Swatched on watercolor paper, as that is the paper I use the most when not writing.

I am a fan of all the “Muddy” colors (see below) but I must admit that this Muddy Dragon is one of my favorite reds.  I am rapidly working my way through the bottle.  SO many colors come from this ink.

Muddy Dragon is one of the Mudpack set sold directly from Robert Oster, shown left, and I am begging him to eventually release them individually for those of us that are in love with them!  I  love all the muddy colors!

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

Properties of Robert Oster’s Muddy Dragon :

This ink is well-behaved,
and does not feather on
any of the papers I normally use,
even Post-its, left, which
are not fountain pen friendly.
I consider it a medium ink,
neither wet nor dry,
and it evaporates quickly.
It has never smeared on me.

It has a hint of a graphite sheen,
barely seen top, and
when hit with water it moves
easily with no ghosting,
so is not at all water resistant.

When the edge is touched with
water it moves into bright reds,
dark red, pinks, and purples —
and then that lovely charcoal grey
(see it along the top ridge, left?)

Compare the pink and lavender tones
above to the nearly black-red.

Looking at watercolor comparisons,
below, good color matches are
Perylene Scarlet, Mayan Red,
Rhodonite, Shungite, Amethyst,
and Dioxine Purple, all from
from Daniel Smith Watercolors.

SHUNGITE

AMETHYST

DIOXAZINE

*Above, watercolors  from Daniel Smith.*

My Dragon Flower was drawn in Muddy Dragon, in my Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook.  You really experience the range of pinks to deep blood red! It is a lovely ink for sketching! The fire breathing dragon  was drawn on cold press watercolor paper.

Both sketches were created with a TWSBI Eco 1.1  then the lines were touched with water with 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 dipping my brush into the pen and picking up more ink. Some lines were added back in after the water moved the ink and dried!

The Sleeping Beuaty Poison Apple was drawn on
smooth paper in my Hahnemühle Nostalgie Sketchbook,
adding color with a paint brush and layering once or twice.
This produced the deepest range of Muddy Dragon.

I love all the Muddy colors!
Get them while they last!

I have reviewed many other Robert Oster Inks
reviewed in this manner to date;
you can find them here!

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.

The non-toxic inks come in 50ml plastic bottles that are environmentally friendly using recycled plastic.  They can be tippy, so I put them in a steady container to decant if I am dipping my pen into the bottle. All my pens fit easily into the bottle opening to fill.

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