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Blackbird

Starling Purple

Purples#431E57

Blackbird is one of the 713 brands in Inktend's built-in ink catalog.

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Specs

Color familyPurples
Approx. hex#431E57
SheenNot typically noted

Paper & pairing

Purples sit at the boundary of professional and playful, one of the more personality-forward choices that still reads clearly on the page. This ink will behave predictably on most fountain-pen-friendly paper. Cheap, highly absorbent paper (standard copier paper) will dull any ink's saturation and can cause feathering or bleed-through with wetter nibs.

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About Blackbird

Blackbird is a British ink brand that revived the 'Blackbird' name of the historic pen maker Mabie Todd & Co. Its bottled fountain pen inks, sold through blackbirdink.co.uk, drew attention around 2018 with a range of classic colours including black, royal blue, green and plum shades.

United Kingdom Founded Unknown
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Storing and using the bottle

Bottled fountain pen ink has an effectively long shelf life when kept capped and out of direct sunlight: most inks remain usable for years. The main risk isn't the ink spoiling, it's a pen sitting inked and unused for weeks: that's what causes clogs, not the ink's age.

Frequently asked questions

What color family is Starling Purple?
Starling Purple falls into Inktend's purples family based on its typical swatch color.
Does Starling Purple have sheen?
Starling Purple is not typically noted for sheen. If you want that effect, browse similarly colored inks tagged with sheen in the ink library.
How should I store a bottle of Starling Purple?
Years, easily, as long as it stays capped and out of direct sunlight. The thing that actually shortens an ink's usable life is sitting unused inside a pen, not sitting on a shelf.
What paper works best with Starling Purple?
It behaves predictably on most fountain-pen-friendly paper. Stick to something reasonably absorbent-resistant, since cheap copier paper dulls saturation and can feather.

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Color shown is a close digital approximation of a typical swatch, not a calibrated color match.