Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 21

 

Day 21 is a warm brown, standard ink called "Brandy Snap."

With no shimmer, and no sheen to speak of, this color is simply what it is--except that it does shade from a blonde color to a gingerbread cookie kind of color. 

Overall, it's very reminiscent of baked goods!

Only four inks left (three until Christmas)!

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 20

Day 20 is the pink I was looking for to fill in the rose Advent candle in yesterday's drawing. This one is called "Pink Ice," which makes me think of "pink champagne on ice" à la "Hotel California," and also An Affair to Remember, which does feature some talk of pink champagne. I think I remember another pop culture reference to champagne that is pink, but it's eluding me right now.

This is a shimmer ink, and I just love the shimmer when it settles to one side of the bottle.

It looks pink in the bottle, but it appears to be a silver shimmer.

In addition to my champagne reference (which I found interesting given that this was day 20, which suggests the first digits of the incoming--and current--year), 

I decided to think literally in terms of ice that is pink, and I made a pink snowman, who makes me happy. 

You can see how this particular ink tended to cling rather well to the dip pen nib, but was very light when used with the Pilot Parallel with the broad stroke. 

And we have only five inks to go! (Four until the Christmas reveal!) Diamine already has a color named "Pink Champagne," so when the calendar countdown is done, I will do a few comparison swatches between existing colors and the new Inkvent inks!

 

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 19

 

Day 19 is another Advent-appropriate color--purple, although purple in Advent is not "Festive Joy," which is the name of this color. Still. I drew an Advent wreath to go alongside some grapes.

Then I decided to embellish it with "Raspberry Rose," "Candle Light," and "Garland"--something I've largely resisted until now!

I noticed in the swatch that there seemed to be a slight sheen, but I couldn't quite tell the color.

It actually seems to be a gold...

...and it is a bit metallic!

Ending today with even more festive cheer!

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Days 17 and 18

 Oops! I missed posting yesterday, so today's is a catch-up post.

First, day 17, which continued the previous three days' pattern:

"Thunderbolt" is a standard ink, but does have a tiny bit of a red sheen to it.

It is a beautiful bright royal blue that I wouldn't mind having. I've been all about bright colors lately!

There's not much to draw for this name--thunder not being visible...  And I thought of Harry Potter's broomstick from Prisoner of Azkaban, but of course, that's a Firebolt, not a thunderbolt. Oh well!

Day 18 broke the pattern by not providing a red ink. I didn't mind...

The name, which took me a while to decipher, is "Subzero" ("Superhero"? "Slytherin"? "Slippery"?)

It is a shimmer ink, which wasn't immediately apparent, but when it appears, it is stunning. A light blue shimmer in an ice blue ink.

This color and color name was much more evocative.

And here is the second set of six:

Only six more before the Christmas Day reveal!

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 16

Day 16 is very familiar... Named "Vintage Copper," today's ink bears a very striking resemblance to Day 14: "Red Robin," except that this ink does, in fact, have shimmer. 

This is our first shimmer ink in a while--since Day 12, though we had two in a row with "Party Time" and "Stargazer."

I admit that I wasn't initially very excited about this ink, but it made me think of copper roofs, bright pennies, and a particular copper bracelet (that was probably more brown than copper, truthfully. It also made me think, inexplicably, of bronze medals...  Hmmm....

I am trying to decide whether I think this is a gold shimmer, or whether the shimmer is actually copper. I love the idea of it being a copper shimmer too much, so copper shimmer it is.

I wonder if Day 17 will be blue?

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 15

Day 15 is another blue ink - this one called "Night Shade" and it is a standard ink.

This is a very nice blue that dries to a rather different color than it starts out. It is a bit of a muted color, where the other blues (day 9, day 12, and day 13) were more vivid--and both had special properties.  

This one reminds me of a Colorverse shade--"Cotton Blue" because of how it behaves, though the color is quite different.

I like this ink because it does seem to shade (if I'm using the term correctly) from a medium to a darker blue, and how that allows me to add some detail when I use the paintbrush.

I can't quite believe it's only 10 days until Christmas... I'm not sure if the calendar is a distraction or a reminder! I almost for got to comment on what the heck does Night Shade have to do with the holiday season??? But you can see that I chose, instead, to think of windows and curtains and window shades... at night. 

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 14

Two weeks into the Inkvent calendar (and the month of December) is Day 14, "Red Robin," a standard ink, with no shimmer or sheen. 

I found that I was able to write rather well with the dip pen--the ink seemed to cling to the nib rather well. I'm not entirely sure what the name for that quality of ink might be. The ink is a rust-red...

Rather reminiscent of the breast of an American Robin (at least the male, whose breast is a deeper color). This is perhaps not the intention, as the English robin is a different bird, and Diamine is an English ink. (The American Robin is not actually a true robin at all; it is related to the thrush, while a European robin is related to the flycatcher. In other news, I couldn't get past the first chapter of a book that melded Pride and Prejudice with dragons because it assumed that there were hummingbirds in England. There aren't.)

 

I was, perhaps unfortunately, reminded of a burger restaurant chain featuring bottomless french fries. Yum!