Inky Gradient: Susemai Red Cashmere 16% To Distilled Water

September 20, 2014

Depicted in order:


Line	Ratio	Concentration
1	10:0	16.00%
2	10:1	14.55%
3	10:2	13.33%
4	10:3	12.31%
5	10:4	11.43%
6	10:5	10.67%
7	10:6	10.00%
8	10:7	9.41%
9	10:8	8.89%
10	10:9	8.42%
11	10:10	8.00%
12	10:10	8.00%
13	10:10	8.00%
14	9:10	7.58%
15	8:10	7.11%
16	7:10	6.59%
17	6:10	6.00%
18	5:10	5.33%
19	4:10	4.57%
20	3:10	3.69%
21	2:10	2.67%
22	1:10	1.45%

Strathmore Writing (25% cotton, natural white, wove, 24lb):

Georgia Pacific Multipurpose Paper (20 lb, bright white, Walmart):

Southworth Diamond White (25% cotton, white, 20lb):

Why I did it:

Because I thought it would be valuable as part of the Susemai Ink Testing https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/268798-do-you-want-to-be-an-ink-tester/. Susemai instructs dilution to a 2% to 8% concentration, this lets you see the implications of the percentage you choose.

Why you might recreate any of these mixes:

This ink became available for sale and you are mixing it up.

Remarks:

This ink provides a nice range of options but is good at staying red. It goes from a dark red that on the natural white paper looks almost brown to red-pink.
Probably not bright enough to be a desired correcting ink, but I think in the range of the two lowest concentrations shown it could be done. (Note: I am not a teacher and have relatively little knowledge on the subject).
These papers are not particularly prone to sheen, but this ink does show sheen in the "swatch" part on the Southworth paper. It is inconsistent most heavily on how much ink I actually put down, but I see it as far down as the 6.6%. I would not say the sheen has a particular color of its own and rather just reflects light. To me the seen does not seem especially attractive, but that might change with someone who knows how to use it.

I am waiving my general disclaimer about mixing with water, because this ink is intended to be mixed up with water for most of the posted dilution range.