#4 a-live: diamine zeugma fountain pen ink

Behind a small potted tree, behind the glass doors opening towards a tiny, tiny courtyard, there are two steps that rise to another white door, sitting in its yellowed frame. The rusted hinges dot the frame in orange, close to the fallen leaves resting on the worn brick stairs. These stairs are chipped and cracked, but more importantly, a soft moss grows on them. This moss is so dense, so green in the moments after the rain that it is easy to mistake it for grass.

The world always seems to go by so fast, it’s becoming incredibly hard to slow down. I tend to write the writing samples of the inks I want to talk about before I actually sit down and write the blog posts, and in order to make my handwriting legible, I have to write out slowly. Form the letters carefully. This time, I struggled with it more than usual. My hand goes faster and faster the moment I stop paying attention. I have to consciously slow it down.

Fountain pens offer an interesting combination in this sense. They’re the most comfortable writing instruments for me, their nib offering so much less resistance than ballpoints on the page, so it is easy to let it glide in the race to get to the end of the page. On the other hand, fountain pens and pretty ink make me want to slow down, enjoy every single letter while you’re writing on the page. Especially a beautiful ink like Diamine Turkey Special Edition Zeugma really demands your attention, playful under the sunlight and shifting in its array of colours.

The base colour of the ink is a rich burgundy, a weathered brick red. I wouldn’t call it an exactly common colour, and the saturated hue of it does not offer much shading except for pooling darkly while crossing t’s and dotting i’s. It’s a solid ink, I can see myself reaching specifically for it. The colour also reminds me of the Gypsy Girl mosaic in Zeugma, the colour of her brown eyes and hair.

Then, a stray ray of sunlight falls on it. Magic.

The ink comes alive, exploding in this poison green sheen. It’s amazing. I hadn’t used super sheening inks in a while, and I couldn’t stop shifting the page this way and that way to really watch the ink shift on the page. A living, writhing thing on the page.

One thing that surprised me was that it felt a little drier than other sheening inks I have, it also dried a tiny bit faster. Maybe it’s because it’s a red ink, or maybe they formulated it like this on purpose, who knows.

I’ve kept the best for the last though, I got this from Galen Leather’s new physical store in Istanbul! What a trip to make! It was simply awesome, with all the pen and paper and lovely leather goods you could find. The shopkeeper was clearly very knowledgeable too, which was the biggest relief. Some fountain pen shops have people that are more knowledgeable than average, but sometimes you’re looking for that special thing and they can’t help you very well. I got this ink for two reasons; one it was brand new and I love the colour. Secondly, this ink colour is quintessential Galen to me. It has a vintage feel to it, with little surprise hiding behind it. It’s never the only thing you expect, and what you find always makes you happier. Of course, it also comes in the beautiful glass bottle that the Turkish vendor of Diamine bottles these in.

So, Diamine, bottle up wonderful archaeological sites, make solid inks, and sell it in places I love, and you have a lifelong customer. I will enjoy this ink often, in wide nibs and in tiny nibs, and will return for more.

Excuse the mistake in the writing sample, this is a Turkey special edition ink, not only for Galen Leather.

Thank you for reading! Today’s music is a bit funkier than usual, but I’ve recently found this Youtube channel and I’ve been enjoying the unusual stuff they put up. It’s always nice to be pushed out of your comfort zone.