Noodler's Blue

[Nellie]

Here it is:

[Nellie]

. . . and because scans can be deceptive, here's a - not very good, mobile phone, sorry - photo (taken in artificial light).

The review is written on normal printer / photocopier paper by the way, and with the super-wet pen I used there was a bit of bleedthrough, which I normally don't get with this ink.

[RLTodd]

It is a nice blue family ink.

 

After staring at the ink off and on for a year or so I think it is miss named. Mr. Tardiff should have called it "Noodlers Cerulean" (that place between blue and turquoise).

[CharlieB]

It is a nice blue family ink.

 

After staring at the ink off and on for a year or so I think it is miss named. Mr. Tardiff should have called it "Noodlers Cerulean" (that place between blue and turquoise).

 

I totally agree. Noodlers Blue is not a true blue, but rather a cross between blue and turquoise.

 

I'm still amazed that every single one of Noodlers blue inks has a pronounced greenish cast. I think Mr. Tardiff must like the blue-green color. Members of this board have consistently complained about the lack of a true blue in the Noodlers menu of colors, yet he keeps issuing new variations of blue-green and blue-green-black instead of developing a true blue or a true blue-black.

[RLTodd]

Ah, a chance for speculation to run rampant................

 

(1) Maybe is color deficient like most of us men.

 

(2) Maybe he has a market research paper that found thats what most people prefer.

 

(3) Maybe he only gins up colors he likes and thats the hue he likes.

 

(4) Maybe he has a deep seated dislike for ture blue.

 

(5) Maybe he believes a true blue would be so popular that he would not be able to meet the production demand and it would breed ill will.

 

..............

 

 

[HDoug]

It is a nice blue family ink.

 

After staring at the ink off and on for a year or so I think it is miss named. Mr. Tardiff should have called it "Noodlers Cerulean" (that place between blue and turquoise).

 

I totally agree. Noodlers Blue is not a true blue, but rather a cross between blue and turquoise.

 

I'm still amazed that every single one of Noodlers blue inks has a pronounced greenish cast. I think Mr. Tardiff must like the blue-green color. Members of this board have consistently complained about the lack of a true blue in the Noodlers menu of colors, yet he keeps issuing new variations of blue-green and blue-green-black instead of developing a true blue or a true blue-black.

 

Well, not all of them. It may be a color-perception thing, but Luxury Blue, Gulf Stream Blue, and Upper Ganges Blue have no green. To my eye. And I don't have green eyes, either, but who knows.

 

Doug

[*david*]

When compared to standard blue inks from the past, those inks also look decidedly greenish, though to a slightly lesser extent.

 

I would love to try "Noodler's Shamelessly Exact and Boring Copy of Everyday 1940's Plain Old Blue Ink" (a great name, no?), or an ordinary blue that might tend *slightly* toward purple, rather than toward green. Nathan's purple inks are all very purple indeed, and not really able to pass for blue either.

 

Perhaps he feels that if he continues to avoid making a real blue, then he will sell more of his unique/interesting/special colours that vaguely resemble blue ink but don't make the grade.

 

Or perhaps he is being paid by the big ink makers to not step on their markets.

[HyperCamper]

Thanks for this review! I was planning on buying this ink, but I think I'll let it pass...

[Melnicki]

I'm still amazed that every single one of Noodlers blue inks has a pronounced greenish cast.

 

mix mix mix!

 

I mix glacier blue with la coleur royale and get a nice deep royal purplish blue. Semi-waterproof, too! There are countless variations on this sort of mix, too. Be creative!

Edited November 12, 2007 by Melnicki

[Iridium]

Ah, a chance for speculation to run rampant................

 

(1) Maybe is color deficient like most of us men.

 

Most? I doubt that....

 

How about:

 

(6) Maybe he's overcompensating for the myriad purples in his product line.

 

When compared to standard blue inks from the past, those inks also look decidedly greenish, though to a slightly lesser extent.

 

On the other hand, I think that a lot of blues, old and new, are noticeably purplish. What we need is a reference for "pure" blue, which can be hard to determine. For example, cobalt blue (from actual cobalt ions) looks purplish (or perhaps more accurately, violet) to me when saturated, and a much purer blue when less saturated. And lapis lazuli can vary widely, from purple-cobalt to turquoise. Probably the best, most consistent, easily accessible reference I can think of for "pure" blue is the blue phosphor used in televisions and computer monitors.

[lmederos]

Noodler's Blue is by far my favorite *blue* ink. But alas, it does not behave great with some of my pens.

 

Does anyone know of another ink with similar color? I am thinking maybe PR Tropical Blue but have not tried it yet.

 

 

thanks !!

[RLTodd]

Noodler's Blue is by far my favorite *blue* ink. But alas, it does not behave great with some of my pens.

 

Does anyone know of another ink with similar color? I am thinking maybe PR Tropical Blue but have not tried it yet.

 

 

thanks !!

 

Have you tried diluting in with water, this usually helps as the main problem with modern inks seems to be the heavy dye load.

 

 

[christob]

I do not have many non-permanent Noodlers inks, but the drying time for my standard blu is waaayyyy longer. As a leftie, I heartily dislike this ink. So if anyone would like to swap an ink bottle, I have a twice-used bottle of Noodlers blue I will be happy to loose. Send me a pm if you´re interested in swapping.

[I am not a number]

I really wanted to like this ink. I mean really wanted to.

 

I don't. I can't put it down to any one particular problem, it just fails to live up to the standard that I had set for it in my own head. I am not won over by the greenish tint that I perceive in it, it doesn't seem to lie as well on the paper as I had hoped and the drying issue is something else that I find works against it.

 

These are entirely my problems with the ink but in the same shipment from The Writing Desk was some Private Reserve American Blue. I know that it is a different shade but it behaves exactly the way that I want from my ink and has become my personal favourite. I hasten to add that I have DC Supershow en-route so that may change, but for me (and I know that Noodler's Blue has quite a fan-base) it has proven to be something of a letdown.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited for frankly inexcusable discontinuity of tenses.

Edited November 23, 2007 by I am not a number

[Nellie]

Is American Blue significantly darker than Noodler's Blue?

[I am not a number]

This may well sound daft, but to my eyes American Blue is a purer blue whereas to me Noodler's has a definite green tinge to it.

[CharlieB]

This may well sound daft, but to my eyes American Blue is a purer blue whereas to me Noodler's has a definite green tinge to it.

 

I agree completely.

[cowdad]

Is American Blue significantly darker than Noodler's Blue?

 

Nope. They're pretty close in saturation, shade, hue, and all that stuff. American is a little more vibrant; Noodler's Blue is flatter, perhaps because of the permanent ink it has mixed in with it, which is probably pretty flat.

 

Neither of these inks look green to me. They both look very blue. But, no, they do not tend toward purple. Maybe they tend towards green, but only very, very slightly. We've had a whole bunch of discussions about this--one even got a little heated.

 

This may be the bottom line on that: If Florida Blue does not look purplish to you, then Noodler's will look blue-green to you. And if Florida Blue looks purplish to you, then Noodler's Blue, DC Blue, American Blue, and Penman Sapphire will look blue to you, and not blue green.

 

For anybody who likes green in their blue, I'd recommend Noodler's Turquoise, which is an underrated ink, if you ask me.

[Iridium]

American is a little more vibrant; Noodler's Blue is flatter, perhaps because of the permanent ink it has mixed in with it, which is probably pretty flat.

 

I guess the question here is whether the permanent component is one of the flat-looking cellulose-reactive dyes or a regular dye that happens to stick to the paper better after a mild soaking. Whatever the answer is, this component apparently comprises most, if not all, of the greenish tinge.

 

Neither of these inks look green to me. They both look very blue. But, no, they do not tend toward purple. Maybe they tend towards green, but only very, very slightly. We've had a whole bunch of discussions about this--one even got a little heated.

 

People can definitely perceive colors differently, as there are a number of genetic variations that can shift the wavelength of greatest sensitivity in the photosensitive pigments in our retinas, in addition to the vast complexity of our visual systems. There is really no good reason to argue over such things.

 

For what it's worth, to my eyes, Noodler's Blue has a slight but definite greenish tinge (especially in the light portions of the shading), while PR American Blue is a more neutral (i.e. between green and violet) or "pure" blue.

 

This may be the bottom line on that: If Florida Blue does not look purplish to you, then Noodler's will look blue-green to you. And if Florida Blue looks purplish to you, then Noodler's Blue, DC Blue, American Blue, and Penman Sapphire will look blue to you, and not blue green.

 

Actually, Waterman Florida Blue does look noticeably purplish to me, and PR American Blue is bluer than both this and Noodler's Blue (somewhere between). Perhaps the photopigments in my eyes are such that some compromises to hue discrimination were made elsewhere along the spectrum (probably on the red side), making me more sensitive to variations of hue on the blue side.

 

For anybody who likes green in their blue, I'd recommend Noodler's Turquoise, which is an underrated ink, if you ask me.

 

It's a very nice color, although it does not look blue to me at all. From what I've seen, it's close to the typical color of additive cyan (an equal mix of blue and green on our monitors and televisions). For comparison, Noodler's Navajo Turquoise is more like a greenish blue to my eyes (only slightly greenish, as it seems to retain much of the violet portion of the spectrum).

[Gran]

Thanks for the review. I'm still trying to decide if I like my Noodler's blue. Mixing it with another blue is a good idea. Will give it a try.