Ink of the Week: Diamine Arctic Blast
I am an enthusiast of blue ink. I have probably tried hundreds at this point after so many years in the hobby. I have over one hundred different blue inks in my personal collection, everything from light blue to blue-black. There are ultimately very few of the always-in-production blues that I haven’t tried. I know blues.
I have developed a few favorites over the years such as Colorverse Office Blue, Colorverse Apollo 11, Colorverse Strelka, Amarillo Azul Frida, and a few more (and I’ll admit, a lot of them are Colorverse brand). The inky focus of this week is another one I find myself coming back to again and again.
Diamine Arctic Blast is a medium sheening blue with blue shimmer. It’s a really fun combo and it is very striking on the page. It pops with the sheen and shimmer on fountain pen friendly papers, especially coated ones like Cosmo Air Light. It can take a little bit of extra time to dry, not an unusual thing with inks that sheen. It has good flow, although it can get a little clogged with shimmer if left around for too long (not unusual for any shimmer ink).
Arctic Blast debuted with the Green Edition of the Diamine Inkvent Calendar (2022). Like the rest of the Inkvent line it was later released in a 50 mL bottle. I’m coming up on the end of my 12 mL bottle from the calendar and trying to decide whether I should add the 50 mL bottle to my collection. Due to my current state of affairs I am needing to be more frugal with my personal stationery purchases, and I need to ask myself - is this ink different enough from other inks in my collection to warrant a bottle?
For this experiment I grabbed four different inks out of my collection that are similar to Arctic Blast. Looking at my ink lists I could probably have swatched even more. Sheening blues were definitely a trend for a while, and I feel like they are making a bit of a comeback.
Ink #1 - Colorverse Supernova
I feel like this is the closest in the swatch group to the base color of Diamine Arctic Blast. It is a little lighter, but has the same pink sheen. I am very fond of Colorverse Supernova, it was an early acquisition of mine. In a direct comparison, it would be really hard to choose. Some days it would be Arctic Blast and other days it would be Supernova. It would really depend on whether or not I was feeling shimmer.
Ink #2 - Ferris Wheel Press Jelly Bean Blue
Another shimmer-less sibling of Arctic Blast is FWP Jelly Bean Blue. It is a few degrees darker in base color, but again has the pink sheen common with sheening blues. I think this ink was one of the original three inks from when FWP debuted its ink line. Unfortunately, it does seem to be discontinued in this form, but there are some spiritual successors within the FWP line. While darker than Colorverse Supernova, I would say Supernova would be a good easily available alternative to this ink.
Ink #3 - Colorverse Bow Shock
If you are a fan of sheen, Bow Shock is one of those that does not disappoint. The base color is darker than Arctic Blast and it doesn’t have shimmer, but the sheen is super bright even on cheaper paper. Bow Shock is in competition with Colorverse Extreme Deep Field and SM1 for crazy sheen. I love using this ink to show off how fountain pen inks can be super unique.
Ink #4 - Diamine Happy Holidays
There are a couple of blue sheeners with shimmer in the Diamine Inkvent line. Happy Holidays was from the 2019 Blue Edition. I would say this ink is the big sibling to Arctic Blast with a deeper blue and a heavier red sheen. They share the blue shimmer, however. Like all Diamine shimmer inks, this one also behaves pretty well in a pen. An honorable mention also goes to Diamine Jack Frost, also from the blue edition, it is a brighter blue than Arctic Blast (even closer to Colorverse Supernova) but with silver shimmer instead.
To answer my question of whether I should add a bottle to my collection or just enjoy what I have until I run out… it’s going to be the latter. If I find myself still thinking about it when I’ve long since run out, then I may change my mind. However, in the mean time I will enjoy some of my other, similar blue inks. If you don’t have a shimmery, sheening blue in your collection yet this one is a great option.
All he blue sheening siblings together on one page.
