Best Cmyk Inks

[PhiBiSoLa]

I can definitely help here!!

 

Sometimes Noodler's Black-Yellow-Navajo-Shah's combos go for sale on Greenman508's eBay store.

 

But the Black is warm and mixing colors of different "temperatures" can result in ugly results (I think Air Corp Blue Black, Navajo+Black, to be uuuugly). Borealis Black is not at all bulletproof, and is a typical teal-black. Makes a lovely dark turquoise with Navajo.

 

So I'm guessing my Noodler's Turquoise would be that exact mix? It does make sense! I agree with it being lovely, the shading it gives with the Noodler's Konrad is just gorgeous!

 

In THEORY, mixing Shah's with Black would get you a dark magenta. <i>Not really</i>. Even a drop of any, and I mean ANY, black will make a nasty dusty pink. Unless you like nasty dusty pink, but I'd assume post people wouldn't. But when mixed with Navajo, it makes a nice blue or purple. Noodler's Blue and Purple are made with Shah and Navajo. Shah's will lighten royal blue very quickly, going from a bluer purple to a magenta violet.

 

A magenta for mixing with royal and blacks is Noodler's Saguaro Wine. It's also more concentrated, and has a cool temperature.

 

So I'd recommend for your Noodler primaries, with ink:water dilutions

And just for convenience, regardless what Noodler's says their inks are, I'm going to call some pigments and others dyes, based on behavior (namely, settling)

 

Black (pigment)(warm)(1:1)

Borealis (dye)(cool)(1:1 - 2:3)

Red (pigment)(warm)(1:1)

Shah's Rose (dye)(warm)(1:1)

Saguaro Wine (dye)(cool)(1:2)

Yellow (dye)(warm)(1:1)

Navajo Turquoise (dye)(cool)(1:1)

 

 

That's pretty cool! Is there a warm cyan, or is it common to the two? Same for yellow? I'll buy one of the series, I think, either the cool bunch or the warm bunch. Do you reccomend one or the other?

 

And, lastly, if I mix the ink with water, won't that make it more prone to feathering?

Edited February 9, 2013 by PhiBiSoLa

[Dioxazine]

That's pretty cool! Is there a warm cyan, or is it common to the two? Same for yellow? I'll buy one of the series, I think, either the cool bunch or the warm bunch. Do you reccomend one or the other?

 

And, lastly, if I mix the ink with water, won't that make it more prone to feathering?

 

Noodler's Polar Blue, or <i>maybe</i> also Bad Blue Heron (Haven't tried it yet) are warm cyan, but dusty, grayish, and behave like pigments.

 

Noodler's Navajo is a prime color, and it's...pretty much netural in temperature as blues and cyans go. Royal blue, a common blue made by many manufacturers, is blue, not cyan, and definitely warm. Noodler's doesn't make it. It's also chemically delicate and fluorescent chartreuse turns it invisible. It also has really poor flow (too bad, I love the color)

 

Noodler's Firefly is fl. chartreuse, and thus cool. I haven't tried Goldfinch (it seems to have orange/magenta in it) but it's warm and I heard it makes interesting colors when mixed with.

 

I recommend

 

Black, bulletproof

Navajo

Yellow

Saguaro

 

I guess that's kind of neutral as temperatures go. I personally find warm colors generally more appealing, but under certain lighting (such as the lighting at my university) the cool colors look amazing

 

I'm also assuming you're using a Lamy Safari or a similar pen that's easy to clean and can handle bulletproof inks. The bulletproof chunks will need to be frequently cleaned out. They collect under the point. And you'll have to do a lot of shaking.

 

If you're using something that doesn't handle bulletproofs, like Heroes or, ironically, the Noodler's pens themselves, get Borealis.

 

 

Also, dilution and feathering...hard to put into words, but let's say that most Noodler's inks are "over saturated" (let's say over %100 saturated) - in the bottle most of them are just too strong to use (which is why you hear so many complaints about clogging). Diluting them halfway (usually) makes them, say ~80% saturated. They'll look great (instead of almost black when they're supposed to be bright colors), flow great (unless they're dry, like Shah's Rose or Apache Sunset), and actually for one reason or another be less prone to feathering or bleeding. Certainly less prone to smearing. But if they're really undersaturated, their flow might change (become really high or really low in some cases, something about surfacants) and you might get bleeding problems there.

 

Also, I used to use clean tap water or drinking water, but now I use distilled water because it has no sodium in it. It seems that bulletproof ink and sodium should not be combined.

 

If you're getting non-bulletproof, you might not need distilled water.

[amberleadavis]

Here's a thread that you might like.

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_j-v9C2Pm9uA/TIWiegYk4YI/AAAAAAAACRg/16Upd_H8ZXI/s1600/post-9000-1196047482.jpg

[Bo Bo Olson]

For your personal paper, you don't need cheap paper.

 

I'd not worry about ink shade on issued for test cheap paper....that is the problem of the issuer. Write to the Dean telling him he has a cheap Uni. Tell him to upgrade to 90g.

[vossad01]

I recommend

 

Black, bulletproof

Navajo

Yellow

Saguaro

 

I grabbed both Saguaro Wine and Shah's Rose based on this thread. Here is what the Saguaro Wine mixes look like using the mix ratios indicated the chart Amberlea posted. The Blue + Yellow mixes are the same as with the standard Noodler's CMYK so are not repeated here.

 

 

Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb):

 

 

Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart)

 

 

 

Having done both the Shah's Rose and the Saguaro Wine mixes, I would say that Shah's Rose is a more pure Magenta for the sake of CMYK mixes. You can use Saguaro Wine and you will get a nice variety of colors, but you can tell the colors are impure. For example, The orange range is darker, not enough to be classified as “burnt orange” but that is the direction they head in.

 

Edit: Corrected Amberlea's name

Edited May 15, 2014 by vossad01

[amberleadavis]

WOW WOW WOW

 

I'm very impressed.

[amberleadavis]

Don't supposed I could convince you to put them up in a window for a few months? Or send me that written sample and I'll post it up for a few months.

[vossad01]

Don't supposed I could convince you to put them up in a window for a few months? Or send me that written sample and I'll post it up for a few months.

I think I can probably come up with something to send you; that will give you results a lot more consistent with your other experiments than the rainy overcast we are in now. I imagine if you have any results from the 3 primaries you could extrapolate what these will do, but yes it is another thing to actually see it.

 

Is there any synthesis or summary of your fade tests? I am wondering if, for example, it would make much of a difference what kind of paper I sent it on, what nib was used, if there is a certain format that is helpful, etc.

[amberleadavis]

I think I can probably come up with something to send you; that will give you results a lot more consistent with your other experiments than the rainy overcast we are in now. I imagine if you have any results from the 3 primaries you could extrapolate what these will do, but yes it is another thing to actually see it.

 

Is there any synthesis or summary of your fade tests? I am wondering if, for example, it would make much of a difference what kind of paper I sent it on, what nib was used, if there is a certain format that is helpful, etc.

 

 

Here is a one page overview.

 

Here is the google spreadsheet with analysis.

 

Turns out paper wasn't a factor. Nib wasn't much of a factor - how much ink it laid down could be. Water washes were a factor.