Kala - Winter Dawn
Kala - Winter Dawn - ink drop
Kala Inks (Taiwan) is an interesting maker of high-quality inks. They're well known for their exploration of muted colors and various greys, but they also have a series of bold neons. (They offer a wider selection of inks within Taiwan.) Their Nostalgia Abstraction series is composed of various pigmented, water-resistant inks in muted colorations. Today’s ink, Winter Dawn is part of that series.
Described as a light green, I found Winter Dawn to be more of a French Grey, with hints of green and yellow on a warm, sandy, cement grey background. In more saturated applications, it’s a much deeper, oily olive. This is a beautiful ink in on the page.
Kala - Winter Dawn - color range
As you can see on the swatch card, and in the writing above and below the splash on Rhodia 80g, in the wet medium nib that I use for testing, written strokes can appear as either the lighter or darker incarnations. In both, strokes were crisp and clean, with dark edging accentuating the greener components.
This is a highly readable, well-defined ink that can be used for work, or as a casual everyday ink. Winter Dawn proved to be as water-resistant as anticipated, with almost all of the coloration remaining after quick and more prolonged exposure to water. I have not left Winter Dawn unused in a pen for extended lengths of time, but I haven’t noticed any difficulties with staining or maintenance to date. With pigmented inks, it’s always a good idea to clean them out regularly.
Kala - Winter Dawn - ink swatch card
Kala’s Winter Dawn is a very appealing grey. It may be the green influences in tone, but there is an undeniable sense of comfort and strength in this ink. Knowing it's water-resistant only adds to that comfort.
I’m impressed with Kala Inks. Their color choices are interesting, and I’ve always been pleased with their performance. Winter Dawn may be my favorite of the Kala inks, it’s certainly my favorite of the various greys in the Nostalgia Abstraction line. Highly recommended!
August 2020