Robert Oster who now carries well over 80 colors, has introduced a new blue, Robert Oster Frankly Blue Ink. Blue ink continues to be a favorite of many writers. The variety of blue inks on the market today continues to amaze. Robert Oster Ink Company has a multitude of blues, each with a slightly different hue.
Robert Oster Frankly Blue Ink Bottle
Created to honor both the one year anniversary of being sold in America and “Federalist Frank” of Federalist Pens, the first to carry Robert Oster inks in the US. The ink was originally sold at the 2017 DC Pen Show and is one of the newest blue inks produced by this Australian company.
Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink is a nice blue shade, almost an “aqua” color. It has a slightly blue-green hue, that is heavy on the blue. The ink is probably not quite light enough to be considered a turquoise color and not vibrant enough to be a royal blue. The color is a unique variation between the two.
Robert Oster inks are known for their quick dry time, nice shading characteristics and some possible sheening as well. Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink has all these characteristics and is bound to be another blue ink to put on your “to buy list”.
Continuing reading for a chance to win the bottle of Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink we used for this review.
Robert Oster Frankly Blue Ink
We found the following characteristics while we were testing Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink that you may find helpful:
Testing Factors
We used Rhodia dot pad paper with a J. Herbin glass dip pen for this Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink review. Both the Rhodia paper and the J. Herbin glass dip pen are French made, while Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink is handcrafted in Australia.
Bottle Sizes
Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink, like all Robert Oster bottled inks, come in a simple plastic 50 ml bottle. The slender bottle stores well, as it doesn’t take up much space, but contains a nice amount of ink. There is no outer packaging or box with Robert Oster inks. The only telling mark indicating the color of ink is a white label on the cap with the color name and an inkblot sample. The simplicity of the bottle Robert Oster uses has not limited their popularity with consumers.
Cost
Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink is a mid ranged priced ink retailing for $17.00 in the United States, which is a reasonable price understanding that it is being imported from the land down under.
Dry Time
Using a J. Herbin glass dip pen on Rhodia paper, we experienced a reasonable dry time of between 7-8 seconds. Not as fast as some other Robert Oster inks, but quick enough to be considered an everyday ink option.
Bleed Through
We did not experience any bleeding during our review of Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink. Even during our cotton swab test there was no bleeding with Rhodia dot pad paper.
Feathering
We did not experience any feathering during normal use while testing Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink. Like most non-waterproof inks, we did notice some line distortion during the water test, but only at the wettest points.
Water Test
Our water test running a wet cotton swab over a dried ink sample produced a typical color smear, as do most non-waterproof inks. The wettest portions of the test also removed some of the lines and cause line distortion. However, the majority of the sample lines remained visible and were still fairly crisp.
Shading
Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink produces some nice shading and color variations with the right nib, paper and writing style. Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink also produced some very slight dark red sheen at the wettest points of the cotton swab test.
Conclusion about the Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink
Blue inks continue to be very popular. Finding the exact blue ink can be a fun and exciting task (since you will probably end up with a bunch of blue variations and you may end up loving them all). Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink is another such ink. It is different enough from other blue inks, as it is not a traditional blue color. Regardless, Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink has a nice unique color, has a fairly quick drying, and beautiful shading traits. It is “frankly” is just another wonderful blue ink by Robert Oster.
Enter to Win
Enter to win the actual bottle of Robert Oster Frankly Blue ink that we used in this ink review:
