Ferris Wheel Press Autumn in Auburn

Ink Reviews
Written By Julian

Ink Review #146

 

*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.

 

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Overview

The color/properties:

Ferris Wheel Press Autumn in Auburn is a golden yellow that shades with a soft gradient in cursive and a soft cut when writing in print. The shaded areas are much darker, almost leaning towards brown, and it gives it a nice earthy contrast, especially when writing in print.

It’s also very legible for a yellow ink. Very fine nibs, such as needlepoints and extra fines, may appear too light, but with fine nibs and larger, the yellow is surprisingly strong and easy to see, even with a darker ink used on the opposite side of the paper.

Ink splat

Ink droplets

 

Rhodia

Leuchtturm1917

 

Performance on paper:

Autumn in Auburn is very well behaved, and there were no traces of bleeding or feathering on any of my test papers. This ink should be great on most fountain pen-friendly paper options.

The dry times were average, with the large nibs mostly taking between 15-20 seconds to dry, and the fine nibs drying in a slightly shorter 10-15.

The water resistance isn’t great, and water exposure quickly washes most of the yellow color away. While there are some fine grey shadows left behind, they’re very faint.

Midori MD

Maruman

Tomoe River

Kokuyo

Water resistance

Chromatography

Performance in the pen:

Autumn in Auburn has a medium flow and sufficient lubrication to make for an average but still comfortable writing experience. During my extended writing, I noticed a few minor drop-offs in flow that only seemed to last for a handful of words before catching up again (and this is without having to stop writing). There weren’t any hard starts, stops, or skips during my tests.

During cleaning, the ink initially seemed to wash out very quickly, and most of the color did, but I noticed an extremely fine grey haze of residue and a dark ring along the inside of the barrel that would wash out with basic water/flushing. While this isn’t difficult to clean out in some pens with the use of a twisted paper towel, in pens with inaccessible filling systems, it can prove difficult.

 

Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper (white, 7mm ruling) with a broad nib.

Written in a Traveler’s Company 026 dot grid insert (white, 5mm ruling) with a fine nib.

Written on Midori MD paper (cream, 7mm ruling) with a broad nib.

  • Performance in a pen: 9/10

  • Performance on paper: 10/10

  • Color saturation: 5/10

  • Sheening: 0/10

  • Shading: 6/10

  • Dry time: 7.5/10

  • Water resistance: 1/10

  • Ease of cleaning: 7.5/10

  • Shimmer: None

My personal thoughts…

I’ve always found Ferris Wheel Press to be excellent at making seasonal inks, and the fall inks are no exception. Algonquin Maple, Pumpkin Patch, the list goes on. Autumn in Auburn fits right in. The color, the shading, and that ever so slight earthiness. It’s another perfect fall ink. Especially early fall, when the leaves are just starting to turn, and the greens are beginning to fade, but the sun is still shining bright, and the cold of November hasn’t set in yet. It’s beautiful, and it really puts me in the mood for my absolute favorite time of year! I could go on, and I would if I thought it could convince Ferris Wheel Press to bring it back.

Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper with an Opus 88 Mini Fall Leaves (broad nib).

Obligatory food shot.

More images/info:

 

Featured in the photography and writing samples:

Current text: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Amazon)

 

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 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook

  • A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook

  • A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook

 
Julian
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