Callifolio - Olifants

Callifolio - Olifants - ink drop

Today’s ink, Olifants is from L’Artisan Pastellier, a boutique retailer and manufacturer based in Albi, France. They make a variety of styles of ink under several lines using natural pigments and dyes. Olifants is one of 36 mixable inks in the Callifolio line, which is designed to be safe for vintage pens. Callifolio’s blues are named for bodies of water, and today’s ink honors South Africa’s Olifants River.

Callifolio - Olifants - Color range and sheen

Visually, this is a deep, slate grey-blue, a powdery pastel with subtle green undertones. It’s an unusual color, and I’m surprised that I don’t see it more often. It’s quite attractive, and it reminds me a bit of Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo (the ink I prefer for pen testing). There’s a prominent sheen edging in the splatter, but none was seen in writing. This is a moderate shading ink, with enough to decorate passages and add interest, but it never distracts or dominates. It adds to the color’s beauty.

Callifolio - Olifants - Ink swatch card

As writing inks, I’ve been very pleased with the Callifolio line, and Olifants is no exception. It’s slightly dry, but the ink flows smoothly. It isn’t uncomfortably dry at all. It performed well on all six test papers, so it’s nicely versatile. Strokes were sharp and clean without any feathering. Shading was consistent on all six, as well. Despite the long drying time noted on my swatch card, it was uniformly quick on writing papers. Premium papers were 10-15 seconds, and office copy was 5 seconds. This is a very nice writing ink.

This beautiful deep-water blue-grey is suitable for artwork or office work. Callifolio Olifants is a lovely, very usable ink. I highly recommend it, and I look forward to exploring the line further!