Noodler's Lexington Gray + Galileo Manuscript Brown

November 23, 2012

Hi,

In response to a gentle nudge by Member inkstainedruth, I have posted some sample mixes of Noodler's Lexington Gray with Noodler's Galileo Manuscript Brown.

The intention of the mix is to have a Brown ink that is not too vibrant (lower chroma) and somewhat pale. This is contrary to the current fashion of colour saturation and tone, so I could not find what I wanted in the market. Clearly, it was time to fire-up the vats, cauldrons & kettles, slip into something more appropriate, and have another go at ink mixing.

The ink would be used on a fairly absorbent warm tinted paper from a slightly narrow nib. As it comes, NGNBr can be a bit too warm for my taste, especially when run on a warm paper. I wanted an overall softer reading experience, so lightened the tone to bringing the ink closer to the visual plane of the paper, and reduced the contrast on the page.

Typically, one would go about lowering the chroma by adding neutral Black, and increasing the value (light - dark) either by dilution or adding White. As I do not use Black FP ink, and have a bottle of NLGra, I used that. Also, mixing two of Noodler's bulletproof inks is more likely to result in a stable mix than combining one bulletproof ink with one that isn't bulletproof.

After running a wide range of mixes of ink and water, I thought a mix of about 2 parts NLGra + 3 parts NGM would be close, but settled on 9+20, especially when viewed on warm paper under various ambient light sources & levels. When scaling-up and for subsequent written samples, that ratio was [inconsequentially] rounded to 20 parts NLGra + 45 parts NGM.

So let's crack on . . .

☞ For convenient viewing of the images, you may wish to scroll to the menu at the very bottom of this window then ensure the FPN Theme is http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/ecb8726d-1.jpg.

Please take a moment to adjust your gear to accurately depict the Grey Scale below.

As the patches are neutral grey, that is what you should see.

Mac

http://www.wikihow.c...te-Your-Monitor

Wintel PC

http://www.calibrize.com/

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/b4a04182.jpg

≈)(≈

Figure 1.

Paper: Staples 20lb.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Mix%20Noodlers%20Lexington%20Gray%20Galileo%20Manuscript/INK773_zpsd3d03508.jpg

Swabs of dilute NLGra.
Diluting a dark ink makes it easier to see the underlying colour: NLGra proved to be close to neutral Grey.

Figure 2.

Paper: HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Mix%20Noodlers%20Lexington%20Gray%20Galileo%20Manuscript/INK772_zpsb6562973.jpg

A few swabs leading to the 9+20 mix.

Figure 3.

Papers: Staples Creme 20lb. & HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Mix%20Noodlers%20Lexington%20Gray%20Galileo%20Manuscript/INK774_zpscba73eea.jpg

Swabs of NGN, 9+20 Mix, NLGra from 3, 2 & 1 passes.
When mixing two inks, I like to have a swab of the mix inbetween / adjacent to the source inks - it seems to help me see the balance within the mix.

Figure 4.

Paper: HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Mix%20Noodlers%20Lexington%20Gray%20Galileo%20Manuscript/INK775_zpsb9ec3b8a.jpg

Swabs of 20+45 Mix done-up as for my current Ink Reviews.

Figure 5.

Written Sample - Moby Dick.

Paper: Staples Creme 20lb.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Mix%20Noodlers%20Lexington%20Gray%20Galileo%20Manuscript/INK776_zpsa5c68e2a.jpg

Left: Noodler's Galileo Manuscript Brown - stock.
Right: 20 parts NLGra + 45 parts NGM.
Pen: Brause Ornament 0.5mm round point with dual over-under reservoirs.

Figure 6.

HiRes Scan.

Thumbnail:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Mix%20Noodlers%20Lexington%20Gray%20Galileo%20Manuscript/th_INK777_zps04ea3318.jpg

Figure 7.

Wet Tests.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Mix%20Noodlers%20Lexington%20Gray%20Galileo%20Manuscript/INK778_zps2e0925c6.jpg

Bleed- Show-Through.

Less than stock NGMBrn.
Very little on Staples' 20lb. multi-use C/P papers.
None on HPJ1124 24lb. laser C/P paper.

Stability, etc.

No difference was observed if NLGra was added to NGMBrn or if NGMBrn was added to NLGra.
Three ml of the mix was placed in a 5ml glass vial and left at rest for three days. The vial did not ex/implode; nothing untoward was observed with the aid of a 7X loupe; there were no reports of missing domestic critters, including tots; no event horizon appeared imminent; and the Ink Putti showed no signs of alarm.
A 9cm glass eyedropper was filled with the mix, then left at rest in a vertical posture for three days. No layering or separation within the standing column was observed with the aid of a 7X loupe.
As ever, I strongly suggest cleansing one's pen before and after using any of Noodler's family of bulletproof inks; and to follow a plain water flush with a chemical cleaning solution which may well contain ammonia and surfactant.

I've decided to call this mix 'Gal-Lexi'.

Bye,

S1

Edited November 23, 2012 by Sandy1

December 5, 2012

Thanks -- although I'll admit that I have absolutely no recollection of this (or my part in any of it) and will take the 5th if grilled on a witness stand (as an American I have the right to not self-incriminate). :roflmho:

Of course, given that I haven't been on the forum for a couple of weeks, I *completely* missed the new batch of GMB that was for sale.... Go figure -- it was sold out in about 3 days, in *spite* of being a more expensive ink.

I do like the fact that the Lexington Gray appears to cut the redness of GMB without signficantly darkening it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

December 7, 2012

Thanks -- although I'll admit that I have absolutely no recollection of this (or my part in any of it) and will take the 5th if grilled on a witness stand (as an American I have the right to not self-incriminate). :roflmho:
Of course, given that I haven't been on the forum for a couple of weeks, I *completely* missed the new batch of GMB that was for sale.... Go figure -- it was sold out in about 3 days, in *spite* of being a more expensive ink.
I do like the fact that the Lexington Gray appears to cut the redness of GMB without signficantly darkening it.
Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Hi,

Glad you found the result to be of interest.

ErHmm . . . selective memory is one thing, denial is quite another.

(I find both are useful.)

From this Post: LINK

"I do have one question though -- you mentioned toning down the warmth with a bit of Lexington Gray. Could you provide a comparison scan between that mix and the original unaltered ink? It would be good to see what the difference is. Thanks."

Bye,

S1

December 7, 2012

It's not denial. Honest. It really is a case of "okay, did I actually say this at some point, or is this being attributed to me but someone else said it originally?" It won't be the first time *that's* happened -- I routinely get misquoted on a mailing list I'm on and I don't know how to get the person posting my alleged commentary to fix it. And it probably won't be the last...

Sometimes, I'd be hard pressed to remember, if someone asked me, what I did the previous *day* :blink:; now I'm supposed to recall something I said two MONTHS ago?

I guess it's true what they say -- on the Internet it's forever....