Though it seems as if there were multiple pigmented layers interacting to give this pen a unique look, in reality there is only one pigment used. The pigment is called Metallic Blue, hence the name of the pen. Apart from this, all optical effects were achieved by the way brushstrokes were made and the slight brownish tint of the transparent top urushi layers.
I’ve asked Vivek to give some details on the urushi coating process of this pen.
The base material of the pen is ebonite. We apply two coats of raw urushi, two coats of intermediate urushi and one coat of black urushi to prepare the base. Each coat is burnished with sand paper before a new coat is apples.
Coloured urushi is applied on this base. Very thin layers are applied. Generally three to four layers of coloured urushi are applied (until we get uniform plain surface all over). The surface is burnished with sandpapers of different grit size starting from 2000 till 70000. This makes the surface very smooth and some gloss is generated.
Now starts the final polishing process. This is nothing but a lamination of very thin urushi layer on the surface.
Purest form of raw urushi is rubbed on the surface and it is wiped out using a special paper. Pen is then kept in the curing chamber for hardening. This process is repeated for five times. Surface is polished using vegetable oil and a powder called Miga Kiko. Again urushi wiping is done five times. Finally it is rubbed by palm and fingers to generate the gloss on the surface.
Vivek Kulkarni, a.k.a. @urushi_studio_india
I’ve taken a few photos with my macro lens. The details of the urushi coating are amazing.
