Oblation Papers & Press Oblation Olive
Ink Review #117
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color:
Oblation Olive is a medium yellow-green that shades softly with a smooth gradient in cursive and a soft cut between its light and dark tones where the ink pools. Even though this is a yellow-green, the yellow tones don’t come through all that heavily and serve more as an accent to add some complexity to the color that I found quite pleasing.
Ink Splat
Droplets
Performance on paper:
Oblation Olive performed excellently. There wasn’t a trace of bleeding or feathering on any of the test pages (not even on the Kokuyo sheet). I would honestly be surprised to see this bleed through any fountain pen-friendly papers.
The dry times were slightly below average but still serviceable. For the most part, they still stayed within 20-25 seconds with the large nib sizes and 10-20 with the fine nibs.
There’s not a lot of water resistance in this ink, but it was better than I had expected. The base color washes away quickly after water exposure but it doesn’t cloud and there’s a grey print left behind of anything that was written that is crisp and easily legible.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
Oblation Olive has a medium-dry flow, but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s well-lubricated and surprisingly comfortable to write with. The dryness was noticeable in the needlepoint and extra-fine nibs, but beyond that the experience was flawless. I didn’t experience any hard starts, stops, or skips during my writing, and the short time it took for the ink to flow to each nib unit was also impressive.
The cleaning experience was also easy, and only required the standard soak and flush of the nib units and pen for the ink to wash out quickly, without any remaining color, stains, or residue left in the pen.
Written on 52gsm Tomoe River Paper with a broad nib
Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper with a fine nib
Written on Midori MD white with broad nib
Performance in a pen: 9/10
Performance on paper: 10/10
Color saturation: 5/10
Sheening: 0/10
Shading: 6/10
Dry time: 6.5/10
Water resistance: 4/10
Ease of cleaning: 10/10
Shimmer: None
Julian’s thoughts…
This is both my first experience with an Oblation Papers ink and Papier Plume-made inks as well. It’s not often that I’m left with such a positive experience after trying an ink for the first time. Sure, there are plenty of good ones, but a very rare few have left me in a position where I’m stuck simply wanting to write more; in fact, I postponed this review just because I decided I wanted an extra writing sample at the last minute. It was this ink in the fine nib specifically that got me: it was just right. So well-suited to my writing style. I only wish I could have more time to enjoy it. And with that, there’s not much more I have to say, but I leave this ink with the highest possible recommendation I can.
Sarah’s thoughts…
Have you ever loved something so much but found it difficult to explain why? That’s my problem with this ink. I’ve been wracking my brain for weeks to think of something substantial to say about it and I keep coming up blank – not because it’s lacking in any way but because my experiences with it since I picked it up back in July have been so completely faultless and enjoyable. It just feels so good to write with, so gloriously smooth without being wet. And the color. Normally, a yellow-green would be one of my least-favorite colors, but this one is so lovely. If you’ve seen my recap of the PNW Pen show last summer, you might remember that the color is inspired by Oblation’s own olive green color theme. The ink is a perfect match. It was also a great first experience for both myself and Julian with Papier Plume’s hand-poured ink. We’ve been interested in trying them but never took the plunge. We will definitely be looking to try more in the future!
Overall, this is a wonderful ink inspired by a wonderful stationery store.
Written in an A5 GoodINKPressions 52 gsm Tomoe River Notebook (Cursive), and a Midori MD Traveler’s Company notebook insert (white, print) with a Darailpenz Naomi (Broad)
More images/info:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A Midori MD A5 Notebook
A 52gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook