It has been a while since I got to do an inky review! But there have been some amazing things going on, which I will highlight after this review. Moving right along through the Colorverse, I decided to delve into Season 1 with Mars Curiosity.

This ink, like all Season 1 and Season 2 inks come with two bottles of the same color, one 65ML and one 15ML. Some have asked me what to do with the second bottle. I keep them to share, but it has become a popular thing in our local pen club to sell the small bottle to someone who just wants to try it but not commit to 80ML of ink.

All experiments done on Hippo Noto 68GSM Cream TR Paper.

Ink Blob:

Writing Sample:

Mars is called “The Red Planet” and this ink is certainly red! It is a brilliant red that tends toward orange and has a nice frosty sheen. I am used to seeing gold sheens on red, but this has a beautiful almost snowy white sheen. I like it! It can be seen in regular writing, but isn’t overpowering. The ink dries fairly quickly and doesn’t have the thick feeling quality that some of the more sheeny inks in this collection have. Though I haven’t been known to reach for red, I have been reaching for this, in writing and in my newly discovered drawing phase. What do you think of the base color and frosty sheen of this ink?

This ink is available at http://www.hipponoto.com for pre-order! We are expecting the shipment at the end of February. All Seasons available to pre-order.

Now for the news! If you haven’t been following along on KS, the ivory Hippos will soon be on a shippo! This means that it isn’t going to be long now before we are able to enter fulfillment! To celebrate we will have a new Hippo Noto color, Brown, available in our shop!

We will also have a limited release of the Hippo Noto edition Franklin Christoph Model 66!

This is a photo of the prototype, grey frosted body with lavender hippo purple section ^_^. It will be available in very limited quantities, more info coming soon!

The Kickstarter price of $33.00 will be available until the Hippos reach the USA, at which point they will go to retail pricing. So if you were planning to get one, lock it in now!

Very excited about shipping the ivory Hippos to all of you!

I leave you now with a photo of some swirl art I’ve been doing, such fun!