Black Swan In North African Violets

[crunchmaster]

I mixed Noodler's North African Violet with Noodler's Heart of Darkness and came up with this nice mix I call Black Swan in North African Violets. I was going to call it Purple Heart of Darkness, but I think I will save that for a darker mix, one with more HoD, that is an off-black, sort of like Zhivago.

 

The formula I came up with is:

 

3 ml North African Violet

8 drops Heart of Darkness

 

Sorry that it's not all in ml or in a ratio, but this works for me.

 

Here are some photos written on a Staples bagasse composition book. Please excuse the poor quality--my scanner is junk and my digicam's battery is toast, so my phone's camera will have to do.

 

Next up: mixing HoD with Midway Blue, and with Lierre Sauvage, and perhaps with Widowmaker.

[MCWB]

That looks great, well done!

[Uncle Red]

That's really neat. I like the name "Purple Heart of Darkness" too

[geoduc]

I like that one. Beautiful color plus great shading =

[fotographik]

I like that one. Beautiful color plus great shading =

 

 

+1 I love that shading!

[RoriRants]

That is really pretty! I never really thought of mixing them like that...give me hope that I can redeem my Midway Blue.

Thanks for the formula also! :clap1:

[WOBentley]

Nice color and nice handwriting...I might have called it "Heart of Africa"... :embarrassed_smile:

[ChuckClark]

I have wanted a great violet...thanks for sharing your creativity.

[FLJeepGuy]

That is really gorgeous! Someone should get this to Nathan. It would make a nice addition to the Black Swan set as they don't have a blue toned ink in the series yet. I really love the color!

[crunchmaster]

Thanks for all your kind words--this is such a great community to be a part of. When I try some of those other mix ideas, I'll be sure to share any that work out well.

[Silent Speaker]

It would make a nice addition to the Black Swan set as they don't have a blue toned ink in the series yet.

And lo!

 

Behold in the corner, a crying bear with a blue nose!

 

-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Very nice crunchmaster! That combination looks great, and purple is, after all, the "new black"!

 

One thing though, concerning your next experiment I would be cautious about mixing Herbin and Noodler's - who knows what the result could be?

Edited November 26, 2011 by Silent Speaker

[crunchmaster]

Aww, poor bear.

 

Well, I guess we'll find out when I try it, but I once mixed Lierre Sauvage with Noodler's Blue, and it became a nice teal that wrote very well and presented no problems in a Plumix. Now Lierre Sauvage and Baystate Blue--there's one I'll pass on.

[FLJeepGuy]

It would make a nice addition to the Black Swan set as they don't have a blue toned ink in the series yet.

And lo!

 

Behold in the corner, a crying bear with a blue nose!

Hmmm. From what I've seen of the Black Swan inks (and this one here), the blue nose ink isn't even close. The ink in this thread looks and seems to perform like the black swans in saturation, the way it shades, etc. The blue nose ink does shade a bit but lacks the true black tones. It almost seens an odd grayish teal color that changes in saturation rather than shade. I'll admit I haven't seen it in person, so I'm only going off the online photos and reviews, which could lead to me being way off base here though.

 

The ink here looks like the Autrailian Roses ink with the roses removed and violets added. Very cool, and one that I might have to try mixing up here at home.

[Silent Speaker]

It would make a nice addition to the Black Swan set as they don't have a blue toned ink in the series yet.

And lo!

 

Behold in the corner, a crying bear with a blue nose!

Hmmm. From what I've seen of the Black Swan inks (and this one here), the blue nose ink isn't even close. The ink in this thread looks and seems to perform like the black swans in saturation, the way it shades, etc. The blue nose ink does shade a bit but lacks the true black tones. It almost seens an odd grayish teal color that changes in saturation rather than shade. I'll admit I haven't seen it in person, so I'm only going off the online photos and reviews, which could lead to me being way off base here though.

 

The ink here looks like the Autrailian Roses ink with the roses removed and violets added. Very cool, and one that I might have to try mixing up here at home.

Oh, I'm not disagreeing with you; I just think that it's sad that what was no doubt supposed to be the 'blue swan' hasn't been as well received as it's creator perhaps might have liked - or so the few reviews and impressions that have cropped up here and there have lead me to believe (it is on my next ink airmail order though).

[ExcaliburZ]

That is a great color.

[crunchmaster]

If anyone could try this and post photos, I'd be really glad to see how it works in other pens. I'd also be very interested to see how it works with other purple inks and other black inks. I wonder if Bulletproof Black would have the same effect.

[WOBentley]

I had one other question as I thought about this...what size drop? Did you use a standard "medicine" eyedropper or one of those plastic pipettes or something different. I love the results and want to get this right!

[crunchmaster]

That is a good question. I have a 4.5 oz bottle of HoD, so I used the eyedropper that came with the bottle. I don't know enough about the physics to know if the drops would vary by the eyedropper or by viscosity of the liquid, etc. (Anyone? ) I'm not sure how to describe the size of the drops. I'm guessing they were 2-3 mm in diameter. I added two drops at a time and tested with a dip pen until I arrived at 8 and decided it looked good.

 

I confirmed last night, though, that dip pens are only a rough approximation of how it will look in a fountain pen. I tried with Lierre Sauvage and HoD, and when I loaded the mix into a Varsity, it was much lighter than in the dip pen. I think the Noodler's flex pens have flow that's closer to a dip pen. Depending on what pen you want to use, you might have to add more HoD to get the same dark shading. I haven't tried the BSiNAV mix in another pen yet.

 

Good luck! Can't wait to see your results!

[jsph]

this is absolutely beautiful. and what a brilliant idea.

 

i have a follow-up question:

 

do you have any sense about (or experience with) mixing north african violet with -- not heart of darkness but -- noodler's plain bulletproof black?

 

i ask because:

 

- i've read north african violet sometimes doesn't mix well with some inks

 

- i have bulletproof black, i don't have heart of darkness, and your post has made me want to get north african violet (to try this mix)... but i hope i can make it work just with bulletproof black and not have to also buy heart of darkness just yet.

 

so... if you have any plain bulletproof black and are willing to try a small quick mix with north african violet, i'd love to hear/see the results.

 

wonderful stuff. thanks again.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

That is a good question. I have a 4.5 oz bottle of HoD, so I used the eyedropper that came with the bottle. I don't know enough about the physics to know if the drops would vary by the eyedropper or by viscosity of the liquid, etc. (Anyone? )

Both.

 

this is absolutely beautiful. and what a brilliant idea.

 

i have a follow-up question:

 

do you have any sense about (or experience with) mixing north african violet with -- not heart of darkness but -- noodler's plain bulletproof black?

I suspect that the difference between using Noodler's Black and HoD would be less than the differences in using the mixture in one fountain pen or another. Noodler's Black is very black and you're putting a pretty small amount of black in this mixture. Experimentation is encouraged.