Ink Review: Diamine Pumpkin

[Chrissy]

My latest ink is Diamine Pumpkin. I just had to review this ink during October. It is a bright orange. Actually, I mean it's a really bright orange. It's brighter than most of my other orange inks, and I have a few. :)

As expected I found that Pumpkin is the brightest orange that I have. Gerbera is similar, but is a bit more toned down with red. Most orange inks lean much more yellow than Pumpkin does. Pumpkin is also quite a saturated orange compared with others.

Because I have a Lamy Nexx M pen with an orange cap, there was really no need to look further for a pen to review this ink with. It has a 1.1 stub nib. I found the ink flowed really well across the page. I wrote all of the way across the page and could see the Pumpkin ink shining wet in a trail. The it dried quickly as I started my next line of writing. I also used a Lamy Safari with a F nib as a comparison against the 1.1mm nib.

You could use this ink as a highlighter across typing. It is certainly bright enough. And if you like fun, bright orange ink, well you're all set with Pumpkin. Pumpkin is my favourite orange ink by a Country mile.



Bearing in mind the paper I use is thick with a shiny surface, and I used a 1.1 stub nib, this ink took just 10-12 secs to dry.

It flows through the pen well and lubricates the nib very well. I saw no skips or hard starts while I did swabs and dry time tests.

It exhibits some really nice shading between yellow-orange and a bright red-orange.

This isn't a waterproof ink, but it shows reasonable water resistance.

Clean up out of pens is easy. It flushes out with warm or cold water.

Clean up off hands can need a couple of washes with bar soap and water. It leaves a little redness that needs a second wash.

It's a well-behaved ink, no nib "crud" was noticed on nib during my review. However, almost all yellow/orange dyes will eventually leave some "crud" on nibs and bottle threads.

It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles or 30ml plastic refill bottles.

Diamine (http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/) sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.

It's a reasonable price



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[Morgaine]

A jolly ink. I have Diamine Blaze Orange and wonder how different it is to Pumpkin...

[Chrissy]

A jolly ink. I have Diamine Blaze Orange and wonder how different it is to Pumpkin...

Sorry but I don't have Blaze Orange as a comparison. Now I'm looking at this scan online, it looks quite toned-down I can assure you this ink is brighter than it looks on here.

Edited: I now have Blaze Orange and have included it as a comparison ink on my rewritten review form

[Laura N]

Pretty! I love the shading. Although retina-searing means it isn't for me, I think most people really like a bright orange. Is it as bright as MB Gandhi? Even thinking about that makes my eyes hurt. :)

By the way, that is a great drawing of the pumpkin!

[Chrissy]

Pretty! I love the shading. Although retina-searing means it isn't for me, I think most people really like a bright orange. Is it as bright as MB Gandhi? Even thinking about that makes my eyes hurt. :)

By the way, that is a great drawing of the pumpkin!

Thank you very much. I had to practice a few first LOL

Yes I would say it's as bright as Mb Gandhi, but just more orange.

[rdcalhoon]

Pumpkin is a favorite of mine. Yes, it is an unabashed orange and proud of it, but to me it also has an organic cast. It is a color you see in nature, rather than on a road worker's vest.

[whych]

The beer to go with this ink?
(Don't worry, it's not made from pumpkins.)

[DMurphy]

Thank you for posting your review. I really like orange, well I am biased my daughter attends Oklahoma State University "Go Pokes!", however the only orange that I have is Noodler's Operation Overlord Orange. I would like to expand my collections but need to limit myself right now.

[Lady Onogaro]

I like it. Does it come in the little bottles? I think I would get it--or at least a sample. I wonder what Crazyorange thinks about it.

[Chrissy]

Pumpkin is a favorite of mine. Yes, it is an unabashed orange and proud of it, but to me it also has an organic cast. It is a color you see in nature, rather than on a road worker's vest.

I agree, you're spot on there. It has a sort of 'peachiness' texture about it somehow, that is seen in nature. I'm finding it hard to describe though. Almost like it blushes into bright orange.

[Chrissy]

I like it. Does it come in the little bottles? I think I would get it--or at least a sample. I wonder what Crazyorange thinks about it.
I'm sure you can buy it in 30ml bottles. Maybe it could be one to try a sample of if you're placing a Diamine order?

[Crazyorange]

I like it. Does it come in the little bottles? I think I would get it--or at least a sample. I wonder what Crazyorange thinks about it.

I haven't tried this one. I do have diamine blaze orange.....and I hate it. Very dry and so light and bright it's useless.

I do think pumpkin color would be more useable. My favorite orange: Lamy cooper orange. Followed by MB orange - which I've forgotten the name of. [emoji53] duh!!!

[Chrissy]

I like it. Does it come in the little bottles? I think I would get it--or at least a sample. I wonder what Crazyorange thinks about it.

I haven't tried this one. I do have diamine blaze orange.....and I hate it. Very dry and so light and bright it's useless.

I do think pumpkin color would be more useable. My favorite orange: Lamy cooper orange. Followed by MB orange - which I've forgotten the name of. [emoji53] duh!!!

Montblanc Ink of Joy??

I would say that Pumpkin is definitely not in the category of very dry and so light it's useless. But it's still bright!

[Crazyorange]

I like it. Does it come in the little bottles? I think I would get it--or at least a sample. I wonder what Crazyorange thinks about it.

I haven't tried this one. I do have diamine blaze orange.....and I hate it. Very dry and so light and bright it's useless.

I do think pumpkin color would be more useable. My favorite orange: Lamy cooper orange. Followed by MB orange - which I've forgotten the name of. [emoji53] duh!!!

Montblanc Ink of Joy??

I would say that Pumpkin is definitely not in the category of very dry and so light it's useless. But it's still bright!

That's it! You are the guru. [emoji41]. Do you have lamy Cooper orange for comparison?

[Chrissy]

Do you have lamy Cooper orange for comparison?

I'm sorry, I don't. :(

[Chrissy]

Bearing in mind it's Otctober, and Halloween isn't far away, I have revisited Diamine Pumpkin to add some more orange comparison inks that I've obtained. I have no more Montblanc Gandhi, but had a little Ink of Joy left, so I put that one on instead of Gandhi.

The latest scan shows off the colour of Pumpkin better than the previous one did.

Pumpkin is writing just as well as it always did, and is still my favourite orange ink. :)

For all of those artists who can draw pumpkins, this is the ink to use. :)

[azkid]

Ow! My rods and cones! Lol But anyway thanks for the update. That's a cool ink. Reminds me of pics of Apache Sunset in how it shades between red-orange and yellow-orange.

I think I am a fuddy-duddy because I am realizing I only want to write with darker inks. I love a lot of ink colors but for what I do there's just no practical use for cool stuff like this. So I shall live vicariously through your reviews!

[R.A. Stewart]

... I am realizing I only want to write with darker inks. I love a lot of ink colors but for what I do there's just no practical use for cool stuff like this. So I shall live vicariously through your reviews!

That is pretty much my situation too. So if I have an impulse to buy Diamine Pumpkin, I will just have to ...

(sorry)

... squash it.

I enjoyed reading this review nonetheless. Great visuals!

[calamus]

That is a really fun color! It's not at all the sort of color I would normally buy, but I just might anyway because it's so cheerful.
It's just now registered on my barely functioning brain (only a handful of brain cells left to rub together) that you have a very cool form that you use when you do your reviews. Did you design it yourself and print it with laser toner?

[Chrissy]

That is a really fun color! It's not at all the sort of color I would normally buy, but I just might anyway because it's so cheerful.
It's just now registered on my barely functioning brain (only a handful of brain cells left to rub together) that you have a very cool form that you use when you do your reviews. Did you design it yourself and print it with laser toner?

The review form was originally downloaded as a PDF years ago on the other place. Over time I have tweaked it here and there to make it more "user-friendly" in some parts than it was. For example, for my needs, it didn't need so much room to show the pens, but needed more room for comparison inks. I think they are important. So it has evolved into this current format. I use an old version (6) of Photoshop and move parts about to make it more "user-friendly" for me. The original format had so much empty space that I didn't like. Now it works better.

I used to print it using my laser printer, but that has become old, unreliable and "dirty" so this time I printed it using my HP Photosmart. I notice that the ink has picked up some black ink from the lines here and there, so I need to think of a way to stop that happening next time. Basically, we need a new laser printer.... :)

[Chrissy]

I've still never tried any pumpkin beer. :(

[Chrissy]

... I am realizing I only want to write with darker inks. I love a lot of ink colors but for what I do there's just no practical use for cool stuff like this. So I shall live vicariously through your reviews!

That is pretty much my situation too. So if I have an impulse to buy Diamine Pumpkin, I will just have to ...

(sorry)

... squash it.

I enjoyed reading this review nonetheless. Great visuals!

Very clever. :applause: You're welcome. :)

[Chrissy]

Ow! My rods and cones! Lol But anyway thanks for the update. That's a cool ink. Reminds me of pics of Apache Sunset in how it shades between red-orange and yellow-orange.

I think I am a fuddy-duddy because I am realizing I only want to write with darker inks. I love a lot of ink colors but for what I do there's just no practical use for cool stuff like this. So I shall live vicariously through your reviews!

I'm happy to write with any colour as long as it's not black. ;) You're welcome anyhow. :)

[calamus]

I'm happy to write with any colour as long as it's not black. ;) You're welcome anyhow. :)

I feel the same way about black ink in fountain pens, although there may be some somewhere that are as rich and beautiful as the blacks I get with my dip pens. Whenever I'm doing calligraphy drills and I try to use an italic nibbed fountain pen for a while instead of a broad nibbed dip pen, the fountain pen letters look dull and gray next to ones done even with cheap India ink, let alone a nice sumi.

[azkid]

I like the unsaturated FP blacks, what can I say? Reminds me of vintage postcards and documents.

At the last Pen Posse one person had a Parker 21 inked with Sailor Velvet Black which is aptly named. To my eye it seems quite dark and matte and slightly sheening if flow is wet enough (it was).

[SIR]

Pumpkin is one of my favourite inks, by Diamine or any other brand - a solid, bright orange, what's not to love?!

[Voiren]

I love orange inks - enjoy how bright this one is! (And I like Sailor Kin-mokusei for a bright but less red orange).