Ink Fix
Ink Fix #6 Revealed
Q: What’s a pirate’s favourite letter?
A: Ye think it be “arr” but it’s really “the sea”!
Sorry about the dad joke. Ink Fix #6 was sea-themed. Or beach-themed. The point is, it’s Summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere and that means things are heating up.
Featured inks in Ink Fix #6 were (from top to bottom in the above picture):
Graf von Faber-Castell Deep Sea Green
A greenish blue with decidedly green shading
Vinta Inks Sirena 1952 Mermaid Green
A pearly pale green with greyish purple shades
Tramol Turriptopsis Nutricula
Wait, what?
Lamy 2014 Special Edition Neon Coral
Highlighter bright, beautiful peachy pink
Sailor Jentle Miruai
Seaweed-y deep green with a subtle brown sheen
Pure Pens Pendine Sands
Deeply shading yellow-orange
PenBBS #128 Santorini
The rich clear blue of the sea off of Santorini
This Ink Fix features the first invisible ink to appear in the box! Turritopsis Nutricula from Tramol is a colourless ink that appears invisible until illuminated with an ultraviolet light. When the ink has dried, it is possible to write over it with a regular ink; hiding the message until it’s revealed by someone who knows the secret!
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4 thoughts on “Ink Fix #6 Revealed”
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A question, just for the sake of curiosity: is the Turritopsis ink made of extract of jellyfish of the genus Turritopsis?
That is a really good question! I don’t believe it does, as fluorescent pigments and bioluminescent illuminations work upon different chemical processes. Cnidarians such as jellyfish get their ‘glow’ from luciferin substrates in an enzyme-catalyzed reaction and do not require any specialized lighting to view the effect; whereas fluorescent ink requires a longwave light source (such as a blacklight) to reveal it. Though Tramol (and other fluorescent ink/paint makers) don’t share their ingredients as a trade secret, the fluorescing compound in this ink is very likely to be quinine.
Thanks for your kind reply!
Btw, you probably mean “shortwave light source” e.g. UV 😉
You’re right! UV light is shorter than the visible wavelength. I meant to say “longwave UV light source” to mean UV-A rays rather than UV-B rays (UV-B being what you’d expect of sunlight, and UV-A being the kind emitted by a blacklight) but ended up saying something completely wrong. Thanks for the pick up!