What Is Saturation, And What Is "good" Shading?

[notebookeresq]

Ink reviews talk about "saturation," but I can;t find the term defined at Richard Binder's glossary or at Glenn's Pens. I know the definition of saturation for a solution, and I presume from that and the context in which I see the term used that the term refers to the deepness of a color. BUt, since I see it used for fairly light colors, I sense that it may mean more along the lines of evenness of color rather than richness.

 

Anyone care to offer their definition?

 

Also, reviews often talk about "shading" (a quality I understand) in unclear terms of "good" or "bad." In general, does "good" refer to a greater degree of possible shades, more predictability in shading, or what? I use my pens exclusively for test, so "good" shading for me is really very little, as I like a consistent color in my text. I know it won;t be true for every reviewer, but, in general, what does "good" shading mean?

[PenTieRun]

Ink reviews talk about "saturation," but I can;t find the term defined at Richard Binder's glossary or at Glenn's Pens. I know the definition of saturation for a solution, and I presume from that and the context in which I see the term used that the term refers to the deepness of a color. BUt, since I see it used for fairly light colors, I sense that it may mean more along the lines of evenness of color rather than richness.

 

Anyone care to offer their definition?

 

Also, reviews often talk about "shading" (a quality I understand) in unclear terms of "good" or "bad." In general, does "good" refer to a greater degree of possible shades, more predictability in shading, or what? I use my pens exclusively for test, so "good" shading for me is really very little, as I like a consistent color in my text. I know it won;t be true for every reviewer, but, in general, what does "good" shading mean?

Saturation in the fountain pen sense does refer to richness of color, even if that is a light color like Pelikan or Montblanc Violet. These are isolated examples as Montblanc and Pelikan inks are not known for saturation whereas Diamine, Private Reserve, and Noodlers are.

 

Good shading tends to refer to a variety of light and darkness in the distribution of ink. People use this phrase who enjoy the variations in consistent color.

Edited May 24, 2010 by PenTieRun

[Richard]

I have just added an entry for saturation to my glossary -- thanks for the suggestion!

 

saturation: http://www.richardspens.com/images/ref/glossary/color_wheel.jpgThe aspect of color that describes the intensity of hue. See the color wheel to the right. The colors at the periphery of the wheel are 100% saturated, with the saturation decreasing to zero at the center of the wheel. ¶ To increase the saturation of color in ink, the maker increases the amount of dissolved dye so that the ink will better hide the paper beneath it. However, increasing the dye load also increases the probability that some of the dye will precipitate out of solution. When this happens in a bottle, there appears a sediment of solid dye at the bottom. When it happens in a pen, the dye collects most readily in small spaces, especially feed channels and the nib slit; the result is flow problems or, in more severe cases, a clog.

 

 

 

[tonybelding]

Ink reviews talk about "saturation," but I can;t find the term defined at Richard Binder's glossary or at Glenn's Pens. I know the definition of saturation for a solution, and I presume from that and the context in which I see the term used that the term refers to the deepness of a color. BUt, since I see it used for fairly light colors, I sense that it may mean more along the lines of evenness of color rather than richness.

 

In graphics, color saturation means stronger color. In chemistry it means a stronger solution. Since these generally go hand-in-hand with fountain pen inks, we often fail to distinguish exactly which one we mean. (Or maybe I should just speak for myself, since I know I've been sloppy about that.)

 

 

Also, reviews often talk about "shading" (a quality I understand) in unclear terms of "good" or "bad." In general, does "good" refer to a greater degree of possible shades, more predictability in shading, or what? I use my pens exclusively for test, so "good" shading for me is really very little, as I like a consistent color in my text. I know it won;t be true for every reviewer, but, in general, what does "good" shading mean?

 

In all my experience, "good" shading means distinct light and dark areas. This is something characteristic of fountain pens, which I think is why we fountain pen fanatics so often desire it. In the same way, "good" line variation usually means more variation, at least when talking about stubs or flex nibs (which is when the subject comes up).

 

I have a friend who is not really into fountain pens as such, though he uses one regularly. He likes for his to write like a rollerball: consistent line width, black ink, no shading. He thinks shading looks like there's something wrong with the pen. I lean the other way, as I suspect most of us here on FPN do. I want something I wrote with a fountain pen to look like it was written with a fountain pen.

[Viseguy]

"Good" shading is in the eye of the beholder. Some people find a dramatic contrast between the light and dark parts of a written line to be distracting; others value it as the distinctive mark of a nibbed pen (fountain or dip). For myself, I welcome subtle shading but don't insist on it.

[PAKMAN]

Not a big fan of inks that shade. Usually they will cause letters that are light at the top of the stroke and dark at the bottom. I prefer a more consistent look in my writing color wise.

[notebookeresq]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. And Richard, adding to your glossary was above and beyond the call of duty!

[lapis]

One single example of shading IMO is Pelikan's blue-black. If you write a line or two with it in any pen (the broader the better) the first thing thing you see is the "colour" of a blue-black. But after a few minutes that gains a slight greyish hugh, with a tiny hint of brown. That's the way I see it.

And all that is almost an exception since Pelikan inks aren't very saturated.

 

Mike

[Richard]

One single example of shading IMO is Pelikan's blue-black. If you write a line or two with it in any pen (the broader the better) the first thing thing you see is the "colour" of a blue-black. But after a few minutes that gains a slight greyish hugh, with a tiny hint of brown. That's the way I see it.

What you're describing is a color change during drying, not shading. Shading is the contrast between the areas of an ink line where more ink collected and those where less ink collected. Shading is tied to saturation; where there is more ink, the color is deeply saturated, and where there is less ink the paper shows through, making the line lighter and less intensely saturated. Sorry I don't have an illustration to show shading.

[lapis]

Richard, thanks for the great explantion. I follow you completely and have seen that in any case, as mentioned above, with a really broad nib. Even better with at least a semi-flex nib (if I may use that term) like on my M1000. There, as you pointed out, the most ink remaining till drying on paper is in the middle of the lines and not on the edge of the lines. Ditto on pressured downward strokes as opposed to whipping off upward strokes.

I thought that the term also included simple colour change.

 

Mike

[tonybelding]

This is the sort of shading I like to see. . .

 

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/shading.png

 

Esterbrook 9314M & Noodler's Texas Blue Bonnet

[DAYoung]

Double post. Oops.

 

Nice weather we're having.

Edited May 24, 2010 by DAYoung

[DAYoung]

Here is a nice example of shading, from Iroshizuku's Asa-Gao, in a Pelikan M215 M:

 

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/DAYoung_2006/Asa-Gao-cropped.jpg

 

(Not as intense as the Noodler's, above.)

[cbuca]

I really like shading. I'm finding Diamine's Blue-Black is shading nicely, even with my Safari F nib.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I like shading. I did not personally know of it until I'd gotten a Pelikan 140 with a OB semi-flex nib. It being a 1950's Oblique cut, gave more line variations than my modern Persona in OB.

 

Then I got the BM Toffee and it shaded with many of my pens. The shades of color in how light or dark the ink wrote, had for me a lot to do with the width and stiffness of the nibs.

 

After viewing couple of tests with Lamy Turquoise; that shocked me, in that they showed shading. Up to that time I thought it a nice color but boring ink.

I found a couple of my pens that would shade with that Ink, On the Right Paper, and am much happier I have a bottle.

 

Soon I'll have sufficient papers to match nib width and flex, with wetness of ink and paper. Then I'll go ink crazy. I want my ink to dance.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Ink reviews talk about "saturation," but I can;t find the term defined at Richard Binder's glossary or at Glenn's Pens. I know the definition of saturation for a solution, and I presume from that and the context in which I see the term used that the term refers to the deepness of a color. BUt, since I see it used for fairly light colors, I sense that it may mean more along the lines of evenness of color rather than richness.

 

Anyone care to offer their definition?

 

Also, reviews often talk about "shading" (a quality I understand) in unclear terms of "good" or "bad." In general, does "good" refer to a greater degree of possible shades, more predictability in shading, or what? I use my pens exclusively for test, so "good" shading for me is really very little, as I like a consistent color in my text. I know it won;t be true for every reviewer, but, in general, what does "good" shading mean?

 

 

To me, any shading is good shading! I love color, the more the better.

 

And though the Pel BB fade isn't exactly shading, I like to watch it, too.

[Crim]

One thing I wanna add about shading. Just my personal observations.

 

We know that shading is basically "more ink" on one spot of a letter. If you continually write a line in the same place it will get darker and darker.

 

Two simple ways to get more shading is to use a broader nib. With a fine nib, shading is still apparent but unless you have a magnifying glass or something of that sort, it won't ever look as shaded as broader nib.

 

Another way is to print. Ink seems to pool where you lift the nib. This is probably because when you write, it drags the ink and distributes it a bit until you lift the nib. In all the reviews I've seen, and from writing on my own, I find cursive writing gives you less shading than printing.

[Mauricio]

Here are a few writing samples depicting ink shading.

I used different vintage pens and flexible nibs in each one of those writings ..

 

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae327/VintagePen/IMG_1298-1.jpg

 

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae327/VintagePen/IMG_1195.jpg

 

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae327/VintagePen/IMG_1234.jpg

 

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae327/VintagePen/IMG_1074.jpg

 

The ink in these samples is Noodler's Turquoise. Paper is Rhodia Block 13

[dnb]

Great examples. Thanks.

[PatientType]

Eye of the beholder +1

 

For informal writing, I'm in the "shading is good and the more the better" camp. I particularly like multi-hued inks, like Habanero. For more serious writings or journaling, I like varying shades of the same color as in Mauricio's example. Incredible! Then, for business, no shading at all, please. If it's a business note, I prefer dark, clear, uniform inking.