felt comfortable using the ink in any pen I have but because it is a pigmented ink I do no leave it in the pens for an extended period for fear of clogging. To date I have not had any clogging issues.

     Apart from the dry time Platinum is a great performer with waterproof qualities. If you flush regularly as with most pigmented inks cleaning shouldn't be an issue. The colour and waterproof quality of this ink is enough for me to recommend it but because of how easy it is to clean I think that there will be a challenge finding a better Sepia ink. Top of my list at the moment.

Sepia on Clairefontaine Paper

Sepia on Hilroy Paper

Ink diagrams prepared using:
1.  Speedball C-4 nib in dip pen
2.  Esterbrook #0 nib in dip pen