Monteverde Lion is part of the ten-ink Jungle Ink collection. Inks in this series are all named for animals. They are available individually or in a nicely packaged (and nicely priced) box set.

The people at Yafa Brands asked me to choose a couple of Monteverde inks, and Lion immediately stuck out as an interesting complex color. Far from the canary yellow on the box, this is in the range of yellows that serve well as writing inks.

Overall, Lion is a deep mustard, amber yellow, but there’s color variation from one paper type to another. From the chromatography, we see strong influences of orange and grey that proves fairly water-resistant. On Rhodia and both higher-quality and cheaper papers, it’s firmly a golden mustard amber. On Profolio Oasis, there’s more deep orange, and on Midori MD, and Cosmo Air Light and Snow, I’d call it a golden rust orange. On Mnemosyne golden amber strokes fill with a greenish grey in stroke centers. It’s quite unusual here.

Compared to some of the other inks in the set, feathering is much less an issue. I did find some feather and spread on Mnemosyne and cheaper copy papers, and a bit on Oasis, as well. On the other high-quality papers, strokes have a nicely defined profile, so it isn’t a deal breaker.

In writing, flow was good, and there was only a hint of texture in feel. I’d call it a neutral to slightly dry ink, overall. Drying times were good on all papers tested.

I like Monteverde Lion, and I think you will, too. It’s an unusual color combination that’s worth exploring if you use papers that pair well. If you’re traditionally reluctant to choose a yellow, this is a good place to give one a try. Monteverde inks are always priced to buy, and Lion is an attractive, highly readable ink.