December 2012 Maryland Fade Test

[mrcharlie]

On December 17, 2012 I put a page up in the window which gets some direct sun (on days with sun) in Maryland, US. The inks tested on this page are:

 

• Vintage Sheaffer's Skrip Washable Purple
  
• Platinum Green
  
• Noodler's Tiananmen
  
• P.W. Akkerman #23 Bekakt Haags
  
• Sheaffer Skrip Brown
  
• Stipula Calamo Deep Blue
  
• Noodler's Tanned Armadillo
  
• Noodler's Rome Burning
  
• De Atramentis Oriental Red
  
• Diamine Matador
  

 

Here is the initial scan. Click on the image to get the full 600 dpi scan, if desired.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img339/2536/20121217initialscan600x.jpg

[mrcharlie]

After 7 weeks in the window during the shortest days of the year, here is the first result scan. Click on the link for the full 600 dpi scan, if desired.

 

The vintage Skrip Purple is toast. I didn't look at it earlier, so I don't know if it went as fast as Pelikan Royal Blue and Akkerman Binnenhof Blues, but it is comparable in terms of how completely gone it is after this amount of time.

 

Platinum Green and Calamo Deep Blue are fading, but still readable at this point.

 

All the rest have not yet faded noticeably.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img14/848/20121217to20130205600x7.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Wow, these are dong better as a whole than other inks.

[mrcharlie]

One month further on, scanned on 2013-03-13.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img401/2882/20121217to20130313600w.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Still impressed.

[mrcharlie]

Still impressed.

 

Well, get ready to cry then, because here are scans from April 21, 2013 and June 15, 2013, and a lot of the inks that were holding up to the amount of sun we had in the Winter didn't cope well with the Spring sun.

 

The scan images are links to 600 dpi full size scans.

 

First the April scan, where most of the inks that lasted through March are starting to turn:

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img843/8839/a4al.jpg

 

And then the June scan which shows Tiananmen, Bekakt Haags, Skrip Brown, Rome Burning, Oriental Red, and Matador are all various levels of toast. The only ink on this page really holding it together is the Tanned Armadillo:

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/1601/6tth.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Interesting.

[mrcharlie]

Yeah; where did you get that Tanned Armadillo? Was that one of the Dromgoole's colors; <google google google> yes it is. I really liked that color for the short time I was using it; it is a much different color than other brown inks I have or have sampled. And it seems like a great choice for the UV paranoids among us. But they don't have it on their site anymore.

Edited June 16, 2013 by mrcharlie

[amberleadavis]

Yes, TA is one of the Dromgoole's Exclusives and I really like it. Even if they don't have it on their site, call. They have great customer service and they may have it tucked away.

[RobertS]

This is fascinating. I take it that you plan to do scans about every 7 or 8 weeks? I await the next installment.

[amberleadavis]

Hey, wait ... Charles, I'm not paranoid, inks fade.

[mrcharlie]

I intend to do them about once every three or four weeks, but sometimes I forget, especially if I haven't inked enough new samples to fill a new sheet in a while.

[mrcharlie]

I scanned this one again on July 23, 2013. Click for full size 600 dpi scan.

 

At this point almost all of these are totally faded; the exceptions are Tanned Armadillo and one of the two color components of Rome Burning. At this point the only reason to keep it in the window is I don't need the space for anything else yet, and I'm curious to see if Tanned Armadillo will ever start fading.

 

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img27/6160/t1ie.jpg

[amberleadavis]

I think it's interesting that Rome usually only gets purple when exposed to water, but it appears that light had the same effect. Interesting.

[mrcharlie]

Scanned again after sundown, August 31, 2013. Everything that was fading that wasn't already obliterated is a little lighter. Rome Burning is still purple, Tanned Armadillo is still good.

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/4614/q2uh.jpg

[amberleadavis]

I still get a kick out of RB becoming a nice lilac when exposed to UV (just like it does with water exposure).

 

Armadillo looks great. As for the rest ... sad isn't it?

[WirsPlm]

Tanned Armadillo does look awesome. But apparently it's not available anywhere anymore?

 

That is why I despise exclusive colors.

[amberleadavis]

Did you call Dromgoole's? It was a limited run and a wonderful ink.