Inky T O D - What Ink Is True Blue? Or Do You Prefer, Purplish Blues Or Green Blues?

[tarheel1]

I like most shades of blue. I do get bored with just plain blue at times and need to venture at other shades.

[tmenyc]

Speaking of blues and purples, I just filled my Pilot metro with my mix of BSB and BS Grape...now that's a purply blue...

 

Tim

[TSherbs]

.....Noodler's Blue is just about my idea of a perfect, pure, straight-down-the middle blue. And yet, some people insist that they see some sort of turquoise in there? Not sure where they get that from.

+1

 

But I have never had my eyes tested.

[mhosea]

I enjoy and use most "blues". I regularly use over 15 different blues, covering a large percentage of what could reasonably be thought of as "blue". I do not have an a priori or consistent preference, though after awhile of using purple-leaning blues, I find it refreshing to switch for awhile to those with some green in them, and vice versa.

Edited July 15, 2014 by mhosea

[recluse]

+1

 

But I have never had my eyes tested.

 

If you look at tables showing colors in terms of hue, value and saturation (chroma) you will see that in terms of hue blues sit between turquoise and purple. While comparing two inks, unless their hues are identical, one of them with necessity will be shifted more towards turquoise and another will be more purplish.

 

With Noodler's Blue, Namiki Blue and Lamy Blue one can make this little experiment. Compare first swabs of Lamy Blue and Namiki Blue. Namiki Blue will show some turquoise. Then let your eyes rest for a minute, make on a separate sheet of paper a swab of Namiki Blue and then Noodler's Blue. Noodler's Blue will be shifted noticeably more towards turquoise. And polish this off with comparison of Noodler's Blue and Lamy Blue.

 

Of course, there's the question, which blue ink sits precisely at the middle (in terms of hue). That I don't know.

Edited July 15, 2014 by recluse

[mhosea]

The spectrum is reality. "Blue" is an abstraction. Differentiation of hues makes sense, but this doesn't help us decide on "true blue" since to find the "middle" we first have to decide where the edges are, and it becomes circular. It leaves the concept if true blue as ill-defined and ultimately as subjective as before. It is better that we should be content with differentiating hues and maintain whatever personal notion of "pure blue" suits our fancy. It would be enlightened, IMHO, to realize that in this matter for us to be right does not mean that people who disagree with us are wrong. For some, Noodler's Blue is in the middle, and for others perhaps Waterman seems more neutral. Given the variability in yellowing of the crystalline lens as we age, it would be miraculous if we agreed on any "pure" colors save, perhaps....yellow.

Edited July 15, 2014 by mhosea

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The blues I use really depend on my mood. I do use a lot of blues with purplish undertones, but then I also like turquoise and blues with more teal undertones. Some days though, I like an intense blue like Pelikan Royal Blue or a blue like Platinum Blue Black.

 

Dillon

[MCN]

The French artist Yves Klein was quite obsessed by blue. He has been searching for the bluest blue one can get. And painted a lot of 'monochromes': paintings of only blue. Just google him and be impressed. The MoMa in NY for example has a nice monochrome by Klein: http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=80103

 

If you ever have the chance to see one in real life... for me it was an experience I'll never forget: the shock of seeing a blue that is so extremely blue...

 

And my question for you all: what ink would come closest to this Klein's blue?

A while ago a few of us obsessed about this with some degree of craziness:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/229624-international-klein-blue-the-most-perfect-expression-of-blue/?p=2459010

 

My conclusion: the long discontinued Kobe limited edition Vermeer blue, but others had different opinions (surprise, surprise!)

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for these great additions.

[amberleadavis]

 

 

You may be running into the converter called the brain.

The brain adjusts the vision so colors generally look OK.

You can see this when you take a photo indoors with your digital camera set to DAYLIGHT white setting. Under incandecent light, your photo will look orange and under a flourescent light the photo will look green (depending on which flourescent tube is used). But under both incandescent and flourescent lights, most colors look OK to your eye. The brain is doing the "auto white balance" that your digital camera can do. This is why side-by-side color testing is better, than looking at individual colors. The brain has to make one adjustment and your eye can then see the difference between the 2. With individual color, the brain can make different adjustments for each color, and you won't notice it.

 

We are having that "brain" issue right now when comparing different blues to a single sample - PPS.

[Sholom]

Let me add at least one more complication. Take any three blue inks that you think you can order from tealish or cyan to blue-violet, arrange them in order, and then take them into some radically different lighting, e.g. from CFLs or incandescent to LEDs or daylight. See if you think the ordering is the same, and if it is, decide whether the spacing between the "blues" has changed. I bet that in at least 2 out of 3 triads of blue ink, there will be a significant change in how green or how violet the outside members of the triad are, and not infrequently the ordering might change. Similar experiments are to compare scanned versus photographed samples, or sample photographed in sun and shade. The effects can be even more dramatic if you use good old slide film rather than a digital camera.

 

Personally, I don't like blues that show the slightest hint of violet, so true blue for me is DCSS (or BBK albeit somewhat grayed) and my all-time favorite blue is Ottoman Azure, followed by a tie between DCSS and Eel Blue. Inks like Visconti Blue, Aurora Blue, the Florida Blues and Royal Blues just scream violet at me....

[Portamenti]

I lean towards green. I like Diamine's sheen, but Noodler's Turquise reigns supreme.

[tmenyc]

I was going to put this into a separate topic, but since this is TOD it really belongs here.

 

While in the Netherlands recently I visited Akkerman and came away with a bottle of Royal Akkermanblauw. Am now using it for the first time, in my Delta Fusion, and am very impressed. It's a beautiful royal blue, with perhaps a little less pop than Waterman Florida Blue but not as dark as Aurora blue. Tonight if I can I'll compare with a couple of the Diamine samples I have. It feels very smooth and flows very easily.

The photo, to me, is not quite right -- from my phone camera through Flickr to my monitor, the ink appears a bit darker than on the card in front of me.

 

Tim

[eloquentogre]

My truest blue is Visconti Blue. I love its true blue hue.