Robert Oster comes in 50ml plastic bottles
that are environmentally friendly.
They can be tippy, so I usually put them in
a more solid container to decant.  All my pens fit
easily into the bottle opening to fill.

I have more Robert Oster inks than any other ink brand.
Why?  Because no other brand has the spectacular mix of pigments within a color, which gives even his simplest inks such beauty that it is a shame to waste them only writing!  Ink-painting brings out the complexity of the color.

I was given RO inks as a gift; up until then I used only waterPROOf inks, which I used under watercolors.
I loved the beautiful colors I was given — Jade, African Gold, and Blue Moon, a shimmer ink.  I had to have MORE.

When I first started buying RO inks, I went for the beautiful blues;
at the time I was not a lover of blue ink, but his amazing blue inks reminded me of home —  the Pacific Ocean of Southern California.

Imagine my surprise when I tried a dark blue ink, Thunderstorm,
and saw a world of colors erupt from them when I first tried moving the color with a waterbrush when sketching with a visiting Aussie friend, Debi Taylor, above, my first.
The hint of a subtle world of colors lived in RO’s unassuming dark inks
opened up for me — and I was hooked on ink painting!

Remember that others review these inks just for writing;
I am also interested in how they are used for ink-painting!

Properties of  Robert Oster Thunderstorm:

One of my all-time favorite sketching inks (gads how many times will I say that in these reviews?) This juicy ink is well-behaved:  no feathering on any of the papers I normally use, even Post-its, and moves easily with no resistance when touched with water.  Though what I consider a wet ink, it evaporates quickly with a wet stub nib and has never smeared on me during a sketch.
It has a hint of a red sheen, above.  I think of thunderstorm as a
denim blue with a secret!

His inks are non-toxic; his bottles are environmentally friendly.
These things matter to me.

INDIGO

LAPIS

PHTHALO 226

CINEROUS

*Above, watercolors, from Daniel Smith, QoR, and Sennelier.*

When the ink is dispersed on a
paper towel with water, a surprisingly strong turquoise seeps through!
In watercolor comparisons, the colors range from Indigo (PB15:3/PBk7/PV19) to Phthalo Blue (PB15:3) to
Cobalt Teal (PB28) and the mineral paints Lapis and Amethyst.
(Munsell ratings in () behind the
paint color. *For more info on the
Munsell system, go to this page.  Knowing the pigments can help you
not to duplicate watercolors made
of the same pigments.*

RO is experimenting and testing lightfast properties…
MOST water soluble ink companies do not pay attention to these things
because most artists who use ink are making prints of their work.

My “thunderstorm” was drawn with a  Lamy Vista with a 1.1 stub nib, on cold press watercolor paper.  The cloud edges were touched with water using a Pentel Aquash waterbrush.  The lines  quickly lose themselves in wet color;
The lines were added back in after the water moved the ink and dried!

On smooth Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook paper
I painted (with a watercolor brush) the sky, and was able to move the sky away
to achieve some brightness around the crescent moon.
I sketched the tree line of the hills with
Duke Fude (Bent) Nib with a Fine to Broad nib with Robert Oster Thunderstorm ink.

I tried Thunderstorm in my Hahnemühle Cappuccino Sketchbook of
people sketches (pen people!) with a  Lamy Vista with a 1.1 stub nib;
the ink behaved wonderfully on the coffee-colored sketch paper.

 Thunderstorm is an everyday ink, and I have quickly finished half a bottle…
I write with it daily in my journal and calendar, and drop it into my sketching bag when I know I am going ot be waiting somewhere… a favorite ink!.

I bought Robert Oster Thunderstorm at Goulet; it is also sold at Vanness.

Inks by Maker and by Color will be published soon… Building pages.

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