Tachikawa Jet Black ink
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m always on the quest for the perfect black ink. So I bought a few inks from JetPens along with some other things I needed. And– BAM– I found an incredible ink: Tachikawa Jet Black.
First off, as the name implies, the ink is satisfyingly black. Yet you can say that about a lot of inks. The thing that immediately blew me away about the Tachikawa Jet Black was how smooth it was and how thin the resulting lines were. Many inks are a little recalcitrant or a tad gummy. I personally find this annoying when I want to get working. I like immediate flow and that’s why I’ve always returned to Speedball Super Black. But Super Black has a tendency to feather on certain papers. Tachikawa Jet Black doesn’t feather at all. At least not on any paper I’ve used it on yet. More than that, it keeps its integrity and so allows for thin drawing lines.
The other thing about it, is that it comes in a cool bottle. The interior has a rounded bottom, so there are no corners for the ink to hide in. I haven’t gotten to the end of the bottle yet, so I can’t attest to how well this works, but it seems like a really clever design. Also, it follows the Japanese tradition of having a slogan in English that is grammatically correct, but… odd. Not something a native speaker of English would be likely to say. “World starting from the pen.”
Overall, I am really impressed by this ink. I’ll keep using it and see how it holds up over time. Sometimes the behavior of inks weeks after I open them changes my feelings about them. We’ll see. But for right now, I love using this ink. It’s so easy to draw with.
the pros:
- deeply black
- smooth flow
- allows for thin lines
- does not feather on any paper I’ve tried
- well-designed bottle
potential cons:
- slow drying time
- builds up on nib – requires consistent cleaning
Have you tried the Deleter 4 ink? If so, how do you compare the tachikawa black to it in terms of darkness, and matte/glossy? Would you say the tachikawa jet black has better flow than the speedball? Do you think it would work with a brush or ruin it? I’ve been searching the best dark, matte, good flowing ink.
I haven’t tried the Deleter 4. I would say that Speedball Super Black flows slightly better, but the Jet Black flows well, is blacker, and feathers less on different papers. I think it would work with a brush as long as you cleaned the brush thoroughly afterwards. I have noticed that when the drips on the inside of the ink bottle dry they are a bit gummy. So you wouldn’t want that happening in your brush.
I just got some Deleter 4 and I would say that the Tachikawa Jet Black is slightly darker and glossier. The Deleter 4 flows better and is wetter. It’s seems very similar to Speedball Super Black so far.
Does it work on printer paper
It works pretty well. There is a little bit of fuzziness around the heavier lines, but it is slight. An acrylic ink, such as Holbein Super Opaque Black, works on printer paper.