Pure Pens - Cotswolds

Pure Pens - Cotswolds - Ink drop

This is Cotswolds from Pure Pens. A retailer based in Wales, they launched their first series in early 2018 with a Celtic theme. They wanted to provide affordable inks in a unique palette. In late 2018, they released an English-themed series, which included Cotswolds. The name is inspired by the warm ochre-yellow colorations of the ancient stone houses in and around the Cotswolds region.

Visually, this is a lovely yellow-brown mustard that shades heavily, both light and dark. It’s a very complex color that ranges from the yellow of a ripe banana sitting in the sun, to a rich cappuccino brown. The splatter shows a coffee grounds brown edging to areas of pooling, and in writing this can be seen in a heavy, dark stroke halo on coated premium papers. The pronounced halo gives strokes a very well-defined profile, making them highly legible and crisp. Together with the shading, this gives the ink a strong personality.

Pure Pens - Cotswolds - Ink swatch card

As a writing ink, Cotswolds is neither wet, nor dry, but it does have a slightly longer than average drying time on some papers. Coated premiums took 35-40 seconds, uncoated premiums 20 seconds, but on office copy it was a quick 5 seconds. Strokes were clean on all papers tested, but they were particularly sharp on premium papers. Shading was strongest on coated papers, but it was visible on all. Halo was very strong on coated papers, less so on uncoated, and absent on office copy. This is a nice writing ink, that is quite flexible, too.

This is a beautiful, and somewhat unusual color. The shading and strong halo give it a very dramatic appearance on coated premiums, and I think that makes it a very desirable ink. Pure Pens inks are affordable, and their international shipping is well-priced, too! I definitely recommend Cotswolds.