Color Traveler - Kotohira Happy Yellow

Color Traveler Kotohira Happy Yellow - Ink Drop

This is the kind of ink that will look fresh and modern for decades to come. Today’s ink is Hypnotic Turquoise from Caran d’Ache’s Chromatics line. Although the Swiss company’s name sounds exotic and luxurious, it has far more humble origins. The company took the nickname of a French satirist, Poiré. However, Poiré was born in Moscow, and took his nickname from “karandash”, the Russian word for “pencil”. And the circle is complete!

Beautiful oranges from light to dark!

Visually, this is a beautifully vibrant, confident aqua blue turquoise. The color is rich on office copy, but it’s even deeper on premiums. It’s a brilliant shading ink with strong lights and darks. Strokes are edged in a bold, dark halo on premiums, and that really adds depth and punch. The splatter shows an electric pink sheen edge surrounding areas of pooling. There are hints in writing, but it never really develops strength. Hypnotic is a great name to describe this powerful blue!

Rich, dark edging!

This is an excellent writing ink. Strokes were crisp and laser-sharp on the page. Shading was strongest on coated premiums, but it’s seen on all. I didn’t get any halo on office copy, but it showed on all premiums. Drying was a bit slow on coated papers at 20-30 seconds, but it was average on all others. No real problems in that way.

Color Traveler Kotohira Happy Yellow swatch card

Without question, this is a beautiful ink, and a great writer! However, it’s hard to overlook the price. This is a very expensive ink (US$43.50 on the company’s website, $33-$37 on major online sites), too expensive in my opinion. If they priced it to match Iroshizuku, I could see sales jumping. I think price is really keeping this brand’s inks from making a big splash on the market. They just aren’t talked about that much, and that’s a shame. If it’s worth it to you, then go for it. It’s a great ink. I love it at US$25, but at $35 (or the ridiculous $43.50), it has to be fantastic AND unique. I can quickly name a dozen very similar blues for half the price. The choice is yours, but I’d grab a handful of the excellent Caran d’Ache Grafwood pencils instead!

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