Review: Daler Rowney Kandahar Drawing Ink

The Daler Rowney Kandahar Drawing Ink comes in a 28ml bottle that's similar in design to the Calli Calligraphy Ink.

This is quite a peculiar Indian ink in the sense that it's has palest black compared to all other black inks I've reviewed. It's even lighter than the 97% water-based Noodler's Bulletproof Black Ink. It's feels like someone has accidentally diluted the ink.

I don't even know if it's pigmented. It doesn't say on the bottle or on Daler Rowney's website.

Here are some tests.

Look at how the pencil lines behind are showing through so easily.

Performance-wise, the ink flows well and dries fast and is resistant to erasing.

Daler Rowney says that the ink is water-resistant and not waterproof. From what I can see, on a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate it 9 as very waterproof. I wouldn't mind using it as a waterproof ink.

It can hold an edge well.

It's works well with pen and ink sketch if you don't require intensely dark ink. I like to use that when I want to show the lines beneath.

If you want the moody atmosphere, Kandahar is a good choice because it can produce patchy strokes. If you use ink like Black Star, you'll just get stark black.

Conclusion

I was shocked when I first used the Daler Rowney Kandahar. I've never used such a weak Indian ink before. I've made sure I shook the bottle for a long time but the result is still less-than-intense black.

This ink is probably more suitable for use diluted even further to create grey washes. But you can do that with other stronger inks as well.

I hope I did not get a bad copy, or expired ink.

Check out other black inks I've reviewed at https://www.parkablogs.com/picture/comparison-of-different-black-inks

Availability

Daler Rowney is a UK company. You can find the ink on Amazon UK. Search Jackson's Art (UK) too.