Noodler's Dostoyevsky

[Pictrix]

This ink is from Noodler's Russian Series, and it's actually one of my favorite ink colors. It tends to be fairly well behaved, does not seem to pour out of a pen like some of the Noodlers, nor does it tend toward the "gummy" as a few do.

 

There is a lot of shading in this color, the color is a bluish green (tending a little more toward green than blue) of middling tone and more toward the "faded" end of the spectrum than saturated. It will produce some shading variation even with relatively fine nibs. The actual color on paper is a touch lighter in person than it appears on my screen.

 

An interesting aspect, now that the bottle has been sitting here for over a year, from the outside the bottom portion of the bottle has taken on an electric blue-purple color, especially notable when viewed from the bottom and along the edges and in the corners. I shake the bottle up when I fill from it although I haven't actually detected any precipitate. This isn't the only Noodler's color whose bottle shows unusual things through the glass though... White of the Whale and Socrates also show some unusual visual color shift, even to the point of somewhat prismatic.

 

I added a sample of Diamine Teal for comparison. Diamine Teal is most certainly much more saturated, and darker overall, and a touch greener. I also did two samples in a wide italic dip nib, to compare the color/shading of Dostoyevsky to Diamine Teal. Diamine Teal shows nice shading when used in a wide nib, but not so much in a more standard-sized one.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

--Carol

 

 

http://www.riorondo.com/fpn/Dostoyevsky.jpg

[Deirdre]

Wow, that's a ton different than my bottle. When did you get yours? I got mine a year and a half ago:

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2347/2371808089_6da7c52105_b.jpg

[Pictrix]

Wow, yours is a lot different I think! Your sample looks quite a bit lighter. I'm thinking I probably got mine about April 2008 or so... probably around the same time. Because the color showing through the bottle looks different at the bottom (purple-blue stuck to the glass it seems?) I almost always shake the bottle before I fill...

 

Things could be "settling out" of the ink... but I'm not about to dive into the bottom of the bottle and see for myself

 

I'll let the bottle sit a few days anyway, I have a long customized needle, and I'll try to draw some ink off the bottom, as well as off the top, to see if there's a color difference. There might be.

[Deirdre]

I always shake mine.

[dizzypen]

Now that is very interesting. I wonder which color is the "right" one.

 

ETA: Ok I just went to look at the other ink reviews for this ink and they were not at all helpful. Each showed a very different color that looks more like a blue-black than anything teal or turquoise.

Edited October 28, 2009 by dizzypen

[limesally]

Now that is very interesting. I wonder which color is the "right" one.

 

ETA: Ok I just went to look at the other ink reviews for this ink and they were not at all helpful. Each showed a very different color that looks more like a blue-black than anything teal or turquoise.

 

Yes, there seems to be a lot of variety in this ink! I have it as well and for me it shows up as much lighter, more like Deirdre's, although mine leans towards green. I do shake my bottle as well

 

I think I reviewed it at one point, although the attachment may no longer be available since the software switch.

 

Carol, this is a very nice review. It makes me want to load up a pen in Dostoevsky, just to see! I've never tried it in an italic nib. I like the way yours came out.

 

eta: found mine - it looks an awful lot like Deirdre's Victoria Mint!

Edited October 28, 2009 by limesally

[Michael R.]

Interesting variation of this ink. Mine looks like this:

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn140/PENSnINKS/Inks/NoodlersBlue.jpg?t=1237649893

...more towards a regular turquoise ink with a slightly faded look and turquoise green tones.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[Deirdre]

Yes, there seems to be a lot of variety in this ink! I have it as well and for me it shows up as much lighter, more like Deirdre's, although mine leans towards green. I do shake my bottle as well

To be fair, I didn't color correct my photo, I was just using it to show relative differences.

 

For me, Dostoyevsky is a pale and transparent bulletproof ink that shows shading.

[Pictrix]

 

For me, Dostoyevsky is a pale and transparent bulletproof ink that shows shading.

 

 

That's a really good way to describe it

[jniforat]

i've always wanted this ink...but now i'm not so sure because i like the shade pictrix got...but there may be lighter ones?

[DanF]

In my experience, dip pens will nearly always leave a significantly darker line than a fountain pen will, and Carol used a dip pen for her samples.

 

Dan

[welfvet]

Great review. A while ago I thought I wanted this ink because I wanted a permanent blue-ish ink but was limited for choice in the UK. I also bought Noodlers luxury blue but it isn't really my first choice. Because of the variable reviews of Dostoevsky at the time I asked Marting at The Writing Desk if he would send me a writing sample when posting me another order (which he kindly did, thanks TWD) and in the flesh it was exactly what I wanted so I pulled the trigger. I have used it quite a lot in my Sailor 1911 SS with the Naginata Togi nib and I would say that most of the time it writes like Pictrix's review, perhaps a tad bluer. MAybe Michael R's samples are more respresentative of what I get, with all the shades and intensities possible depending on wetness of the nib etc. But I find it does dry a bit in the pen and I often have to give it a bump-start when first writing with it after a couple of days or if left uncapped during sessions. It is then darker and lightens the more one writes. Those who want consistency wouldn't appreciate this ink, but I enjoy the variation (and shading too).

 

Possibly my favourite ink.

 

Thanks for the review

[Bearcat]

This ink is from Noodler's Russian Series, and it's actually one of my favorite ink colors. It tends to be fairly well behaved, does not seem to pour out of a pen like some of the Noodlers, nor does it tend toward the "gummy" as a few do.

 

There is a lot of shading in this color, the color is a bluish green (tending a little more toward green than blue) of middling tone and more toward the "faded" end of the spectrum than saturated. It will produce some shading variation even with relatively fine nibs. The actual color on paper is a touch lighter in person than it appears on my screen.

 

An interesting aspect, now that the bottle has been sitting here for over a year, from the outside the bottom portion of the bottle has taken on an electric blue-purple color, especially notable when viewed from the bottom and along the edges and in the corners. I shake the bottle up when I fill from it although I haven't actually detected any precipitate. This isn't the only Noodler's color whose bottle shows unusual things through the glass though... White of the Whale and Socrates also show some unusual visual color shift, even to the point of somewhat prismatic.

 

I added a sample of Diamine Teal for comparison. Diamine Teal is most certainly much more saturated, and darker overall, and a touch greener. I also did two samples in a wide italic dip nib, to compare the color/shading of Dostoyevsky to Diamine Teal. Diamine Teal shows nice shading when used in a wide nib, but not so much in a more standard-sized one.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

--Carol

 

 

http://www.riorondo.com/fpn/Dostoyevsky.jpg

 

 

Great review, Carol. Thanks for posting this. Just as an experiment, I am going to pick up a bottle in my next Swisher order to see what the current run of this ink looks like. I love these special labels and am starting to collect them........Doc

[Pictrix]

I'll be interested also in what you're able to obtain, Bearcat, just for curiosity's sake. Looking at everyone else's samples here, my review sheet indeed does look quite a bit darker than others. Scanning can make things come out all over the place, so I try to adjust it to match *my* monitor...there's so much fine nuance in the colors and shadings of almost any ink that the monitors just can't quite match, under the best of circumstances.

It does match my monitor though (which is no help for anyone else!)

 

Despite that, I did take a needle sample off both the top and the bottom of the bottle after it had sat a few days, and there was no difference in color, so I don't think "settling" is an issue.

 

I wonder if the others in the Russian series are as... variable?