International - Cooperative - Unobtainable - (I C U) Ink Review - Black Amber

[Cyber6]

Really ???.. I am not finding this one very black. But then, I am not a black lover... (I meant ink people..)

 

I have it at 16%...

[amberleadavis]

I don't think this ink will be finalist.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Inked_Today/slides/20140713_001507.jpg

[Tas]

Ooo. It's arrived - shaken and thoroughly stirred though

 

The leaked contents sadly destroyed any labelling. It is however lovely and black so I'll take a guess at 16%.

 

http://www.taskyprianou.com/fpn_black_amber_rhodia.jpg

 

* Never noticed that Noodler's Black washes out with a teal tinge on Rhodia - surprising as it's neutral or slightly warm on almost everything else I've used it on.

 

 

My hunch was right and Black Amber looks a lot like Sailor's Jentle Black when washed over but swabbs out to a much darker black as I hope you can see below:

 

http://www.taskyprianou.com/fpn_black_amber_swatch.jpghttp://www.taskyprianou.com/fpn_sailor_jentle_black_swatch.jpghttp://www.taskyprianou.com/fpn_noodlers_black_swatch.jpg

 

The Black Amber does feather quite badly on the Mnenosyne cards as it does too on cheapo paper. I'll see if it behaves better on some watercolour paper later tonight.

 

So far I'm liking it's colour and darkness and it seems to keep together when washed over and doesn't split into blues or reds etc.

Wishing it were less wet, and you won't often hear me say that with an ink.

 

Thanks again Amber for the chance to play, especially with a black. I do love my blacks . . .

 

[Cyber6]

Wow...

 

 

I don't even like Blacks... Tas, you make Black look scrumptious..

Edited July 14, 2014 by Cyber6

[Tas]

Cyber6, thank you.
I love my blacks. So similar on the outside but often really complex on the inside.

Go on, give some a go . . .

[amberleadavis]

Wow, TAS, I love those cards.

[Tas]

Drew this view out of my cracked windscreen today with the same pen & ink combo but on Seawhite Watercolour paper.

I'll post it to your office along with the two reviews later on this week.

 

http://www.taskyprianou.com/fpn_black_amber_sketch.jpg

 

Whilst the ink is a dream to write with, sketching is a real pain.

I don't feel I have control over the lines. Laying down a thin line is nigh on impossible.

Perhaps looser sketching in a dryer pen would work but I'm now all out of Black Amber

Thanks again Amber.

[Cyber6]

You are such a "show off'" Tas....

 

 

 

 

 

 

.............. Please... keep on showing off....

[amberleadavis]

Wow Tas, just WOW. BTW, I usually send the reviews off to Susemai, but I'm keeping that one. It's wonderful.

[Tas]

Amber, I did promise you a sketch and it was drawn with your ink so perfect payback I'd say.

 

 

Cyber6, thanks .

[dcwaites]

I have found that it is a nice, intense black, at both 4% and 8%, but with the black being more so, if you know what I mean.

At 8%, it does spread more, and bleed a bit more than at 4%.

For drawing, I would probably try 2% and 4% in a very fine (XXF) FP nib or a fine dip nib.\

 

Formal review to come.

[napalm]

Sorry about the image quality, I'll send the full res to Amber (and mail her the sheet).

 

[napalm]

Mhhh there's something weird about this ink... Here's on Japanese paper (a very well behaved one). First four inks are all with Japanese F nib pens. Sailor Ultramarine is Pilot Parallel 1.5mm pen. Pilot Black, Asa Gao and Kobe Tamon are pretty much consistent in line width with the Uniball 0.5mm - which is the expected behavior. However, the SUSEMAI Black Amber runs way larger, nearly as large as the 1.5mm pen.... Something's wrong, I got the same behavior on several papers. Yet it does not look like feathering... it just spreads somehow in an uniform manner.

 

 

Detail - there IS some feathering but also something else:

 

Edited July 19, 2014 by napalm

[napalm]

I don't feel I have control over the lines. Laying down a thin line is nigh on impossible.

 

 

+1.

[napalm]

Being silly as usual I also tested on the thick green "hobby paper" stock that Amber used to pack the ink vial

 

[napalm]

Tomoe River.... with a correction: the first line should read "Pilot Black" not "Pilot Blue Black":

 

Edited July 19, 2014 by napalm

[napalm]

Staples 75g Multipurpose paper:

 

 

[white_lotus]

Yes, this ink does spread quite a bit. On better papers a bit less, on cheaper papers more, sometimes a lot more. And when it does that the color can be closer to gray. The ink dries very fast, but I think the spread problem needs to be fixed. I'll have to take and post pics tomorrow when the iPhone recharges.

 

The ink in some ways seems similar to OS Charles Darwin which is very dark and dries very fast, but the consensus from the reviewers is it needs a fine nib. I've used it in a medium, but you can't be as concerned with show through.

[amberleadavis]

Try it at the 8% solution too. The black according to Susemai is proving quite tricky.

[napalm]

No can do, it's all in the pen... I had this brilliant idea to cut the vial with scissors and refill directly from it. Of course, cucumber size pens with number 15 nibs were out of question (there's a thread somewhere with people that can't fit them in regular ink bottles...). So it had to be a Pilot Elite - that thing fits inside and can suck up to the last drop from any bottle - which is exactly what it did...