20 Red Inks Scanned (Or, The Next Chapter In The Continuing Saga Of Klundtasaur's Obsession About Color)

[klundtasaur]

The harrowing adventures of ink journal scanning continue. This time, we find our intrepid (obsessive) character considering the chromatic characteristics of crimson, cardinal, claret, cherry and carmine.

Previously: Black, and Blue/Teal

What's all this on the page? Why are some pages a little different? Why are some of the pangrams not pangrammatic at all? My obsessive processes, detailed:

 

 

I can usually do a whole page with about .25ml with this method.

First, I pull a small amount of ink from the vial with a blunt syringe. And then I saturate the feed of my Lamy Vista (a la this Goulet video).

I have some laid-pattern, 90gsm, slightly creme white (92 brightness) paper from work that I use for all my samples. The laid pattern means it has a bit of tooth to it, and it has a fairly good balance of being quick drying but also feather resistant and showing some sheen/shade.

I write out the ink name, the source of the sample, the nib in the Vista (invariably an M), and a few 'quick brown fox's. I write each sentence at a different speed, just to see how the ink keeps up, and to give me an idea of what kind of shading I'm likely to see depending on how I'm writing. When I first started, Ylvis' fox song had just gone viral, and it was playing in the background the first time I journaled. So...some of the pangrams aren't actually pangrams

I write a few words with different styles (shading, feathering, sheen) to further emphasize ink shading and feathering. Then I do a timed smear test, and a few scribbles/semi-random patterns on the page to further check the flow.

I dip a Q-tip into the sample vial, do a swab on each bottom corner (the left corner with the freshly dipped q-tip to show off shading, and the right corner without redipping for more even color), a 3-pass test to see how it layers, and then some random lines with the q-tip just to show off the color. I also put a paper hole reinforcer on top of the sample vial, and use the q-tip to swab the reinforcer for quick reference in my vial holders.

Lastly, I use a straight-edge to draw a grid with what's left in the Lamy, which I use to test the waterproof properties of the ink. 4 drops of tap water: top right is immediately wiped off, top left is immediately blotted, bottom right sits for a few seconds (~45s) before I wipe it, and bottom left I let dry overnight on the page. Each drop is supposed to represent how I (or someone else) might react to getting a letter or envelope wet, rather than any kind of "total durability/bulletproofness" test.

Then, I flush the Lamy feed with a full bulb syringe twice, and do the next sample. The whole process takes me about 8-10 minutes per page.

Once the waterproofness test dries overnight, I put it into a 3-ring-binder, organized by color (ROY G BIV, brown, grey, black, then fancy (Blue Ghost, Stormy Gray).

I'm more than a little obsessive about it.

The only exceptions to this whole ritual are the few times I've bought empty inky bottles (mostly Caran d'Ache, as I think they're the nicest ink bottles outside of Akkerman). As there's rarely enough ink to even pull through a syringe, I just swab the inside of the bottle with a q-tip, and do the corner swabs and some "painting" with the q-tip until it dries up.

I hope these are helpful to those of you looking for red inks.

http://i.imgur.com/n1oFHBy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xpkIKYz.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/M0ULOQ6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/e5Zrwhh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BRMR7RG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xrusJuV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Nulnxkw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qRrT7ik.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Hve24l9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/dJHi8vu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lIFyhPc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yaxe190.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BySaZk8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ImtX3QQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yxulJNS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DPPLlCL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AEWl495.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7WZEVVo.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RlwgFLL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4aAbQT0.jpg

[Cyber6]

AWESOME!!!... Love to see them all together...

 

GREAT JOB!!!

 

 

 

C.

[Azure Flash]

Rachmaninoff looks lost

 

Very nice variety of red. With so many options, one can't help but be tempted to challenge a teacher's instruction not to use red in your work, and just try to pick a unique enough shade...

 

Alternatively, if you were a teacher grading exams, which of these would you use? What would be the most traumatic shade of red to highlight mistakes with? Diamine Oxblood would fit that latter theme... but I think Diamine Poppy Red looks the most like a classic grading red, bright and alarming.

[klundtasaur]

AWESOME!!!... Love to see them all together...

 

GREAT JOB!!!

 

Thanks! I'm glad to be helpful

 

Rachmaninoff looks lost

 

Very nice variety of red. With so many options, one can't help but be tempted to challenge a teacher's instruction not to use red in your work, and just try to pick a unique enough shade...

 

Alternatively, if you were a teacher grading exams, which of these would you use? What would be the most traumatic shade of red to highlight mistakes with? Diamine Oxblood would fit that latter theme... but I think Diamine Poppy Red looks the most like a classic grading red, bright and alarming.

 

Rachmaninoff is one of the few from this group that didn't scan well. It looks a lot more purple in this scan than it does in real life. Goulet's swab is closer, but still more purple than the actual color itself. It is exactly the same color as a new bottle of Pepto Bismol, if you're familiar with that stuff.

 

Diamine Poppy, Wild Strawberry, Sheaffer Skrip Red, and PW Akkerman's #21 are all very vibrant, fairly "true" reds. I was always a bit skeptical of people's consistent recommendation of Sheaffer's Skrip, but damned if it isn't just a fantastically performing, bright, true red. If I didn't want to add a real Akkerman bottle to my collection, Skrip Red is the "grading red" I would have purchased.

[lgsoltek]

Great job, thanks.

I still think Momiji is very pink, and that there's no real red in the Iroshizuku line.

Some say Akkermans are just rebottled Diamines. I suspect the China Town Red might have been Poppy Red. But gosh that bottle is nice!

[klundtasaur]

Great job, thanks.

I still think Momiji is very pink, and that there's no real red in the Iroshizuku line.

Some say Akkermans are just rebottled Diamines. I suspect the China Town Red might have been Poppy Red. But gosh that bottle is nice!

 

Thank you! And I agree--Mom-iji is definitely on the pinker side. But I do love its golden sheen.

 

With Diamine's Poppy next to Akkerman's #21, it wouldn't surprise me that they are the very same ink. Tone, shading, waterproofness, and no-sheen are all identical. The Akkerman feathered a bit more, but not outside of normal variation from page to page.

 

As you said, the Akkerman bottle is what put me over the top. If you're not a bottle collector, Skrip or Poppy are very similar vibrant reds.

[Frank C]

Sheaffer Skrip was a pleasant surprise. I also like red ink. My latest favorite is Mont Blanc Corn Poppy Red.

[VivienR]

Great review! You saved me a bottle of Caran d'Ache Divine Pink, although Infra Red doesn't get of from the hook.

[HalloweenHJB]

I adore reds in all their variations and glory. I have many of the ones demonstrated here, and in addition, I have a few others that might be helpful:

[amberleadavis]

K- So, do you think the Wild Strawberry and China Town Red are the same ink?

[amberleadavis]

Also, we'd love to see these on the Red Swab thread.

[Tom Traubert]

My preferred grading inks are Diamine Matador and Noodler's American Eel Red Rattler. Quink Red is good too. That Skrip looks decent, so I may have to invest. Too many times I've bought a red ink and found it to actually be pink or orange.

[klundtasaur]

K- So, do you think the Wild Strawberry and China Town Red are the same ink?

 

I think Diamine's Poppy is closer to Akkerman 21 than Wild Strawberry. WS is ever so slightly more orange than Poppy or #21. But, yeah, it wouldn't surprise me to find that Poppy and #21 come from the same vat at Diamine.

 

Also, we'd love to see these on the Red Swab thread.

 

I can do that!

 

My preferred grading inks are Diamine Matador and Noodler's American Eel Red Rattler. Quink Red is good too. That Skrip looks decent, so I may have to invest. Too many times I've bought a red ink and found it to actually be pink or orange.

 

On my pages, Matador is just slightly more maroon than Skrip--but it's not hugely noticeable. Both are eye-catching reds

[amberleadavis]

Thank you!! Great stuff.

[fountainpenlady]

Symbolically writing, going to have a heart attack right here! What a real red pleasure to feast upon on this Monday. Thank you.