FWP: Song of Scarlet/ Golden Gate Glow/ Bride to be

**My Thoughts**

**(all are 100% my personal preferences)**

This time around Ferris Wheel Press have surprised me with amazing warm colour inks.

Name: Song of Scarlet
Collection: Ferritale- Once upon a time
Ink tone: Scarlet Red/Yellow Sheen/ Blue Shimmer
Amount: 20 ml
Type: Water Based
Fountain Pen Friendly: YES
Release Year: 2023

Name: Bride to be
Collection: Professional Calligraphy Ink Series
Ink tone: Flamingo Pink
Amount: 28 ml
Type: Waterproof Acrylic Ink
Fountain Pen Friendly: NO
Release Year: 2023

Name: Golden Gate Glow
Collection: Dreaming in California
Ink Tone: Warm Orange-red (Peach)
Amount: 38 ml
Type: Water Based
Fountain Pen Friendly: YES
Release Year: 2023

My First Impressions

This little cutie is the 20ml Song of Scarlet. The inspiration is from the folklore: the Pied Piper of Hamelin, now there are many versions of this tale. The version I know goes like this: a piper came to town of Hamelin to accept the job to lure the rats out with his magical pipe. Once the job was done, the town refused to pay the piper for his service. In turn, he decided to lure the children of Hamelin causing quite a havoc in town. It was until the town paid the piper what he was owe that he release the children.

So to represent the piper playing his pipe in town, the package reflects the town of Hamelin. I love the Dutch style house used here for it reminds me of antique wood doll house. They are using all the colour that the ink gives off: scarlet red as the base colour, yellow as highlights, and blue in the river. If you look at the information panel, you will notice a cat playing a pipe and the children mouse is following it.

To be perfectly honest, red is not my go to colour for ink; however the yellow sheen and the blue shimmer keeps me interested. You will need to shake really well for the shimmer to appear evenly when using it. Despite it being a water-based and fountain pen friendly ink, you will need to wash it really well to get all the shimmer out or else you may contaminate another ink.(I learned this the hard way (cry)) My simple solution is to designate a shimmer ink only fountain pen. If you are using the ink like watercolour, I really like how many shades you can get for this red. It goes from light red, rouge, and maroon. With the unpredictable sheen and shimmer popping in places makes it a special ink indeed.

Bride to be

This pretty pink 28 ml bottle is a waterproof acrylic ink. I like how the bottle have a bottle sealer which prevent spills and ink drying out. In addition, I like the hexagon shape bottle which is a nod to the Ferries Wheel hexagon brass cap. The ridges on the sides allows me to have a good grip (so no slipping). Bride to be is not a fountain pen friendly ink because the ink will clog the pen mechanism. So dip pen type is recommended. Always remember to shake it well since it will separate easily.
Ferris Wheel Press is inspired by bachelorette party of 1950’s fashion and style.

Again pink is not my go to ink colour, but the opaqueness of the ink is really good for calligraphy on dark colour paper. I really like this when I was outlining and adding details on top of dried inks. (example: the scarlet bride at the bottom of the blog.) Being able to add water to the ink, I am able to have a lovely pastel pink which is easier for me to use. Again I only use dip pen so no clogged fountain pen. As I was using it, I realized it dry much faster than I expected. So fast hand and good planning is needed when using it. After using the dip pen, I suggested to wash it immediately or else you will need some elbow grease to wash the dried ink off the nib.

Golden Gate Glow

This bright orange ink is part of the Dreaming in California series. This is inspired by the red hue of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I like the packaging a lot because it shows the Bay Area and the Golden Gate Bridge. The fact that it is taken place at the beach makes it feels like the summer vibe. The bottle is the standard 38 ml bottle with the signature Ferris Wheel brass cap.

Now this is what I really like. I love the fact that it reminds me of the oranges and tangerines such fresh colours. The colour can be manipulated from very fiery orange, medium orange peach, light flesh tone. I actually have this loaded in one of my fountain pen since it is water based ink. This colour alone is able to bring so much warmth and fun into my journal writing. When I was doing some colour testing, I was able to have a very flesh like colour which was excellent for my Scarlet bride image. This may be one of those inks where there is no need for sheen or shimmer to wow me for keeping this simple is the best.

My Final Thoughts

After doing some ink testing, I challenged myself to use all three inks for two pieces then I move on using it individually.

In this slide show, I have the Scarlet bride and the candy doodle pattern which I used all three of the inks. As shown on the scarlet bride, Bride to be is shown really well on the hood cape and the outline of the bride. As mention before, the Golden Gate Glow is used as a flesh tone which is amazing since it is warm tone which goes really well with the song of scarle hair.
Then I used the remainder of the ink to doodle on different shapes. Unknowingly, it reminded me of the hard candy of cherry, strawberry, and orange flavoured. So I went with that idea. (there is a time lapse shown on my instagram for both: Check here! )

Moving on the three next pieces, these are part of my 2024 intentions where I wake up in the morning to art meditate.(I will like to attempt a piece per day) I used different inks for each in way to use up the remainder of the ink. I do not want to waste any inks. Third in the slideshow is the January flower: snowdrops and carnations, then the next two are ink blobs. This is where I randomly place the ink on the page and close the sketchbook. So this way I open it to a blob and outline what I see similar to that of cloud watching. For me, my favourite one is brown and Bride to be blob. At first it looks so murky but I was so happy that I was able to see a lion dance mask. It was so much fun because it started out with a spider (AAHHHHH yes I hella scared of them..that completely woke me up), lobster (ok I don’t think that I can draw that with my groggy mind), then the lion dance mask (1000% YES).