Brown waterproof inks compared: Diamine Forever Ink, De Atramentis Document, SketchInk

I've been drawing with black inks for years and recently I discovered BingYing's videos where she used brown inks and I was really inspired to do the same too. So I went to my local art store Overjoyed and bought a few bottles of Diamine Forever Ink and De Atramentis Document Ink.

Let's see how the inks look alone and with watercolour applied.

De Atramentis Document Ink, Brown

De Atramentis Document Ink, Brown

De Atramentis Document Ink, Sepia Brown

De Atramentis Document Ink, Sepia Brown

Rohrer & Klingner SketchInk, my main sketching ink

Rohrer & Klingner SketchInk

De Atramentis Document Ink, Urban Sienna

De Atramentis Document Ink, Urban Sienna

Diamine Forever Ink, Butterscotch

Diamine Forever Ink, Butterscotch

Diamine Forever Ink, Raven

Diamine Forever Ink, Raven, is a nice neutral black that's quite dark but not completely black.

Diamine Forever Ink, Red Ochre

Diamine Forever Ink, Red Ochre.

Diamine Forever Ink, De Atramentis Document Ink and SketchInk are all waterproof and safe to use in fountain pens. However if you're not going to use your fountain pen for long periods of time, it's still best to clean out the pen.

My favourite colour out of those I've tested is definitely Red Ochre. It looks lovely with watercolour. If you prefer a darker brown, there's De Atramentis Urban Sienna.

Daniel Smith walnut ink is not waterproof.