{"product_id":"tag-stationery-kyo-iro-stone-road-of-gion","title":"TAG Stationery kyo-iro Stone Road of Gion — 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHue:\u003c\/strong\u003e A muted, low-saturation grey-brown. Most reviewers describe it as a cool-toned grey-brown, but my swatches read warmer than that — an olive-tinged sepia, closer to old-photograph brown than to grey. The cool grey character only shows where the ink pools heavily; in the darkest concentrations it drops to a near-black charcoal. Worth knowing before you buy if you're after a true cool grey. TAG inks are made in small batches and colour can vary slightly between bottles.\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShading:\u003c\/strong\u003e Heavy. This is the ink's main event — a wide colour span that produces strong, sometimes quite abrupt shading. My swabs go from pale khaki through mid-sepia to near-black in a single pass. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSheen:\u003c\/strong\u003e None.\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShimmer:\u003c\/strong\u003e None.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFlow:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe interesting bit:\u003c\/strong\u003e Kyo-iro means \"colours of Kyoto\" — a series made by Takeda Jimuki for their TAG stationery shops, with each colour drawn from a specific place in the city. This one takes its name (祇園の石畳, Gion no Ishidatami) from the willow-lined, canal-side cobbled lane in the Shirakawa area of Gion, Kyoto's old entertainment district of wooden machiya townhouses, teahouses and geiko. The colour is doing something quite literal: the patchy light-to-dark shading is meant to read like wet paving stones. It also explains the box, which carries a maiko with a parasol.\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.\u003cbr\u003ePhotos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.\u003cbr\u003eI'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"TAG Stationery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57266212569414,"sku":"INK-055","price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1020\/9696\/1862\/files\/TAG-stoneroadofgion3.jpg?v=1788640504","url":"https:\/\/thepensmuggler.co.uk\/products\/tag-stationery-kyo-iro-stone-road-of-gion","provider":"The Pen Smuggler","version":"1.0","type":"link"}