J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre

[Margana]

(Full review and writing sample at Inkophile.)

 

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J. Herbin uses an image on the front of its ink boxes to suggest the color of the ink inside. On the cover of Rouille D'Ancre there is an image of a rusty anchor. While the name may roll beautifully off the tongue in French, the color is more accurately coral. Not a cartoon orange coral or a lipstick red coral but the softer corals of the Great Barrier Reef or the rooftops of Tuscany.

Rouille D'Ancre is pastel color at its best. It isn't pale on white paper but the color is enhanced by a nib with good flow. Laying down a significant amount of ink encourages pooling and shading so a wide, wet nib is a very good match for this ink's best characteristics. With a 1.1 italic nib, it produced crisp line edges and even some outlining depending on the brand of paper. No bleed through even on very thin bagasse paper and minimal show-through on the same. On most brands of paper, there should be no show-through at all.

Think pink is just, well, too pink? Try the coral hue of J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre. Yum!

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Edited May 21, 2013 by saskia_madding

[Deirdre]

I think it's a lovely color for writing on crisp white to one's favorite aunt. (At least, my aunt May would have loved it.)

[Ann Finley]

Hi Margana,

 

With the 1.1 italic nib, if you lightly pass your finger over a word 5 seconds after writing it with this ink, does it smear?

 

Thanks,

Ann

[Margana]

Hi Margana,

 

With the 1.1 italic nib, if you lightly pass your finger over a word 5 seconds after writing it with this ink, does it smear?

 

Thanks,

Ann

 

Yes, it does at least on Rhodia paper. The pen is a Lamy Vista with a stock 1.1 nib that smears at 5 seconds with every Herbin ink I've tested. I also have Lamys with stock 1.1 nibs in other pens and just tested Bouquet D'Antan, Vert Olive, Bleu Azur, Perle Noir and Gris Nuage with the same result. The latter probably produced the least smearing with Rouille D'Antan being the worst offender though that particular nib has a bit more flow than most of the others.

Edited April 10, 2009 by Margana

[Ann Finley]

Thanks, Margana, for the additional info. One more question...Shouldn't the title to this review be Rouille D'Ancre (instead of D'Antan)? You've got both names in the body of the review, too--but I'm thinking that the D'Antan is the part of the name of the pink ink--which I believe you also have. Correct me if I'm mixed up! (That happens !)

 

Best, Ann

[jbn10161]

Exceptionally concise and informative review! Thank you.

[Ondina]

Very nice review and color. In my own experience any color will look less saturated when used with an italic nib than with a round one. Could you please try it and update us?. I agree it looks like the tiles of the sundrenched roofs in the Mediterranean, or the old clay pots. Lovely!. Thanks for the review.

[Gran]

Thanks for the succinct, and nice review. This is a pretty color. I've just tried some with a dip pen, and it is a pale, lovely rust.

[drifting]

Thanks for the great review!

 

Once upon a time I thought I would never use a ghastly pink ink, but two daughters later, I find I've become somewhat inured to the hue. (Sorting laundry at our house involves three piles: lights, darks, and pinks!) A short while ago, I found that Herbin's Bouquet D'Antan was actually calling to me, so I picked up a bottle. Looks like this one goes on the list, as well! (For the record, I still think most pink inks are ghastly - Herbin just seems to be able to do it right!)

 

Ryan.

[MinasTirithScribe]

Rouille d'Ancre is a color I wanted to like--it reminds me of a cell growth solution I used in a lab in graduate school. In the fairly generous medium nib I used with it, though, it paled out too much except at the ends of words. I like shading inks but don't prefer pastels, and I suspect my penmanship (fairly rapid strokes "surfing" on a wet ink/nib/paper interface) tends to push inks to their lighter shades, as Herbin Larmes de Cassis also went thin on me. I may try either or both colors again in semiflex nibs.

[Margana]

Italic vs round nib as requested. Experienced some skipping that is attributable to the nib rather than the ink.

 

 

 

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[lefty928]

Thanks for your evocative review and the writing samples in your lovely handwriting. Lately I've been trying out J. Herbin's Vert Empire, which at first struck me as disappointingly washed out in a fine point (vs. the intial tester glass pen). Somehow the pale, soft, watercolor-y look grew on me, though, and it's loaded in a Preppy eyedropper now.

[biffybeans]

I just put up my review on this ink..... I can't keep up! Nice job here - I think it's a great color, but with it's thinness, I don't really have much use for it.

[Ghost Plane]

Might work in my wetter, broader stubs tho'. Hmmm.

 

My Vert Empire review is going to have to wait 'til after my Atlanta trip, darn it, or I'd be able to show really broad stubs and BB nibs in action.

[Margana]

Might work in my wetter, broader stubs tho'. Hmmm.

 

My Vert Empire review is going to have to wait 'til after my Atlanta trip, darn it, or I'd be able to show really broad stubs and BB nibs in action.

No really broad stubs here but I'm starting to fancy a 1.5 or 1.9mm Lamy just for fun. Rouille D'Ancre might be just the ink for it.

 

Vert Empire works so well in my Sailor 1911 that I haven't tried it in anything else. Might be time for a little experimentation. Hmmm.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for this review. I just referenced it in another thread.