Writer’s Blood is by far the wettest ink I have ever used. I first used it in a good-flowing pen and it turned into a firehose. I then used it in a couple of problematic dry pens, and totally brought them back to life, and they are now pleasant writers. That’s been more important to me than the color. Thanks for the video!
I like my ink colours to be almost black, but with a bit of colour in the shading. So for me, the Writers blood is a clear winner. Great review, comparison.
As a writer, I gravitated to using Writer's Blood but I like that extra red you showed really appeals to me. When my ink runs out, I'll give Oxblood a try. Thanks for these comparisons, Gary. They are always so informative.
I don’t have Writer’s Blood but I have oxblood and ancient copper. Love both, and both kind of look like blood when I’m cleaning the pen out, especially when the ink gets on my fingers. It freaks my wife out when she sees it on my hands or on the spent paper towel. Needless to say she’s not too keen on either color.
I keep getting strange looks from my wife with this ink as well. I think she has given up checking my hands are they are often multi-coloured nowadays.
I’m using Oxblood in my Kaweco brass sport. It’s my daily carry pen and I really like how it writes with the Oxblood ink. The color to me is really appealing. Writers Blood is a bit to dark for me.
Another vote for Oxblood here. Professional yet still with some color. I just wish these 30ml bottles had a wider mouth to make filling fatter pens an easier process.
I know what you mean. I was trying to file my Custom 823 the other day with Tobacco Sunburst but could only get a tiny amount due to the bottle opening. I need to invest in an ink miser
Quite late to the party, but personally i find that the oxblood often gets a bit too brown, while writers blood keeps a bit more of that fresh blood look I've ordered a bottle now, and Ill be using it with a relatively dry fine nib, so im assuming itll be a bit brighter showcasing the color more
I use Writer's Blood in my Parker 51 (circa 1960). Never a skip, never a grumble. I like a red that doesn't scream, and this is a good one. Never tried the Oxblood, but tried Dragon's Blood once. Frankly I like the ink name as much as the ink.
I love Writer's blood. I recently tried it in a Pilot Parallel stub and it looked like a whole different ink! It was basically a deep purple wine colour and made for a very beautiful gothic feeling script. For some reason the flow was not too wet from the stub even though in a regular nib it often feels too wet...not sure why that is, but really a lovely experience! And wow that chromatography in Oxblood! It is so much more complex than I would have imagined, thanks for the review.
I have been deciding between the two, and picked Writer' Blood. This ink happened to be way too wet for all the pens I own. Not only the colour is too dark for my liking, but also the drying time is uncomfortably long. I wouldn't question the quality by any mean, but next time will try Oxblood instead.
The writers blood sounds like the perfect ink for one of my beloved, but very dry pens. Thanks so much for the video. I was not sure if it makes sense to buy the writers blood ink, since I love to use the oxblood already.
00:28 🖋 Comparing Diamine Oxblood and Writer's Blood inks, similar colors but different properties and enjoyable to use. 01:52 🎨 Chromatography reveals distinct differences between the two inks despite their similar appearance when written. 02:46 ✒ Writing samples conducted with a Serendipity dip pen showing the Oxblood's color shift during writing. 06:31 💧 Writer's Blood ink exhibits higher wetness compared to Oxblood, taking longer to dry. 08:07 🖋 The Writer's Blood ink appears darker, almost black, when compared to the Oxblood ink in certain writing contexts. 09:17 💲 Cost comparison: Oxblood costs 30 cents per milliliter in Australia, Writer's Blood costs 13 cents per milliliter in the UK. 11:48 🌍 Consideration of purchasing location impacts the cost significantly, suggesting potential savings by buying from the UK. 12:29 💭 Personal preferences lean towards using Oxblood in certain pens due to its performance, while Writer's Blood might suit broader nibs better.
I bought a bottle of Writer's Blood when FP folk were raving about it and used it instead of Oxblood. Having seen your comparison, I have to say I prefer the Oxblood. I'll switch back.
Oxblood every time for me. There is an extensive range of ‘reds’ from Diamine these days. Not unusually, on the page they can appear very close. I always use Diamine, but go for ‘top, bottom and middle’ of what is available in each colour range. Always 80ml.
It's not an easy question to answer as there are lots of factors, including the nib being used and the ink. I also tend to use cheaper paper, bought from the local supermarket, Most of my pens work OK, with a little bit of ink showing through onto the back of the paper, but with some pens and inks I get loads which makes the back of the paper unusable. Also, sheening inks do not show any sheen when used on cheaper paper. The best thing to do is to experiment.
Oxblood isn't just a good ink from red ink family, its one of the best ink out there in market. Hope diamine will never discontinue this just lile MB did with corn popy red.
Interesting that the chromatography shows Writers Blood as more purply red and Ox Blood as more brown because they look like the opposite in your writing samples, Writers Blood looks more like a dark brown.
I do not own Writer's Blood. I think that the dry time would be too long for me. I like Oxblood a lot. I like the color a lot. Maybe I will see if I can get a sample of Writer's Blood. It is interesting. Do you have purple inks you can compare?
I just got some Diamine Imperial Purple. It's a darker purple but has the really vibrant powerful colour that I was after. I get some shading and even a little gold sheen with a medium Lamy nib on Burrows surfaced paper. Drying time is fairly short too, even on this type of paper. It's a lot flatter on more absorbent paper such as "OK" notebook paper. I think it writes very similar to Oxblood, so you might like it. I can see myself buying the larger bottle after I've used this 30ml.
Why should we decide between two great inks? I purchased both colors and enjoy writing with them. Diamine offers the greatest variety of inks at hard to beat prices.
I don't get on well with dip nibs, ink goes everywhere. The exception is the Serendipity Dip Pen that I use for these ink videos. As I use fountain pens, and make videos primarily about them, I like to show the ink as it comes from the same pen as a comparison.
Thank you for your quick response. I understand your logic now. I hope you didn't think I was being cheeky. I love both fountain pens and dip pens. Personally, I always use dip pens to test inks. Partly because cleaning up the nib is so quick. Anyway, Thank you for your tutorial well done sir.
@@robertocatrone715 I didn't think you were being cheeky, I thought it was a great point that made me have a think about how I do things. I love these sorts of comments as they challenge me to improve what I'm doing.
@@GarryEves Have you considered trying a glass dip pen? I got curious and have just ordered a couple. They seem to be very simple, are very old technology, easy to clean, hold a lot of ink, and are way more forgiving than a plain steel nib. You can also use inks that you wouldn't normally use in a fountain pen like iron gall and indian inks, or even liquid water colours and metallic inks. I saw someone using a metallic ink on black card and it had me hooked, though this is tempered with the expectation that glass pens work better with watery inks like FP inks etc. Another technique I saw was was dropping the ink directly onto the glass nib, but dropping different colours at the same time.
@@Chris_the_Muso I do have a couple of glass pens, and they are what I used to use before I got the Serendipity pen. It only takes a minute to clean that pen, and with using a JoWo nib I do find it reflects the ink quite well. I may go back to the glass pens. I'll do some experimenting. Thanks for the suggestion.
Writer’s Blood is by far the wettest ink I have ever used. I first used it in a good-flowing pen and it turned into a firehose. I then used it in a couple of problematic dry pens, and totally brought them back to life, and they are now pleasant writers. That’s been more important to me than the color. Thanks for the video!
👍
I like my ink colours to be almost black, but with a bit of colour in the shading. So for me, the Writers blood is a clear winner. Great review, comparison.
👍
I always wondered what the difference was with these. Thank you for this comparison!
👍
As a writer, I gravitated to using Writer's Blood but I like that extra red you showed really appeals to me. When my ink runs out, I'll give Oxblood a try. Thanks for these comparisons, Gary. They are always so informative.
👍
I don’t have Writer’s Blood but I have oxblood and ancient copper. Love both, and both kind of look like blood when I’m cleaning the pen out, especially when the ink gets on my fingers. It freaks my wife out when she sees it on my hands or on the spent paper towel. Needless to say she’s not too keen on either color.
I keep getting strange looks from my wife with this ink as well. I think she has given up checking my hands are they are often multi-coloured nowadays.
I’m using Oxblood in my Kaweco brass sport. It’s my daily carry pen and I really like how it writes with the Oxblood ink. The color to me is really appealing. Writers Blood is a bit to dark for me.
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Another vote for Oxblood here. Professional yet still with some color. I just wish these 30ml bottles had a wider mouth to make filling fatter pens an easier process.
I know what you mean. I was trying to file my Custom 823 the other day with Tobacco Sunburst but could only get a tiny amount due to the bottle opening. I need to invest in an ink miser
I'm v different. I really like the way the diamine bottles are designed. I can carry them to andvfro to work. Perfect.
@@PolyMathWannaBe62 👍
Love and have a lot of Diamine Ink but do not own these two so this was very informative. Thank you.
👍
Quite late to the party, but personally i find that the oxblood often gets a bit too brown, while writers blood keeps a bit more of that fresh blood look
I've ordered a bottle now, and Ill be using it with a relatively dry fine nib, so im assuming itll be a bit brighter showcasing the color more
👍
I use Writer's Blood in my Parker 51 (circa 1960). Never a skip, never a grumble. I like a red that doesn't scream, and this is a good one. Never tried the Oxblood, but tried Dragon's Blood once. Frankly I like the ink name as much as the ink.
@@6507bankston I use Writers Blood in pens that seem to have flow issues. I think it helps get them flowing properly.
I love Writer's blood. I recently tried it in a Pilot Parallel stub and it looked like a whole different ink! It was basically a deep purple wine colour and made for a very beautiful gothic feeling script. For some reason the flow was not too wet from the stub even though in a regular nib it often feels too wet...not sure why that is, but really a lovely experience! And wow that chromatography in Oxblood! It is so much more complex than I would have imagined, thanks for the review.
👍
I have been deciding between the two, and picked Writer' Blood.
This ink happened to be way too wet for all the pens I own. Not only the colour is too dark for my liking, but also the drying time is uncomfortably long. I wouldn't question the quality by any mean, but next time will try Oxblood instead.
I also find that Oxblood can be quite wet. I'm going to try it in a Lamy 2000 to see how it handles that pen.
The writers blood sounds like the perfect ink for one of my beloved, but very dry pens. Thanks so much for the video. I was not sure if it makes sense to buy the writers blood ink, since I love to use the oxblood already.
👍
00:28 🖋 Comparing Diamine Oxblood and Writer's Blood inks, similar colors but different properties and enjoyable to use.
01:52 🎨 Chromatography reveals distinct differences between the two inks despite their similar appearance when written.
02:46 ✒ Writing samples conducted with a Serendipity dip pen showing the Oxblood's color shift during writing.
06:31 💧 Writer's Blood ink exhibits higher wetness compared to Oxblood, taking longer to dry.
08:07 🖋 The Writer's Blood ink appears darker, almost black, when compared to the Oxblood ink in certain writing contexts.
09:17 💲 Cost comparison: Oxblood costs 30 cents per milliliter in Australia, Writer's Blood costs 13 cents per milliliter in the UK.
11:48 🌍 Consideration of purchasing location impacts the cost significantly, suggesting potential savings by buying from the UK.
12:29 💭 Personal preferences lean towards using Oxblood in certain pens due to its performance, while Writer's Blood might suit broader nibs better.
👍
great comparison, thanks for sharing
👍
Hi, Garry. Nice video. 👍 Could you point me in the direction of a stockist of that Serendipity dip pen, please?
Cheers.👍
The maker is James Fernis from Pensive Pens. Unfortunately he retired about 18 months ago.
@@GarryEves That's a shame. ☹️ Still, thanks for letting me know 👍
Rather close, but I prefer Oxblood. The comparison reminds me of Noodler's Black Swan in English Roses vs. Australian Roses. I prefer Australian.
I keep seeing them on various videos and dropping hints to my wife that they would be nice-looking inks.
Gary throwing down the G.O.A.T.s
👍
I bought a bottle of Writer's Blood when FP folk were raving about it and used it instead of Oxblood. Having seen your comparison, I have to say I prefer the Oxblood. I'll switch back.
👍
Oxblood every time for me. There is an extensive range of ‘reds’ from Diamine these days. Not unusually, on the page they can appear very close. I always use Diamine, but go for ‘top, bottom and middle’ of what is available in each colour range. Always 80ml.
I've got a load of Famine inks with similar colours. I find myself leaning towards Oxblood most of the time.
@@GarryEves Famine? Doesn’t sound as if you have much of a shortage!
@@LANCSKID agh. Damned auto-incorrect. Diamine
I normally use cheap paper, 75 gsm paper. Which one will behave better on cheaper paper?
It's not an easy question to answer as there are lots of factors, including the nib being used and the ink.
I also tend to use cheaper paper, bought from the local supermarket,
Most of my pens work OK, with a little bit of ink showing through onto the back of the paper, but with some pens and inks I get loads which makes the back of the paper unusable.
Also, sheening inks do not show any sheen when used on cheaper paper.
The best thing to do is to experiment.
Oxblood isn't just a good ink from red ink family, its one of the best ink out there in market. Hope diamine will never discontinue this just lile MB did with corn popy red.
👍
Interesting that the chromatography shows Writers Blood as more purply red and Ox Blood as more brown because they look like the opposite in your writing samples, Writers Blood looks more like a dark brown.
The chromatography on these surprised me. they were done at different times, otherwise I would have sworn they were mixed up.
Obrigado
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I do not own Writer's Blood. I think that the dry time would be too long for me. I like Oxblood a lot. I like the color a lot. Maybe I will see if I can get a sample of Writer's Blood. It is interesting.
Do you have purple inks you can compare?
I have Diamine Mondobbos (or maybe Monboddos) Hat, I think I'll try that against a violet ink. I've added it to the list for future videos.
I just got some Diamine Imperial Purple. It's a darker purple but has the really vibrant powerful colour that I was after. I get some shading and even a little gold sheen with a medium Lamy nib on Burrows surfaced paper. Drying time is fairly short too, even on this type of paper. It's a lot flatter on more absorbent paper such as "OK" notebook paper. I think it writes very similar to Oxblood, so you might like it. I can see myself buying the larger bottle after I've used this 30ml.
@@Chris_the_Muso Thank you for the suggestion.
@@Chris_the_Muso 👍
do you have a link where to buy a serendipity dip pen please
I don't think they are available any more. It may be worth checking out pensivepens.com.au in case he has any stock left.
@@GarryEves thank you, but I did not find one
Interesting, I like them both, but ordinarily save Writer's Blood for really dry nibs
I made the mistake of putting it in the Pilot E95s and Waterman Carene. Never again, I thought they would never dry.
@@GarryEves I should put writers blood into a Benu, just to see what happens. Very wet nib.
I do the same... experimentation has shown me this ink for dry nibs, and Montblanc Royal Blue and Pelikan 4001 for wet nibs.
@@CIRCLEDARK 👍
Why should we decide between two great inks? I purchased both colors and enjoy writing with them.
Diamine offers the greatest variety of inks at hard to beat prices.
I'm with you on that. My problem is I have so many inks that it's hard to decide which to use.
Wow, the writers blood was still wet when moving back to the notebook.
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I'm curious, why didn't you just use an actual dip pen to test your inks?
I don't get on well with dip nibs, ink goes everywhere. The exception is the Serendipity Dip Pen that I use for these ink videos.
As I use fountain pens, and make videos primarily about them, I like to show the ink as it comes from the same pen as a comparison.
Thank you for your quick response. I understand your logic now. I hope you didn't think I was being cheeky. I love both fountain pens and dip pens. Personally, I always use dip pens to test inks. Partly because cleaning up the nib is so quick.
Anyway, Thank you for your tutorial well done sir.
@@robertocatrone715 I didn't think you were being cheeky, I thought it was a great point that made me have a think about how I do things.
I love these sorts of comments as they challenge me to improve what I'm doing.
@@GarryEves Have you considered trying a glass dip pen? I got curious and have just ordered a couple. They seem to be very simple, are very old technology, easy to clean, hold a lot of ink, and are way more forgiving than a plain steel nib. You can also use inks that you wouldn't normally use in a fountain pen like iron gall and indian inks, or even liquid water colours and metallic inks. I saw someone using a metallic ink on black card and it had me hooked, though this is tempered with the expectation that glass pens work better with watery inks like FP inks etc. Another technique I saw was was dropping the ink directly onto the glass nib, but dropping different colours at the same time.
@@Chris_the_Muso I do have a couple of glass pens, and they are what I used to use before I got the Serendipity pen. It only takes a minute to clean that pen, and with using a JoWo nib I do find it reflects the ink quite well.
I may go back to the glass pens. I'll do some experimenting.
Thanks for the suggestion.
👍🏼🤍
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Ox blood looks brown to me. Males no difference what color ink one uses when their writing is not legible.
Writers blood
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