River of Fire by Robert Oster

Posted March 29, 2023 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 0 Comments

The above photo was taken in direct sunlight. Ink is swatched on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a glass dip pen.

Specs

Name: River of Fire

Maker: Robert Oster

Color Family: Green

Properties: Sheening, Shading

Purchased at: Goulet Pens

What’s in a name?

I couldn’t find anything specific on the name, though there’s also a Lake of Fire by the same maker, so perhaps this is part of a red-sheening “of Fire” theme.

purple dog paw prints against a light grey background run horizontally left to right; the right side has an illustrated ink bottle spilled on its side

Swatches

A large swatch of ink showcases the darkest this ink gets, as well as the maximum properties it has (when held at the right angle to show any shimmer or sheen). But what about when you’re writing a letter or notes with it?

Straight-on in bright sunlight.
You can see some shading here- not very dramatic, but moderate green to a very dark green.

The above was written on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a Lamy Safari fountain pen with a Stub nib.

Of course, for maximum effect you want to see it in light and in motion. The following video shows the ink swatched on Skylab Letterpress 160gsm cards

purple dog paw prints against a light grey background run horizontally left to right; the right side has an illustrated ink bottle spilled on its side

Thoughts

River of Fire is a dark forest green with low shading and low red sheen, however as you can see, even in large swatches and with a wide (stub) nib, the sheening is barely there. Maybe…not there at all. It’s a bit disappointing, because the ink comes across as a plain dark green- serviceable (especially as a work-appropriate ink) but not as exciting as hoped for.

Given the dark hue and the lack of sheen, you could just as easily use this in an EF nib without issue. I did find it a little on the dry side for my tastes.

*All pics and vid were taken using a Samsung Galaxy S22 and color-adjusted to best reflect the hue of that ink.

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