Diamine Fountain Pen Ink (80mL) - Ochre

Diamine Ochre is similar to P.W. Akkerman SBRE Brown; the former is browner, the latter, more orange. It is also similar to J. Herbin Terre d’Ombre (Les Essentielles), but more orange. The ink is lovely on ivory paper; I prefer using white paper, and on it, it is browner, unlike on ivory paper where it has more orange undertones.

I was surprised at how smooth it was in my driest nib because in some not-so-dry pens, the ink felt a tad thin under the nib, and the traditional Sailor feedback was indeed pronounced; I had no drag with the nibs. My pens started right away—I syringe fill the converters—without skipping or hard starting.

In my Pilot Prera with a CM nib, I obtained lovely shading, and some in my Sailor 1911L 21 kt H-B. But in my 1.5 mm and 6.0 mm Pilot Parallel, there was only a tiny amount, and I had to squint to see it. I think it’s because the Parallels have flat nibs that spread the ink throughout the width of the nibs, so the ink has to cover a larger line compared to rounder nibs, or round-edged ones (Prera CM), that lay ink down without disturbing it—this is just a guess; nothing scientific.

There is some black sheen in heavily saturated areas where the ink pools, but haven’t observed any during normal writing even with my Sailor H-B nib.

If no other brown ink were available, and I could only buy Ochre, I would be happy it. I would just use a pen and paper combo to bring out the characteristics of this ink I find most pleasing.

This is my "brown" of choice. It dries into gorgeous mdedium brown colour. It has excellent shading quailities. Drying time varies by paper but is not overly long.

The only one star deduction is for the fact that the batch of ink I have is somewhat "gunky" around the nib, if you happen to not use it for few days. It blooms a little and has to be wiped clean. Not a bit deal. Good to know about it and have a piece of paper towel ready in your pen case...

Another beautiful Diamine Ink. The colour changes from an orange-brown to a darker yellow-brown as it dries. It flows beautifully and looks great with washes. If you are drawing, or writing, it has a nice vintage feel to it. Happy I bought a bottle.
(not as much shading as the amazing Ancient Copper)