Rating: 5.0
May 16, 2010
I bet that if the devil ever asked you to sign a contract in blood, you could fool him by pulling out a fountain pen filled with J. Herbin 1670 anniversary ink. The color is called Rouge Hematite, after the mineral hematite, which derives its own name from the Greek word for blood. Justly so – there’s really no mistaking it – this is the color of ink you’d expect to be filling Dracula’s ink well.
Rating: 3.5
May 10, 2010
Noodler’s Shah’s Rose is an aptly named ink – I’ve had roses in my garden this exact color. It is a beautiful dusky pink, just slightly less purple than a true magenta. It is highly saturated, and I recommend shaking the bottle before using to make sure that the dye has not settled out. It exhibits moderate shading in wide nibs, but is extremely consistent in fine nibs.
Rating: 4.5
April 28, 2010
Iroshizuku Momiji is currently my favorite ink of all time. I’m a big fan of red ink – though most people consider it too hard to read on an extended basis, I’ve never had an issue with most of them – and Momiji is currently at the top of my list. It is a deep red ink that falls on the bluish side of the spectrum.
Rating: 5.0
April 10, 2010
Iroshizuku Yama-budo (wild mountain grapes) is a vibrant purple ink the color of fresh grape juice that’s been spilled across a glazed, porcelain countertop. It is brighter and juicier than J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune, which, itself, can be favorably compared to a red wine stain.
Like many other Iroshizuku inks, it is quite highly saturated – to the point that it tends to temporarily stain the ebonite feed on fountain pens.
Rating: 4.0
March 28, 2010
Noodler’s Navajo Turquoise is a beautiful, medium-tone blue with a hint of green – very close to cyan, but just a bit darker. It is highly saturated, and I recommend shaking the bottle before using to make sure that the dye has not settled out. It exhibits a nice degree of shading in wide nibs, but is fairly consistent in fine nibs. While this ink is pretty on white paper, its true beauty comes out on cream-colored paper, where its green tones come to the surface – creating a beautiful jewel-like color.
Rating:
4.0
March 22, 2010
J. Herbin Café des Îsles
is an aptly named brown ink, as, more than anything, it resembles the color of coffee. Other reviewers have mentioned its similarity to café au lait or to espresso, depending on the wetness of the line, and I find the comparison apt. Imagine dipping one’s pen in a cup of coffee and then writing – that’s the color of this ink – and the varying strengths of one’s beverage are well represented by the low saturation and significant shading that it exhibits.
Rating: 4.0
March 18, 2010
Iroshizuku Kon-peki is a beautiful, azure blue ink that captures the tempestuous nature of the wild ocean. It is a highly saturated ink that exhibits a surprising level of shading – representing the light blue of the ocean surface and the deep blue of the bottom of the sea. Because it is highly saturated, it creates a bold line on both white and off-white paper.
Rating: 3.5
March 13, 2010
J. Herbin Vert Empire is a forest green ink with grey undertones. To me, it is invocative of a pine forest in the hazy light of morning. It is a wet ink with low saturation, so it exhibits a tremendous tonal range, depending on the pen and paper used. In most of my pens it displays significant shading, whereas in a wet writer it lays down a very dark line.
Rating: 3.0
March 07, 2010
Noodler’s (Bulletproof) Black is the first bottled ink that I added to my ink collection. I had heard many good things about the ink, and while many of those things are true, there is one major issue that is difficult to overcome.
First, Noodler’s Black is as black as night. Pitch black. When poets refer to an inky blackness, this is the ink that they have in mind.
Rating: 3.5
March 06, 2010
Lamy Blue was the first fountain pen ink I used, as it came in the cartridge included with my very first fountain pen – a Lamy Safari. I liked it enough that I purchased a bottle and it remains in my regular rotation. The ink itself is a prototypical blue with moderate shading and saturation. It’s the kind of blue most people would think of when thinking of a blue ballpoint pen.
