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An Inky Gradient Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: To help answer whether a Lexington Gray approximation can be derived from Noodler's Black. To see if it would be a valuable component for Noodler's CMYK Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun approximation. To see what kind of gray it produced. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: You like gray ink so will dilute a fair bit. You want an ink that could be confused with graphite pencil. You find Noodler's Black a bit too finicky because of its concentration, so you dilute it some while keeping it black. Remarks: The scanner starts to clip the 1:10 ratio, but really it is perfectly legible. Based on another sample not shown, Noodler's Black seems to be another ink that could be useable at 20x dilution https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/264739-does-whiteness-of-the-whale-matter-for-achieving-color-mixes/. General disclaimer when mixing with water: At high dilution levels, water has too high of surface tension to make a good ink (IMO). I have Kodak Photo-Flo for use as a surfactant and believe I can make any dilution flow at a desirable level for use in a FP. If you are going to do very high dilutions, you will want a surfactant, or can achieve same dilution results with Noodler's Blue Ghost with less hassle. I also have Phenol (never used) should I feel I am making a large quantity that needs a preservative.

An Inky Gradient Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: To see if it would be a valuable component for Noodler's CMYK Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun approximation. To see what kind of gray it produced; some post about diluting blacks caution that the result are likely not to be gray. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: You like gray ink. Particularly ones that are not as charcoal in appearance as Noodler's Black so will appreciate the blueness in Dark Matter creating a smoother gray with a softer character. Remarks: After doing Noodler's Black, I knew I was really only interested in the more diluted range so only did half the gradient to save time. If someone is real wanting to see the other half, I might oblige in going back and doing the other half. General disclaimer when mixing with water: At high dilution levels, water has too high of surface tension to make a good ink (IMO). I have Kodak Photo-Flo for use as a surfactant and believe I can make any dilution flow at a desirable level for use in a FP. If you are going to do very high dilutions, you will want a surfactant, or can achieve same dilution results with Noodler's Blue Ghost with less hassle. I also have Phenol (never used) should I feel I am making a large quantity that needs a preservative.

I have used a less rigorous form of this methodology for creating mixes or just exploring mixing potential (and others never posted). I have also done some more complete incremental mixes where I have created a separate mix for each transition (Six Solvents, CMY Mixes). Both are useful, the former is easy to do and quicker but has a fairly high margin of error making results harder to reproduce. The later is more time consuming eats up a lot of vials, but give an end result of having a lot of different ink colors available on demand. Learning from these experiences I have now settled on a new methodology. It aims to save time and vial resources while giving more accurate results. The results show 1:0, 10:1, , 10:9, 1:1, 1:1, 1:1, 9:10, , 0:1 mixes of the two input inks. The downside is that the end result is 4ml of a 1:1 mix which may not be of any interest at all. It requires two syringes, two sample vials, two ml of each of the inks, and about two hours. Some results: The process: Add one ml of the initial ink to a sample vial.Sample the ink in the sample vial.Add one additional drop of said ink to the vial to account for the first sample taken.Sample the ink in the sample vial.Add 0.1 ml of the second ink to the sample vial.Repeat steps 4 and 5 nine more times.Switch which ink is the initial ink and which is the secondary. Repeat steps 1-6.Combine the two sample vials.Do a final sample. This helps to show how much error there was.In a pinch it might be possible to do this with only 1 ml of each. However, it would be more challenging (it is hard to sample really small results) and have more error from measurement (1/20th of a ml is about 1 drop with the syringe I have). I may have to try using a lesser amount this with my early Susemai inks where I already took the approach of creating 8%, 4%, and 2% mixes in separate vials so no longer have enough 16% to so this. I am not sure I will have enough for that though, we shall see. With the latest round of inks I have enough for this and you can expect to see them I get them done. At some point I need to make guide paper for this, so I line things up nicer.

An Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration110:016.00%210:114.55%310:213.33%410:312.31%510:411.43%610:510.67%710:610.00%810:79.41%910:88.89%1010:98.42%1110:108.00%1210:108.00%1310:108.00%149:107.58%158:107.11%167:106.59%176:106.00%185:105.33%194:104.57%203:103.69%212:102.67%221:101.45% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: A nice color with good dilution options. A slight reflective sheen on the Southworth at the higher concentrations (first 5 lines), not a sheen to get excited about in my opinion. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Exponential Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration11:016%21:18%31:34%41:72%51:151%61:310.5%71:630.25%81:1270.125% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: This ink should really be marketed as a grey. It was way too wet at the recommended dilutions despite being having a nice black color. However, it also makes a nice grey and the surfactant becomes dilute enough for it to be usable. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Exponential Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration11:016%21:18%31:34%41:72%51:151%61:310.5%71:630.25%81:1270.125% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: In the more concentrated forms this one takes on a red/brown/sepia color. This is very apparent at 16% and can still be noticed a little bit at 8% though how apparent it is is impacted by the paper. I could see it being marketed for this quality, but if it is market just as a black it would probably be a problem due to the red color and the fact it really is not that black. The 0.125% concentration of this ink was like writing with colored water; no longer ink and very pale. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Exponential Inky Gradient This ink was done with a Rohrer and Klingner Glass Pen rather than my typical pen because of mold issues. Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration11:016%21:18%31:34%41:72%51:151%61:310.5%71:630.25%81:1270.125% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: It is hard to say much about this ink because I was using a non-standard pen. This will at least give you an idea of the color though. It is a nice black, but with what seems like a high propensity for sheen (as low as 4% on the Southworth, and visible at 16% on the Georgia Pacific; this is not a paper that typically shows sheen). This is very good if you like sheen, bad if you want really black black because the sheen makes it look less black. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration110:016.00%210:114.55%310:213.33%410:312.31%510:411.43%610:510.67%710:610.00%810:79.41%910:88.89%1010:98.42%1110:108.00%1210:108.00%1310:108.00%149:107.58%158:107.11%167:106.59%176:106.00%185:105.33%194:104.57%203:103.69%212:102.67%221:101.45% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: This ink is why I will do all of my normal reviews at 8%. I did not do enough testing to know for certain but I think issues are probable with the overly concentrated forms of this one. When writing the second line, the flow completely stopped. I dipped it again multiple times, but it would still stop in short order. The fix came by flossing the nib, which knocked a chunk out that near as I could tell was just dye. Best guess is that it was nib crud formed while I was making the dilution. This is a shame though because the more concentrated forms are a nice color. None of these papers are known are prone to sheen, but on the Southworth I can see that it has a red sheen possible at least as low at 12.3%. A definite shader at all dilutions, though it seems a bit lesser at 1.45% because of the lighter color. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration110:016.00%210:114.55%310:213.33%410:312.31%510:411.43%610:510.67%710:610.00%810:79.41%910:88.89%1010:98.42%1110:108.00%1210:108.00%1310:108.00%149:107.58%158:107.11%167:106.59%176:106.00%185:105.33%194:104.57%203:103.69%212:102.67%221:101.45% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: Because I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/268798-do-you-want-to-be-an-ink-tester/. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks:I think the over concentrated (>8%) forms of this ink do it a disservice, as it appears flatter and more grey in those concentrations.Especially at the higher concentrations, this ink should be considered a blue-grey.I the lower concentrations (even down to 1.45%) the best because it comes across as most blue with the grey-flatness less pronounced.Overall, there is surprisingly little color variation when diluting this ink.This ink has a crazy amount of shading which I think might be its downfall. At recommended concentrations the color might not be that bad for a business-y color, but all the much color variation makes it unsuitable for such situations.I wish it started out like twice as dark as it is at 16% and diluted to the same point, then it might be a nice dark denim color.These papers are not particularly prone to sheen, but no sheen is seen with this one. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration110:016.00%210:114.55%310:213.33%410:312.31%510:411.43%610:510.67%710:610.00%810:79.41%910:88.89%1010:98.42%1110:108.00%1210:108.00%1310:108.00%149:107.58%158:107.11%167:106.59%176:106.00%185:105.33%194:104.57%203:103.69%212:102.67%221:101.45% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: Because I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/268798-do-you-want-to-be-an-ink-tester/. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks:This one has a nice range. The ink is most interesting in the the higher concentrations. There, the red sheen is more accessible and it is a darker blue color. 8% was the lowest concentration that I see occurrence of sheen, but remember I am not particularly trying for sheen nor are these papers apt for sheen. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration110:016.00%210:114.55%310:213.33%410:312.31%510:411.43%610:510.67%710:610.00%810:79.41%910:88.89%1010:98.42%1110:108.00%1210:108.00%1310:108.00%149:107.58%158:107.11%167:106.59%176:106.00%185:105.33%194:104.57%203:103.69%212:102.67%221:101.45% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: Because I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/268798-do-you-want-to-be-an-ink-tester/. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: While Blue Diamond has the reputation for sheen, this one is absolutely ridiculous in its sheen. I can tell the sheen on the cheap walmart paper and there is sheen even in the lower (recommended) concentration range. The thing is that the seen makes it look darker or black so it is not as exciting as the red sheen from Blue Diamond. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration110:016.00%210:114.55%310:213.33%410:312.31%510:411.43%610:510.67%710:610.00%810:79.41%910:88.89%1010:98.42%1110:108.00%1210:108.00%1310:108.00%149:107.58%158:107.11%167:106.59%176:106.00%185:105.33%194:104.57%203:103.69%212:102.67%221:101.45% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: Because I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/268798-do-you-want-to-be-an-ink-tester/. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: This ink provides a nice range of options but is good at staying red. It goes from a dark red that on the natural white paper looks almost brown to red-pink.Probably not bright enough to be a desired correcting ink, but I think in the range of the two lowest concentrations shown it could be done. (Note: I am not a teacher and have relatively little knowledge on the subject).These papers are not particularly prone to sheen, but this ink does show sheen in the "swatch" part on the Southworth paper. It is inconsistent most heavily on how much ink I actually put down, but I see it as far down as the 6.6%. I would not say the sheen has a particular color of its own and rather just reflects light. To me the seen does not seem especially attractive, but that might change with someone who knows how to use it. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Inky Gradient Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: To see if Noodler's RYB ink mixes would work. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: You like greens and teals and you find the Yellow to Cyan (Turquoise) mixes too bright.

An Inky Gradient Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: To see if Noodler's RYB inks would work. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: You'd like to tone down your Noodler's Red. You like oranges hued similar to Noodler's Apache Sunset. Remarks: I would label the majority of the mixes Red rather than Orange. Paper does seem to make a considerable difference in how red vs orange a mix comes across.

An Inky Gradient Depicted in order: LineRatioConcentration110:016.00%210:114.55%310:213.33%410:312.31%510:411.43%610:510.67%710:610.00%810:79.41%910:88.89%1010:98.42%1110:108.00%1210:108.00%1310:108.00%149:107.58%158:107.11%167:106.59%176:106.00%185:105.33%194:104.57%203:103.69%212:102.67%221:101.45% Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: Because I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/268798-do-you-want-to-be-an-ink-tester/. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up. Remarks: Higher concentrations seemed to be smoother. The light color of this ink is certainly a result of the dyes use rather than the concentration; dilution did not move the color very fast. I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.

An Inky Gradient Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb): Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart): Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb): Why I did it: To see if Noodler's RYB ink mixes would work. Why you might recreate any of these mixes: You only like or can use tame professional colors: you need red for markup and blue for blue. This gives you black and dark-blue/blue-black for free. Remarks: No purple was created. I would target around 10:6 for a black, 9:10 for blue-black. Adjust for your personal preferences of course.