Lennon Tool Bar Guardian Beasts Vol #2 The Verdant Ox — 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: A muted, grey-leaning green. Officially described as a soft, peaceful green inspired by mountain moss. My swatches sit cooler and greyer than “moss” suggests, closer to a dusty sage-jade in writing, deepening to a forest green with blue-black edges where it pools. It is also cooler and less olive than the bottle and box artwork.

Shading: Strong. The swab bar runs from pale sage to deep green, and the writing shows clear light-to-dark variation within strokes. There is a faint pale mint halo at the edge of heavier strokes.

Sheen: None in writing. Heavy pools dry to a very dark, almost black-green at the edges, but there is no distinct sheen colour.

Shimmer: None.

Flow: Medium

The interesting bit: Released as part of Lennon Tool Bar’s 2025 Summer Limited Guardian Beasts Vol. 2, a series based on the protective animals of traditional Taiwanese belief. Qing Niu is an ox that comes down from the mountains with slow, steady steps, its hide weathered like ancient stone, standing for stability, wisdom and peace. The name explains the colour: 青 (qīng) is the classical Chinese colour word that covers green, blue and even black, so you’ll see this ink sold as both “The Verdant Ox” and “Blue Cow”. Lennon Tool Bar was founded in Tamsui, Taiwan, in 2014 by an indigo dyer.

This is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.
Photos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.
I’m a collector and I’m always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.