Ink Snippet: KWZ Dark Brown

I’ve been using KWZ Dark Brown in my Lamy 2000 with fine nib, and there’s a writing sample in the Pen of the Day post — where Dark Brown looks black.

In fact, KWZ Dark Brown reminds me of nothing so much as Pelikan Brilliant Black.  So I compared the two inks on four different papers, as shown above.

Pelikan Brilliant Black is in a Lamy Safari with fine nib. The papers are Tomoe River off-white, Rhodia dot pad, Staples Sustainable Earth ruled paper and Neenah Classic Crest Natural White.  Only on the Neenah does KWZ Dark Brown look a little brown.  Here’s a closeup.

On every other paper, the colors look identical to me with these pens.

So Dark Brown comes across, usually, as my favorite kind of “black ink” — a lighter black that shades. It reminds me of drawing with charcoal.

KWZ Dark Brown has another great feature: it is extremely resistant to feathering.  I’m going to test it with wider nibs, but with the Lamy 2000 it just does not feather, not even on my terrible copy paper.

As I start to explore KWZ Dark Brown, I’m tickled by it.  KWZ Dark Brown promises to be an interesting black ink, and also an interesting brown.