Robert Oster - Australian Opal Blue

Robert Oster - Australian Opal Blue - Ink drop

Australian Opal Blue is the second of Robert Oster’s three Australian Opal inks. Australian Opal Grey was gorgeous, and it showed subtle color similarities with the namesake gemstone, so my expectations were high for the blue and pink versions.

Visually, this is a lovely, soft, cool, pale, powdery blue. It reminds me of the beautiful light blue color of some clear morning skies. I don’t see any of the subtle internal color variations of pinks and yellows that are characteristic of the gemstone and were present in the grey version. However, there are natural blue opals that match this blue quite well. Like the grey, this is a prolific shading ink, particularly on coated papers.

Robert Oster - Australian Opal Blue - Ink swatch card

As a writing ink, it performs at the same high level as the grey version. This is a very nice writing ink. Strokes were sharp and well-defined on all six papers. Shading was visible on all, but it was strongest on coated papers (Kokuyo was particularly good). Stroke halo was never overwhelming and was seen in varying degrees on all except office copy. Drying was again a fast 5-10 seconds on all papers.

Australian Opal Blue is a beautiful, soft, powdery light blue. These blues have a lot of fans, and I think people will be very pleased with this one. I have to admit, I was disappointed that there weren’t the subtle hints of other colors that I expected, but it’s hard to frown with exceptional performance like this from such a beauty. Enjoy!