2023 Madrid Pen Show - Verde Retiro
2023 Madrid Pen Show - Verde Retiro - Ink drop
November 10th~12th brings us the 2023 Madrid Pen Show, and this year there’s a special ink to celebrate the event! Spanish retailer, InksInspiration.com worked with Pennonia to create Verde Retiro. This limited-edition ink will be available at their table at the show, but if you can’t be there (or just can’t wait), you can grab a bottle at their website starting on November 1st.
2023 Madrid Pen Show - Verde Retiro - color range
Loved by Madrileños and visitors alike, Retiro Park (or more affectionately, “El Retiro”) is the green, beating heart of Madrid. The connection with the city and the pen show is immediate. Retiro means “retreat” in English, and this UNESCO World Heritage Site was once the gardens of the Buen Retiro Palace, a pleasant, royal retreat. Pen shows are pleasant retreats for pen and ink lovers, so there’s another nice connection.
Ink Swatches on Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River
Verde Retiro is a beautiful forest green. With nice variation on coated papers, it brings to mind areas of light and shadow of the park’s leafy forests viewed from afar. There’s mystery in these greens that I find very appealing. I think this is the kind of green many look for in a daily writing ink.
Writing sample details on Cosmo Air Snow paper
In performance, Pennonia inks are consistent, reliable and very pleasant in use, and Verde Retiro matches that expectation. Strokes were clean and crisp on all six of the papers tested. Shading was stronger and more defined on coated papers, and more nuanced and gradual on uncoated papers. There were no problems with spreading, but there was fairly significant show-through and spots of bleed on office copy paper. That’s not surprising with a saturated, forest green ink. On higher-quality papers, it’s nothing to worry about.
2023 Madrid Pen Show - Verde Retiro - writing samples
Verde Retiro is comfortable in use. It’s smooth and wet in flow, and drying times were average or better on both coated and uncoated papers.
2023 Madrid Pen Show - Verde Retiro - ink swatch card
Verde Retiro is a nice, high-quality ink, and it’s a nice celebration of both Madrid and the 2023 pen show, as well. InksInspiration put a lot of thought into this ink, and it shows. And as usual, Pennonia did a great job creating the ink. It’s available in a 30 ml bottle for €10 while supplies last. If you’re lucky enough to be at the show, you should definitely grab a bottle at the InksInspiration table, but if you can’t make the show, it’s worth ordering, as well.
2023 Madrid Pen Show - Verde Retiro - Comparisons
Special thanks to Maria at InksInspiration.com for sending this ink for an early preview.
2023 Madrid Pen Show - Verde Retiro - 30 ml Bottle