Robert Oster Signature African Gold is my favorite gold sketching and
suitable for the office and of course, my artwork.
It is a rich gold going into a blackish sheen.
I don’t think of it as a shading ink.

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

Properties of Robert Oster’s African Gold:

African Gold is well-behaved,
and does not feather on any of the papers I normally use, even Post-its. I consider it a medium ink, neither wet nor dry, and it evaporates quickly. It has never smeared on me during a sketch. It has a hint of sheen, but this is not noticeable in writing. When the dry ink is hit with water it moves easily with no ghosting, so is not water resistant.

Notice the green-blue edges, right.

*Above, watercolors  from Daniel Smith and QoR.*

When the edge is touched with water it moves easily with no resistance into rust tones.
Looking at watercolor comparisons, above, good color matches
for African Gold are Nickel Quin Gold, Quinacridone Gold,  and New Gamboge, moving into Van Dyke or Burnt Umber.

My lion was lightly sketched then drawn with a TWSBI Eco 1.1 on cold press watercolor paper, then the African Gold lines were touched with water using a Pentel Aquash waterbrush.  The lines do not stay visible but quickly lose themselves in wet color; I was able to gently build up layers of color by layering over dried areas quickly with the African Gold ink on a saturated brush, which kept the dried ink below from moving.

Wikipedia offered the image from which this sketch was drawn.  I let the sketched lines completely dry on smooth Hahnemühle paper in my Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook.  I came back and touched the lines, adding inky color on my waterbrush and layering once or twice, but the lines moved too much!
I came back again and drew the African Gold lines over the painted areas.

When my mom was in the hospital I made this sunny rendition of her favorite bronze sun, which I inherited from her.  Sorry can’t show the entire thing as there is writing which is personal. DeAtramentis Document black lines with African Gold ink.

Other Robert Oster Inks reviewed in this manner to date:
Muddy Dragon (and the other Muddy colors which will soon be sold separately), Graphite (the first bottle I finished ever…), Green at Night, Midnight Sapphire, Jade, Melon Tea, Fire Engine Red, Thunderstorm, Charcoal, Citrus, No Fixed Address, Sydney Lavender, Aussie Brown, Heart of Gold, Aussie Liquid Gold, Sterling Silver, Robert Oster’s Pen Chalet Exclusives (Antelope Canyon, Havasu Falls, Monsoon Clouds, Monsoon Sky, Saguaro Green, Sedona Red), and Robert Oster’s Vanness Exclusives (Blue River, Charred Hickory, Hemp, Hickory Aflame).

The non-toxic inks come in 50ml plastic bottles that are environmentally friendly, using recycled plastic.  They can be tippy, so I set the bottle in a more solid container to decant. All my pens fit easily into the bottle opening to fill.

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