Havana meets three blues

[simonrob]

There's nothing much wrong with the basic blues of the standard inks - Pelikan Royal Blue, Waterman's Florida Blue, Conway Stewart Blue, Sheaffer Skrip etc.; they're all pleasant mid/deepish blues with a touch of purple, and they behave nicely in pens and on paper, but to these eyes they look far more interesting when wet. Perhaps I've been looking at them for too long, but I think they're a bit boring when dry. There is, on the other hand, something wrong with an array of inks labeled blue-black but which, when dry, end up a sort of harmless teal; they're nice colours, but surely not blue-black.

 

Let's say you have some of these and want to spice them up a bit rather than throwing them away or trying to sell them. What to add? An obvious suggestion is black. Do this to the first category of blues and you end up with a colour that certainly qualifies as blue-black but which, I think, is a bit too grey and drab; do it to the second category and you end up with something drabber still. Another obvious choice is red, but add that to the first category and you get purple, which may seem a trifle vulgar. Add it to the second, though, and you get a rather nice blue-black - the red knocks out the green and adds depth. (See the last example in the Waterman blue-black post I did earlier today.)

 

Brown probably isn't the first colour that comes to mind, but I really like what it does to both categories of blue, at least if it's my favorite brown ink, Waterman's Havana (which doubtless benefits here from the significant amount of red in its make-up). Add enough to the first category and you get a dark purplish blue-black. Add even a very small amount to the second category and they no longer look teal; add a bit more, and they get darker (ending up, in this example, rather close to PR's Midnight Blues). It doesn't take much, as you can see. (By "drops" I mean drops that can individually be squeezed from the syringes that come with PR's mixing kit. But precision isn't vital - you'll figure it out if interested.)

 

As you can see, the colours I tweaked are, for the first category, Pelikan Konigsblau and Conway Stewart Blue, and Parker's Blue-Black for the second (but I could equally well have used, say, Sheaffer Blue or Waterman's Florida Blue in the first category and Waterman's Blue-Black in the second; but they're in my office and I'm not).

 

It is, of course, true that you can just go and buy similar colours from PR or Noodler's, but these look almost as saturated and are as deep without requiring dilution to avoid interminable drying times, smudging etc. Anyway, mixing is fun....

 

(The scan doesn't quite match what I see on the real thing, where all the colours are a bit darker and there's a touch more green in the Parker in real life; but you get the general idea, I hope.)

 

Simon

 

[KCat]

Very interesting - I'd have expected mud.

 

Perhaps I overlooked it but what is the starting volume of the original blue ink?

[gylyf]

Very interesting - I'd have expected mud.

 

Perhaps I overlooked it but what is the starting volume of the original blue ink?

 

Hi, KCat. Ibelieve it's x number of drops per mL (cc).

Interesting results. I never would have thought to mix brown and blue, but I may have to try. Thanks for the scan.

Regards,

David

[simonrob]

Very interesting - I'd have expected mud.

 

Perhaps I overlooked it but what is the starting volume of the original blue ink?

 

Hi, KCat. Ibelieve it's x number of drops per mL (cc).

Interesting results. I never would have thought to mix brown and blue, but I may have to try. Thanks for the scan.

Regards,

David

 

Yes, it's drops per cc; sorry I wasn't clear. And, if anyone was wondering, the written bits were done with dipped Lamy Safari reground to c. .8mm cursive italic by pendemonium on Rhodia paper.

 

Simon

[Melnicki]

I never tried this with blues (and now will!) but I've been darkening green inks with brown (instead of black), very similar to this. Adding Noodler's Walnut to Green Marine made a very wonderful green-black that retained its green-ness, and shaded well!. Most commercial green-blacks (or greens tinted with black) look too much like Black. I had similar fun tinting Verdun with Walnut, or with Eternal Brown.

 

This is really incredible, you've turned ordinary blue inks into something wholly interesting!!!

Edited May 11, 2008 by Melnicki

[Margana]

On an RGB scale the WHB cut the blue of the original ink by half, decreased the green by up to 40% and had varying effects on the red. All of the resulting colors are very attractive but I especially like the two Parker mixes.

[blueiris]

Thanks for sharing these recipes with us, Simon! Please bring your test sheet to the office with you so that I can admire it in person.

[CharlieB]

Wow! Simon, your post at the opening of this thread is one of the most interesting posts I have ever read on FPN. I normally do not engage in ink-mixing, not wanting to invest the time and trouble. However, your results really interest me, because you've figured out the recipe for that elusive dark blue ink that none of the traditional ink-makers (Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, Pelikan, Montblanc) include amongst their offerings.

 

I am especially interested in seeing samples of Waterman Florida Blue, Waterman Blue Black, Sheaffer Skrip Blue, and Sheaffer Skrip Blue Black with the addition of the Waterman Havana Brown. I'm also wondering if the Sheaffer Skrip Brown works as well as the Waterman Havana Brown as the additive to the blue inks.

[Margana]

Wow! Simon, your post at the opening of this thread is one of the most interesting posts I have ever read on FPN. I normally do not engage in ink-mixing, not wanting to invest the time and trouble. However, your results really interest me, because you've figured out the recipe for that elusive dark blue ink that none of the traditional ink-makers (Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, Pelikan, Montblanc) include amongst their offerings.

 

I am especially interested in seeing samples of Waterman Florida Blue, Waterman Blue Black, Sheaffer Skrip Blue, and Sheaffer Skrip Blue Black with the addition of the Waterman Havana Brown. I'm also wondering if the Sheaffer Skrip Brown works as well as the Waterman Havana Brown as the additive to the blue inks.

Which of the samples looks like that "elusive dark blue"?

 

[simonrob]

Wow! Simon, your post at the opening of this thread is one of the most interesting posts I have ever read on FPN. I normally do not engage in ink-mixing, not wanting to invest the time and trouble. However, your results really interest me, because you've figured out the recipe for that elusive dark blue ink that none of the traditional ink-makers (Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, Pelikan, Montblanc) include amongst their offerings.

 

I am especially interested in seeing samples of Waterman Florida Blue, Waterman Blue Black, Sheaffer Skrip Blue, and Sheaffer Skrip Blue Black with the addition of the Waterman Havana Brown. I'm also wondering if the Sheaffer Skrip Brown works as well as the Waterman Havana Brown as the additive to the blue inks.

 

Thanks for all the kind comments. I was prompted to try adding brown to blue the first time I did this because I didn't much like the effects of adding black - I wanted a colour that wasn't just dark but rich too, and just adding black didn't achieve that. I've never used Skrip Brown, so I don't know how that will work, and although I have lots of other browns Havana is the only one I've experimented with so far (I used it for two reasons: there's quite a bit of red in it, and all the other browns I have are quite a lot more saturated - I was aiming for a mix that would perform like Waterman ink rather than Noodler's or PR).

 

As for your other queries, the effects on Florida Blue are much the same as the effects on Conway Stewart Blue, and I would expect the effect on Sheaffer Skrip Blue to be much the same as well (I once scribbled on a page with all three and couldn't tell them apart). Likewise, the effect on Waterman Blue Black should be much the same as on Parker Blue Black, which is much the same colour only a bit darker; ditto Yard-o-Lead's Blue Black. (Unfortunately I'm not in any position to prove any of this right now because I'm pretty sure all my Florida Blue has been used up in various mixing experiments, my bottle of current-production Waterman Blue-Black has been altered by the addition of red ink (see my Waterman Blue-Black post), and my bottle of Sheaffer Blue has had so many odds and ends of various blue inks dribbled into it over the past months that its colour has likely changed somewhat!)

 

Simon

[CharlieB]

Simon, I totally agree with your basic goal of seeking to create inks that perform like Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer, and Pelikan rather than like PR or Noodlers. That's what makes your experiments so interesting to me. I'm a lefty overwriter, so I absolutely must have an ink that dries quickly on the page, which rules out the more saturated inks.

[sofian]

I've not had much luck at ink mixing - ever! However, when I came across your post I thought I'd give it another try. And I was glad I did! I added a few drops of Havana to some Pelikan Royal Blue and the result is my second most favourite ink after the the Diamine Emerald.

 

The 'modified' Royal Blue had the a very attractive blue-black colour (with a hint of lilac). Shading was distinct and lubrication was wonderful.

 

Thanks, Simon.

[Viseguy]

On an RGB scale the WHB cut the blue of the original ink by half, decreased the green by up to 40% and had varying effects on the red. All of the resulting colors are very attractive but I especially like the two Parker mixes.

Me too. The blue mixes look a bit muddy to me, but adding brown to B-B lends character and depth to the original. Nice idea.

[gylyf]

Hi, Simon. Just wanted to thank you for this idea. I went out and bought a bottle of Parker BB and WM HB today and mixed a really nice Night Blue color (10:1 ratio). Thanks again,

David

[simonrob]

Hi, Simon. Just wanted to thank you for this idea. I went out and bought a bottle of Parker BB and WM HB today and mixed a really nice Night Blue color (10:1 ratio). Thanks again,

David

 

Glad you like it! Before long I'll try to dig out my bottle of Pelikan Brilliant Brown and see how it interacts with Pelikan Royal Blue; perhaps the result will be a bit less purple than the Havana mix.

 

Simon

[simonrob]

I'm also wondering if the Sheaffer Skrip Brown works as well as the Waterman Havana Brown as the additive to the blue inks.

 

I can't answer *that* question, but last night I tried Pelikan Brilliant Brown in Parker Blue-Black, Pelikan Royal Blue and Pelikan Blue-Black (this was just for kicks - Pelikan Blue-Black strikes me as needing no rescuing at all: it's a proper blue-black). I also tried Noodler's Beaver in Pelikan Royal Blue and, somewhat to my surprise, found the results as near identical to the Brilliant Brown as makes no difference.

 

Both, however, behave rather differently than Havana, though I like the results here, too. It's doesn't knock the green out of Parker Blue-Black, creating instead a marvelous dark teal/green-blue; this is certainly a colour I would use. I also rather like what it does to Pelikan Royal Blue. Where addition of Havana creates a dark purplish blue, adding Brilliant Brown (or Beaver) creates a dark grey with overtones of blue and purple (not that dissimilar to a currently popular colour in shirts). Added to Pelikan Blue Black, it creates a fairly dark grey (near-black when laid on thick).

 

I've added a scan again. As before, it doesn't quite match the real thing, where the Parker and mixes are more green, the Pelikan mixes less purple, but the differences are consistent and you can at least see that the Brilliant Brown and Havana have different effects. As before, the ratios are drops per cc, the writing done with a dipped Lamy with a custom cursive italic nib. Perhaps some day I'll expand the process to cover a wider range of browns and blues....

 

Simon

 

[girlieg33k]

Adding my thank you and kudos for starting this thread. Great information; I'm printing it for reference.

[Gran]

Very interesting ink research. Thanks much for posting this.

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Thank you for these results -- much food for thought!

[Jimmy James]

I have toyed a bit with adding black to the bottle of FPN GM Brown I have to make it darker, but now this makes me wonder if I should add just a little blue to it instead...