Inkventpocalypse 2025 Day 10

We're in that liminal space between the major holidays & the transition to 2026. We're still taking things slowly, a cup of tea, some watercolour, some research, swatches, photos. Today's Inkvents are fairly heavy to return to from a couple days off. A deep red, a moody in-between colour, a fiery orange. The paint is a brownish violet & the tea is a decaf black - dark with a bit of sweetness, like the rest of the day's advents.

The Inkvents start off Day 10 with a heavy, but very appropriate colour. Enigma Stationery Inkvent Day 10 is The Wet Pen in Everett Massacre #2. This is the more brown, bloody version of this ink (I have both versions in full bottles). Matthew at the Wet Pen has this to say about the ink: "Everett Massacre is a deep red ink named after the 1916 event in which eleven IWW Union protestors and two sheriff’s deputies were killed on the waterfront of Everett, WA. Version “Number 1” is a dark red, while version “Number 2” is browner and darker."

In doing some research I came across several archives and pages (even a documentary called Verona) about the massacre. The University of Washington archive is the main place I used to read about it. It's not a light read. I did my doodle from the reconstructed crime scene photo of the Verona used in one of the court cases.

Next up is Diamine Inkvent Teal Edition Day 10 in Nostalgia, with chameleon shimmer. This one was hard to figure out both what colour it is and what to doodle for it. The label implies it's a purple, or maybe plum colour, but it's more of a very violet brown-sepia colour. The pink-purple chameleon shimmer in the ink doesn't help with the colour ID. I doodled the Saturday Evening Post cover shown in the Wikipedia article on nostalgia (for lack of anything better to doodle). It's a tricksy ink, and I think I like that. I also used it for the url at the bottom.

Last ink up is the Colorverse Colorvent Day 10 in Flame Nebula. This one seemed more straightforward, but it was not. It's a beautiful deep pumpkiny orange, that I think a lot of people will like. The inspiration, according to the door quote "Flame Nebula: The Flame Nebula in Orion seems to ignite, as nearby starlight sets orange hydrogen ablaze." I tried to use the James Webb Space Telescope image at NASA for inspiration, but it's not a nebula with a very distinctive shape like some other days have been, so it just became kind of flamey-blobby. The swatch seemed a bit watery, but it was nice in writing and the drawing.

Next up is the Watercolur Advent from Greenleaf & Blueberry. This is another product I have a larger version of, but again, I don't mind.

Day 10 of Greenleaf & Blueberry watercolour advent is American Violet Hematite, PR102. The paint in the shell is a buttery, very pigmented paint. I forgot to get a photo of the paint dry, before activating it with water, so you get the slightly messy dollop. It's much deeper in the shell, but it paints out to a luscious (supposedly granulating, but that's hard to bring out in such a small area) deep brown-pink-purple colour.

The swatch was not as violet as you'd expect, it's more a brown pink, especially right next to the Day 5 colour. For an earth colour, it is very much what you think of when you think earth pigments. It was very responsive and easy to paint with. It gave several values of the colour very easily. I think this is one of my favourite pigments so far, besides the sparkly Day 8. I layered a few different depths of paint for some mountains.

Last up is a very serviceable staple for any decaf tea drinker.

Day 10's Friday Afternoon Tea decaf in pyramid bags is decaffeinated vanilla black. It's an aromatic black tea that is not fully no-caff, but it's low enough that you can have it after dinner. I think it'd be even better with some honey & cream, steeped strong. It's lightly tannic, and with a touch of vanilla. I know many people don't like flavoured teas, but this one is a good comforting base and I think it'd make a great alternative to a cup of coffee. It's another one I've finished & wouldn't mind investing in a large bag of.

Well, we're past everyone else's finish line, but I'm not on the same track. I hope if you celebrate a major winter holiday that it was a lovely time, and if not, I hope your week has been just spectacular. I've done literally nothing on my two days off and though not exactly refreshed, I am looking forward to continuing the Inkventness into the new year.

Finally, the questions - Does your area have a major event like the Everett Massacre? (I grew up near Tulsa, OK - there was the Greenwood Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921 that we weren't even taught about in school in the 90's. We cannot let these events be forgotten.) Were you taught about labour and race issues in school? Do you think the ink reflects the event well? What colour would you say the Diamine Nostalgia looks most like? Do you think Violet Hematite looks at all violet?

Thank you as always for sticking with me here. I'm learning a lot through the research of the inks and pigments. Happy liminal week?

-subgirl the inkygeek