Iroshizuku Kon-peki

[carpedavid]

Iroshizuku Kon-peki is a beautiful, azure blue ink that captures the tempestuous nature of the wild ocean. It is a highly saturated ink that exhibits a surprising level of shading – representing the light blue of the ocean surface and the deep blue of the bottom of the sea. Because it is highly saturated, it creates a bold line on both white and off-white paper.

Like other Iroshizuku inks, Kon-peki flows liberally. It exhibits minor feathering on Moleskine journals and on Ecosystem paper, but no feathering at all on Rhodia paper. Due to its bold color, it demonstrates moderate show-through on thin paper, like that of a Moleskine cahier. However, even on the cahier paper, it suffers from very little bleed-through.

The dry time of Kon-peki is similar to other Iroshizuku inks: on Moleskine paper, it takes roughly six seconds, and on Rhodia, ten seconds. The pen I used for the review, a Lamy Studio, tends to write wet, however – which increases the dry time when compared to my Lamy Safari or 2000. Also, I typically write on an incline, which often causes ink to pool at the bottom of letters, thus increasing the time it takes ink to dry when compared to writing on a flat surface. Therefore, flat-writers might experience a quicker dry time.

While the color of Iroshizuku Kon-peki is probably too bold for typical business use, it would be a good choice for editing or other highlighting. I also find it to be great for journaling and other artistic use – the ink provides sufficient contrast on multiple paper tones to be easy to read.

As with the other Iroshizuku inks, Kon-peki comes in a beautiful, solid, 50 ml bottle that looks great on one's desk. The bottle has a depression in the base to allow for the last drops to be claimed with ease. The only minor drawback to this ink is the cost – for a comparable volume, Iroshizuku tends to run 50% to 100% more than other inks.

Review materials: For the wide strokes, I used a Lamy 1.1mm steel calligraphy nib on a Lamy Safari. For the fine strokes, I used a Lamy 14K gold EF nib on a Lamy Studio. The comparison strokes were made with a Lamy 2000. The paper is Rhodia 80g.

[Tortoise]

I never gave much thought to trying Kon-peki, thinking, "Oh, it's just another blue, & I've got plenty of those!" I've changed my mind now. Looks like a cool ink for summer. Of course, your handwriting makes any ink look grand. Thank you for all the beautiful reviews you do!

[inky]

Thank you for the review! I was on the fence for a while about this ink but it encoraged me to try it out. It is quite a lovley shade of blue! Perfect for switching things up from the more conventional blues that I usually use.

[@penfancy]

I love the illustrations that you add to your reviews! They highlight the color beautifully! Your excellent penmanship and color comparisons add so much more to most ink reviews that I've seen.

Thank you ! :thumbup:
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2

[kenmc]

I really like your reviews! Thanks!
I was wondering if you have Iroshizuku asa-gao (morning glory)? And if so, how does it compare to the kon-peki - darker or lighter? I held off on getting any of these inks after my first bottle of it - hydrangea, because it looked like it was half ink and half water. Since then though I have tried several samples and have a bottle of the kon-peki and tsuki-yo and love them both! I don't mind the price since the ink is so good. I'd like to know if the asa-gao would be a good "business ink".

[TheMrZanshin]

Asa Gao is a good bit darker and has a Slightly purple hue. At first glance it just looks like a bold blue that has no trace of blue/black. Upon closer inspection, the purple hint reveals itself and tells the world you are using a fountain pen. I use it on court documents all the time and find it quite business friendly!

[writingrav]

Man, I wish they weren't so expensive.