Fanyantan - (24b) The Sea

Fanyantan (24) Wooden Leak - ink drop

Of Fanyantan’s season four inks, 24(b) The Sea is a bit unusual. While the others have been gentle, undersaturated, multi-chromatic shading inks, this is a saturated sheening ink. Somehow Fanyantan labeled the boxes for two different inks as “Ink 24”. There is a yellow-green 24, and this blue 24. So, now we have 24 and 24(b).

Fanyantan 24(b) The Sea - color palette

24(b) The Sea is a heavily saturated, syrupy smooth, mid-blue. It’s a fairly strong sheening ink with a lovely pink-cinnamon sheen. The sheen is very prominent in the splatter image, and consistently visible on stroke ends in writing.

Fanyantan 24(b) The Sea - heavy sheening!

In writing, this ink is very comfortable on the page. It flows nicely and is a pleasure to use. Drying takes a bit longer than average (not unusual for a sheening ink), but it isn’t a deal breaker. I recommend caution though, as this ink likes to turn up in places you don’t expect (as I write this, it’s on seven fingertips!)

Fanyantan 24(b) The Sea - ink swatch card

Fanyantan 24(b) The Sea is an attractive blue, and a nice writing ink, but after the beautiful, multi-chromatic shaders that I’ve come to consider the brand’s defining quality, I can’t help but be less enthusiastic about this one. The others I’ve tried from the brand are so unique and special, but I probably have fifteen inks that are nearly identical to this one. Unless you’re specifically shopping for a blue sheener, I recommend looking at the other Fanyantan inks first. For the best prices, look for Fanyantan inks on AliExpress and Taobao, but you’ll likely find sellers on Amazon and eBay, as well.

Fanyantan 24(b) The Sea - light and dark