Orange, Yellow & Ochre Inks

A nice vibrant orange with very good shading. Has a bit more ‘pop’ and depth than most of my other oranges.

Orangey-gold, bright but not too ‘day-glo,’ shades nicely to a rich sunset red.

An interesting soft orange from De Atramentis’ scented ink line. The Jasmine scent is gentle (I could almost wish it stronger!) and fairly true. The color is a gentle orange with just a teensy whiff of pink, but not enough to distract.

Another sample with an intriguing color. It’s a dusty, caramel-orange. It might be a tad too bland for larger stretches of writing, but I like it a lot, and will probably end up getting a bottle.

A lovely, clear orange, suspiciously similar to DA’s Jasmine, but with a citrusy orange scent.

Brilliiant clear yellow-ochre-orange, shades slightly, but stays true. This color reminds me of saffron more than the Caran d’Ache of that name!

I wanted to love this, since I adore coppery, reddish & brownish oranges. This is pretty much just orange, however. There is some odd kind of sheening effect in the swab, and it really does look just like that on paper; it’s not a quirk of the camera. I will say I’ve never had it do that when used in a pen; like a lot of shinning inks, it takes a regular puddler the sheen to emerge, which in this case isa good thing! Overall, it’s a nice orange, just a bit unremarkable, especially for all the hype over the annual Lamy ‘special edition’ inks (this one was released with the Copper Range ALStar, which I also have).

Yes, I know it’s called ‘Golden yellow,’ and in a fine nib it is yellow; too light a yellow to be useful, in fact. But in the swab, or in a nib that lays down enough ink to be legible, it’s pretty much orange. It’s a very pretty bright, clear, orange, but unless you have a nib that lats down a LOT of ink, this is probably not worth the price.

After chasing this ink for over a year, I’m somewhat less thrilled than I would have thought. It’s a nice, bright, clear orange; but that’s it. No shading to speak of, and in most nibs, it’s a little light to be used for any long writing. Huge gorgeous bottle though!

A bright, clear, reddish orange. MV inks have been exceptionally well behaqved in my experience, so this is a great ink overall.

It’s tough to know where to put this one, but I like it a lot! It has that same mix of red/brown/orange that I so clearly favor, looking much like the Diamine Burnt Sienna when laid down heavily, but showing more of an orange when applied by a lighter or drier nib.

Another gold/orange/red conundrum. Brighter and darker than Saffron, Orange Indien, or Shoreline Gold, it ranges from a pale juicy orange to a deep, rusty red.

I love this color! I grabbed it on a whim one day, and it’s fast become a go-to favorite for both grading papers and for longer stretches of writing. Occupies that perfect spot between red, orange, and brown.

Bright, semi-saturated red-gold; not orangey, but still reddish. Bright, but with just a hint of desaturation to keep it from being to harsh.

This one if part of Sailor’s ‘seasonal’ collection, originally released in 2011, and then re-released a couple years later. While this is called Apricot, it doesn’t have the softer, pinker tone one might expect from that name, or the yellow cast one might expect if one is actually familiar with the color of actual apricots. That said, it’s a nice bright orange, and a well behaved ink.

This is a lovely offering from Stipula; an orange that gets from a soft light orange with a hint of yellow to an intense reddish in its darkest tones. As with any shading ink, some of what you will get form this ink will depend on the nib you use. Comes in a generous 70ml bottle with a snazzy label seal.

I have tried a lot of shimmer inks, and I have to say thjat DA has done a masterful job with making a smooth, deeply shimmering ink that presents a remarkablyt smooth metallic field of color. It’s a lush ochre with a smoothly metallic copper shimmmer that really doesn’t come across in the swatch.

One of Organics Studios paired inks inspired by science, this one pais with ‘Brane,’ a lovely shimmering green. This one is a really nice ocher with some impressive shading.

(If you’re interested, I can offer this about what ‘String & Brane’ refers to: “In string theory and related theories such as supergravity theories, a brane is a physical object that generalizes the notion of a zero-dimensional point particle, a one-dimensional string, or a two-dimensional membrane to higher-dimensional objects. Branes are dynamical objects which can propagate through spacetime according to the rules of quantum mechanics. They have mass and can have other attributes such as charge.” If you want more detail than that, I am not your gal…)

This is, in my mind, the definitive highlighter ink for fountain pens. Of the others I’ve tried, this one has the most ‘pop’ which is exactly what you want a highlighter to do. Works best in a wet, broad nib (of course, the natural fit is Pelikan’s Duo 250 highlighter with its double broad nib!).

I got this at my son’s behest, and it’s interesting. I think a little light for everyday, but would be lovely for calligraphy or in bolder nibs. A really pretty warm golden orange.

This is a nice yellow highlighter ink, but it just doesn’t have the strength or pop of the Pelikan.

Helianthus is another name for sunflowers (‘helios’ meaning sun), and this is a wonderfully sunny yellow, that very much evokes the petals of the iconic summery flower. RK inks are well-loved for their performance, and this one is no exception. Like most lighter inks, it defintely needs a big, juicy broad or calligraphy nib to really shine, but when it shines, it really shines.

The elusive and sought-after Sheaffer King’s Gold! I finally got my hands on a couple of teensy little promo bottles. It’s a gorgeous color; bright, bright, saturated, but not garish. A deep warm gold that is definitely not orange.