Van Dieman’s Kitten Paws — Ink Review #196

 

Van Dieman’s Kitten Paws

 

Ink Review # 196

 

Originally posted on FPN: Aug 01, 2025

 

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🧾 Description

 

Ink: Van Dieman’s Kitten Paws

Brand: Van Dieman's

Country: Australia

Available: 30 ml bottles.

Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF,  Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1) , Kanwrite with FPR ultraflex.

 

Ink belongs to the Feline series by Van Dieman’s made in Tasmania, Australia.

I didn’t enjoy the writing experience with this ink. It was watery pink/beige, brown. Lubrication slightly below average. I had some problems with my Kanwrite with the FPR ultraflex nib and Kakuno EF nib. Now the nibs are not the best in these pens, but as I only had a 2 ml sample, I cannot be 100 percent sure.

However, drawing and doing washes with this ink was fun. The colour was complex. 

Scanning and color correction the scans vainly took more time than the review itself, so you're stuck with photo. In the comparison you can see the deformed images of many scanned swatches in this range. 😛

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 🧪 Chroma

 

Tissue paper chroma. 😊

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  ✍️ 📸 Writing Samples (Photos)

 JEF stands for Japanese EF nib.

Rhodia


Iroful

Midori

Tomoe River 68gsm

 Hammermill 20lb


Close-up


🔍 Comparison

Many of these inks were deformed by the scanner. The exact colour is shown in the photograph on top.

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  💧 Water Test

 

 🎨 Artwork

 Leo

Van Dieman’s Kitten Paws, Dominant Industry Soleil couchant à Étretat, Tintenlabor Goldrausch iron gall ink, gold gel pen, Talens Mixed Media Sketchbook. 


Siesta

The black lines were Tintenlabor Goldrausch that oxidized into black, Talens Mixed Media Sketchbook. 

 

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- What I Liked: drawing, name, chroma

- What I Did Not Like: Writing experience.

- What Some Might Not Like: Low lubrication, dryish.

- Writing Experience: Not fun.

- Pros: Fun for drawing. 

- Cons: Not very legible. 

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading:

- Ghosting: Quite a bit. 

- Bleed Through: Yes, baby, bleed!

- Flow Rate: Dryish.

- Lubrication: Below average. 

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

- Start-up: No problem. 

- Saturation: Not saturated. 

- Sheen: Did not notice. 

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: A bit with flex. 

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen): Nope.

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: Easy

- Water Resistance: Kitty’s ain’t like water. 😸

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 💬 Closing

 

I didn’t enjoy the writing experience, but as a sketching ink and for washes, it has a lot of depth and nuance.

 

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. 😉

Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier. 😊

 

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