Looking For A Dark, Rich Purple

[TangleCrafts]

I love Herbin's Poussiere de Lune and Diamine's Damson, but they both have quite a dusty finish.  I'm looking for something that is darker and richer - aubergine (/eggplant) is the best description; nothing vivid, bright or garish, but something warm and dark with purplish burgundies shining through.  I tried Private Reserve's Ebony Purple but was very disappointed - it was actually quite similar to Damson but with bluer undertones.  

 

I would love to try all the dark purples I have seen by all the different brands - I've noted a couple of recipes from the ink mixing thread, too - but can only afford to work my way through them all very slowly.  If you have any personal recommendations - ideally with a scanned sample? - I would love to hear/see, so that I can hopefully get closer to the colour I am looking for sooner rather than later...  Thanks in advance!

 

 

[iroshizuku]

Did you look at Iroshizuku yama-budo? That's pretty dark purple with a little reddish.

[TangleCrafts]

I'm sure I saw a review of that somewhere around here, yesterday.  It looked very bright; not at all what I'm looking for .  Thanks for trying, though!  

[jBeckett]

I too have been looking for this, as much as I like Caran d'Ache, their "Storm" isn't quite the purple I want. Private Reserve "Purple Mojo" looks promising, I ordered it along with some other samples recently so I'm hoping it's what I'm looking for.

[TangleCrafts]

Yeah, I'm attracted to 'Storm' also - and Rohrer & Klingner's Scabiosa - but I just have a suspicion they will be quite similar to the colours I already have.  Let me know how you get on with Purple Mojo.  

 

I suspect the answer to the colour I'm looking for is to mix my own - which I'm happy to do, it's just knowing which inks to begin with.  Much as I would just like to try everything out, I can't afford to make expensive mistakes!   Hmm, maybe I will check out the trading forums...

 

 

[dizzypen]

  On 6/3/2010 at 6:03 AM, TangleCrafts said:

I'm looking for something that is darker and richer - aubergine (/eggplant) is the best description; nothing vivid, bright or garish, but something warm and dark with purplish burgundies shining through.

 

You've described Mont Blanc Violet (now Lavender Purple) to a tee. Try to get a sample of that.

 

You might also like PR Burgundy Mist though it is definitely more burgundy than purple.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4398623016_69b6cb4f81.jpg

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4351990176_623d3a8402.jpg

Edited June 3, 2010 by dizzypen

[lovemy51]

  Quote

warm and dark with purplish burgundies shining through

 

PR tanzanite is very dark, but it's more blue than red.

 

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/Decorated%20images/scan0001-8.jpg

 

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/scan0001-9-1.jpg

Edited June 3, 2010 by lovemy51

[dizzypen]

  On 6/3/2010 at 6:57 AM, lovemy51 said:

  Quote

warm and dark with purplish burgundies shining through

 

PR tanzanite is very dark, but it's more blue than red.

 

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/Decorated%20images/scan0001-8.jpg

 

I WANT THAT COLOR! The sample of Tanzanite I had looked nothing like that. It was more of a bluish violet sort of color like real tanzanite.

 

Pretty much like this picture posted by NobleSavage

 

http://img203.exs.cx/img203/2469/tanzanite4xo.jpg

[Readymade]

Diamine Imperial Purple!

 

http://www.biffybeans.com/2010/02/review-diamine-imperial-purple-fountain.html

[lovemy51]

well, you are right, it is more blue than red, as i mentioned, but you can pull out what you are seeing with a lamy safari 1.5 nib!!!

 

seeing it from diffrent angles it can show a burgundy metalic look on the darker ends... quite pretty!!!

 

mine is absolutely nothing like the pic from noblesavage.

 

edited to add: noblesavage's looks like visconti blue or PR american blue in my screen. my post of tanzanite is very close to what i'm seeing in real...

 

look at the difference between lamy 1.5 and a sheaffer imperial fine point:

 

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/scan0002-2.jpg

 

one definitely needs a wider nib size to pull the beauty of the ink out!

Edited June 3, 2010 by lovemy51

[TangleCrafts]

Will be bookmarking this thread for reference! Thanks for the samples dizzypen & lovemy51 . The Burgundy Mist has nudged up my to-try list, and Purple Wampum is looking good - but would you say that it has a dusky, or a deep finish? The Tanzanite in the sample looks gorgeous, but I know I won't like it in real life if the blue notes are the more dominant. But I should probably try it, just to see.

 

readymade - I have Imperial Purple; I posted about it in the ink comparisons thread. It's weird - sometimes it's a vivid bright purple, in some pens it has a dusty finish, and in one pen, my Parker frontier, it is exactly the deep rich colour I'm looking for. Unfortunately, my search can't end there because the Frontier is not my favourite pen to write with, and the Imperial Purple is so inconsistent, depending on too many variables to get the right shade. I don't trust Imp. Purple as far as I can throw it! (although of course, it's quite light, so I can actually throw it relatively far. Bad choice of phrasing...)

Edited June 3, 2010 by TangleCrafts

[ImolaS3]

  On 6/3/2010 at 6:45 AM, dizzypen said:

  On 6/3/2010 at 6:03 AM, TangleCrafts said:

I'm looking for something that is darker and richer - aubergine (/eggplant) is the best description; nothing vivid, bright or garish, but something warm and dark with purplish burgundies shining through.  

 

You've described Mont Blanc Violet (now Lavender Purple) to a tee. Try to get a sample of that.

 

You might also like PR Burgundy Mist though it is definitely more burgundy than purple.

 

<a href=" title="PRBurgMist by Dizzypen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2745/4398623016_69b6cb4f81.jpg" width="500" height="329" alt="PRBurgMist" /></a>

 

<a href=" title="Purpleshowdown by Dizzypen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4351990176_623d3a8402.jpg" width="383" height="500" alt="Purpleshowdown" /></a>

 

 

Wow!! I love purples and use Damson and Amaranth a lot. Those colours you posted have set me in mind of a little ink buying, especially as I am about to order my first ever 90gdsm Webnotebook which have finally come to the UK!!

[lovemy51]

  On 6/3/2010 at 7:32 AM, TangleCrafts said:

Will be bookmarking this thread for reference!  Thanks for the samples dizzypen & lovemy51 .  The Burgundy Mist has nudged up my to-try list, and Purple Wampum is looking good - but would you say that it has a dusky, or a deep finish?  The Tanzanite in the sample looks gorgeous, but I know I won't like it in real life if the blue notes are the more dominant.  But I should probably try it, just to see.

 

readymade - I have Imperial Purple; I posted about it in the ink comparisons thread.  It's weird - sometimes it's a vivid bright purple, in some pens it has a dusty finish, and in one pen, my Parker frontier, it is exactly the deep rich colour I'm looking for.  Unfortunately, my search can't end there because the Frontier is not my favourite pen to write with, and the Imperial Purple is so inconsistent, depending on too many variables to get the right shade.  I don't trust Imp. Purple as far as I can throw it!    (although of course, it's quite light, so I can actually throw it relatively far.  Bad choice of phrasing...)  

no, i wouldn't think you wanna get the PR Tanzanite. the PR Burgundy Mist, i would say is dusky, if i understand what you want correctly.

see for yourself. here's a pic of it:

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n419/peterpaul_rguez/scan0001-6.jpg

[Brassai]

Ah... a topic near and dear to my heart.... I like purple ink as well. Luckily I came upon PR Tanzanite early on and it was perfect for me. The comment on PR's website that it was purple enough to have pizzaz while being dark enough to stand up to a professional image.

 

I wish that Dizzypen had a sample of PR Tanzanite on his sample card with the MB Violet, PR Ebony Purple etc... would have been interesting to see.

 

 

I found the sample from Noble Savage to be.... interesting. PR Tanzanite has become my ink of choice over the past several years, and 99% of the time that's the ink I use (although I'm finding myself using PR Sherwood Green in my pens from time to time over the past 6 months or so. Started because I was out of ink on a business trip, and so was the pen store in Chicago... the Sherwood looked the most interesting at that moment, and I didn't have time for mail-order).

 

In any case, I saw the sample from Noble Savage, and the first thing that went through my mind is "That's not Tanzanite." Maybe Noble didn't clean the pen between the previous ink and the Tanzanite, or got the bottles or cartridges mixed up, or whatever... but with all of the bottles of Tanzanite I've gone through in the past years, NONE of them looked anything like Noble's sample.

 

Lovemy51's sample is dead on. I just pulled out my (currently inked) 3 pens and it looked just like the sample lovemy51 wrote.

 

Yes, it's really black, and to see the color well you need a medium or wider nib for it to be more obvious... but I'm a "small writer" and also use EF or even EEF nibs as a rule.it comes up almost black much of the time but then people see the shade of purple coming through, and usually comment on it and their appreciation of it's subtlety.

 

Put the Tanzanite on your short list for testing. Heck if PR don't send you a cartridge for you to evaluate, send me a PM with your address and I'll pop one in the mail for you!

 

D.

[TangleCrafts]

I have a pen in mind for the Burgundy Mist, already, even though it is not exactly what I had in mind for an aubergine colour. It looks like a richer version of Poussiere de Lune. However, I have just looked up the reviews of MB Violet and I am completely sold! Is Lavender Purple definitely the same colour? I will see if I can locate the older stock, if not...

 

I also looked up the reviews of Purple Wampum & Purple Martin - I like them both, but suspect they might still be on the dusky-rather-than-rich side of the spectrum. Trying to avoid shades that are too similar to the ones I already have!

 

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone - keep 'em coming!

 

 

 

ETA: Brassai - really? Would you be willing to send me a Tanzanite cartridge? I would love to try it! I will PM you - perhaps I have something I can send to you, in trade

 

 

Edited June 3, 2010 by TangleCrafts

[lapis]

Tanzanite in any case but how about De Atramentis' Aubergine?

 

Jean

[drmom777]

I am on a similar quest and am looking at purple martin and purple wampum. I think I would really like kung te-cheng, but am concerned about the warnings. I am also considering mixing black into a rich but overbright violet.

[Felix1]

I think you want Caran d' Ache "Storm."

 

Writing samples here.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/Felix01/Storm.jpg

[tonybelding]

A favorite of mine. . .

 

http://zobeid.zapto.org/image/pens/iraqi_indigo.jpg

 

It can be toned darker by adding a bit of Noodler's Black, without losing the "bulletproof" properties.

[Pentangeli]

A Dark, Rich Purple would be ............Private Reserve PLUM.

I just love its dark, rich purple color and smooth flow. I use mainly cursive italic nibs.