• Colour: Yellow. Helianthus is the name for a sunflower and this is, unabashedly, sunflower yellow. Bright, saturated, and lovely.
• Special Attributes:
  • Shade: Oh yes.
  • Sheen: None.
  • Shimmer: No.
• Watercolour Usage: Since it’s a lighter colour to begin with, it is easy to add water and get a lovely light wash. But it is firmly planted enough that once it’s dry, you will not be able to completely soften edges.
• Harkens to Mind: Sunflowers, the sun, gold under bright light, daffodils.
• Similar to: I don’t have many yellow inks to compare. The rest lean to brown or gold. But it’s a lighter version of Diamine’s Citrus Ice without the shimmer.
• Expense: $12/50ml (but only 6€) as of 2022.
• Example: Naomi Campbell in shadow.

Link to buy this artwork

This is the problem with Helianthus. This buildup that happens around the bottle will also happen around the nib and feed of your pen. I’ve learnt the hard way not to put it in a pen that can’t be easily disassembled.

Writing Sample

Verdict

It is the first yellow ink I ever bought and after using it I figured I didn’t need any others. The caking problem, though, that’s an issue. I use it with dip pens pretty often, and I use it in art. Writing of any length, though, is a rarity.