Anderillium Viceroy Butterfly Orange
Ink Review #8
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Viceroy Butterfly Orange is a deep blood-orange that shades with a soft cut when writing in cursive and a stronger, more defined cut when writing in print, as well as a soft gradient on both the inside and outside of the shaded areas that gives the ink a really nice warm glow. There’s a lot of tonal variation in the shading, too. It can easily shade from a bright orange to nearly red if the ink pools heavily enough. The ink also has the uncommon property of having a slightly matte look to it.
When viewing the dried droplets during the ink test, I noticed that they formed a slight golden crust in the areas where the ink pooled. I haven’t noticed it in my writing tests, but it a minor sheen may appear if you use the ink with a wet enough pen.
Ink splat
Ink droplets
Performance on paper:
During my tests, Anderillium Viceroy Butterfly Orange performed well. There wasn’t any detectable feathering or bleeding on any of my test pages. This ink should be fine with most fountain pen-friendly papers.
The dry times were just below average, with the large nib sizes drying within 20 seconds, and even the fine nib taking as long as 15-20 seconds on some papers.
Unfortunately, the water resistance is lacking. Water resistance quickly causes the color to cloud over, and there’s not a lot of legibility to what’s left behind afterwards.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
The performance was mixed. There’s a medium flow, but it didn’t feel consistent across all of the test nibs. The ink outright refused to write from the needlepoint on both the Tomoe River and Midori MD papers and had difficulties with the others. The ink didn’t have any major difficulties writing through the other nibs, but there was a noticeable feeling of dryness through the broad, stub, and architect nibs. The finer nibs feel lubricated enough to write comfortably, but I still wish the ink were a little slicker. This ink may also be prone to hard starts in some pens if you lift off for too long when writing.
The cleaning experience isn’t bad for a more saturated ink, and it only took 2 sets of soaks and flushes to fully clean it out of the test pen and nib units, without any remaining traces of color or residue.
Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper (white, 6mm ruling) with a medium nib.
Written on Midori MD paper (cream, 7mm ruling) with a medium nib.
Performance in a pen: 6.5/10
Performance on paper: 10/10
Color saturation: 7/10
Sheening: 1/10
Shading: 6/10
Dry time: 6.5/10
Water resistance: 1/10
Ease of cleaning: 7.5/10
Shimmer: None
My personal thoughts...
This is an exceptionally deep orange if you lay it down heavily enough. When comparing the swatches, I actually had a difficult time discerning it from a dark red. Thankfully, when writing, the color appears more distinctly as an orange (although a rich blood orange). The shading is gorgeous, and I think really drives the intended look home, but on the other hand, it might look a bit too dark if you use it with too wet a pen. Unfortunately, I’m somewhat disappointed in the way this ink performed, especially when compared to the other Anderillium inks that I’ve tried. I ran it through several different pens, but all in all, I wish it were just slightly slicker. That doesn’t mean that it’s not good — far from it, but you might find yourself testing it out with different pens until you find that perfect match.
Written in a 52 gsm Tomoe River notebook with a Carolina Pen Company Charleston “Fire Opal” (medium nib).
More images/info:
Other inks in the Lepidopteran Series:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units, including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A Midori MD A5 Notebook
A 68 gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook