I recently bought two bottles of Diamine ink—one ochre and one chocolate brown—to use in my fountain pen. I was hoping to find a warm, sepia-toned color reminiscent of the inks used by Renaissance drawing masters. Both inks flow beautifully, and when wetted they can be pulled into light washes. Unfortunately, neither color was quite right. The chocolate brown was too cold and dark, while the ochre shifted toward an orange rust when wet. That led me to start mixing the two, carefully noting and testing different ratios in search of something… Read More