It is no surprise Robert Oster inks my favorite inks.  Dragon’s Night is such a gorgeous sketching BLURPLE ink it has a permanent home now in my purple leopard Pilot Metropolitan.  I art journal many nights with this one, a passionate color!  Dragon’s Night might be an ink that you could get away with as a business ink in more relaxed environments… It is not a screaming purple!   (Sorry lawyers and accountants everywhere who are not in that category!)

Above, even in the samplings, you can see the changeling nature of this ink in the light, much more dramatic than other inks I’ve reviewed.  It glows in bright lights!

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’s Dragon’s Night:

This ink is well-behaved, and like other Robert Oster inks, 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 with a wet nib.  It has never smeared on me during a sketch.  I see NO sheen, which is appropriate for a dark Dragon’s Night!  The ink separates into beautiful blues when hit with water, right.  When hit with water it moves easily with no resistance or ghosting.  It is not water resistant.

It is a lovely ink with which to portray a night sky.

DIOXAZINE

IMPERIAL PURPLE

CARBAZOLE VIOLET

PHTHALO 226

MAYAN VIOLET

Above, watercolors that should be comparable to Dragon’s Night.
I really don’t have one in my arsenal… I’d be mixing paints!  I’d try Imperial Purple with a Phalo Blue to begin.  I show watercolor matches because sometimes you want to use an ink to sketch and then fill the object with the matching watercolor, and usually I can offer a possible match!  Anyone else have a great watercolor match?

Above, showing Dragon’s Night next to several
Robert Oster purples for comparison.

I love the ink for silly journaling, above.

In a Hahnemühle Watercolour Journal I tested Dragon’s Night, above in a starless night which is my idea of a dragons night!  Perhaps reading too much Tolkien?
Like the test below posted earlier, Dragon’s Night tends to appear quite different in bright lights (left) versus normal daylight (right).

On smooth paper in a Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook, above and here,
I created a fire breathing dragon… First time drawing a dragon.
I now feel compelled to try my hand at an entire dragon!

Again in a Nostalgie Sketchbook, wild lupines are perfect for the blurple
of Dragon’s Night, with a little help from his other inks!
Drawn with a Platinum Carbon pen with waterproof Platinum Carbon ink, then ink-painted using Robert Oster Dragon’s Night ink, Hot Pink ink, and Vine Leaf ink,

Many images were drawn with a Pilot Metropolitan with Robert Oster Dragon’s Night ink on various papers, then the lines were touched with water using a Pentel Aquash waterbrush to move the ink.

MOST water soluble ink companies do not yet pay attention to lightfast properties because most artists who use ink are making prints of their work; Robert Oster to date is no different.

His non-toxic inks come in 50ml plastic bottles that are environmentally friendly, using recycled plastic. They can be tippy, so I usually place the bottles in a short glass when decanting, left.  On the plus side of a tall bottle, many can be stored on a shelf!  The ink bottle mouth is wide, and all my pens fit easily into the bottle opening to fill.

I bought Robert Oster Dragon’s Night at JetPens.

Other Robert Oster Inks reviewed in this manner to date can be seen here.

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 ©D. Katie Powell.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back  to dkatiepowellart.