Inky T O D - Color Swatches - Blue - Please Post Your Pictures And Tell Us Your Thoughts

[HalloweenHJB]

I'm back.

[ErrantSmudge]

Diamine China Blue. I got this one as a PIF.

 

I never met a blue I didn't like, but there are definitely some better than others. China blue goes down somewhat vivid, then lightens up a great deal after it dries.

 

It's not a very saturated ink, but sometimes subtle is good. I'm just not sure what to think of this one.

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[HalloweenHJB]

I see what you mean. It does actually look like the Delft-blue or Wedgewood-blue of European china, but the dry-down leaves it looking so dull. As you say, some blues are better than others...

[jmccarty3]

I had a sample of China Blue a few years ago. I liked it, but was into darker or brighter blues at the time, so never bought a bottle. It does look like the blue one sees on fine Chinese pottery.

[amberleadavis]

Halloween, please meet Errant. Errant, Halloween was the PIFfer of the two bottles of ink that you currently possess.

[ErrantSmudge]

Halloween, please meet Errant. Errant, Halloween was the PIFfer of the two bottles of ink that you currently possess.

 

 

Ha!!! That's great to hear. Maybe we can just PIF these bottles of ink one-by-one to everyone on FPN!

[amberleadavis]

LOL.

 

After this we should do samples. I would have done samples for these but I ran out of time.

[HalloweenHJB]

Halloween, please meet Errant. Errant, Halloween was the PIFfer of the two bottles of ink that you currently possess.

 

 

I kinda guessed as much! Howdy!

[ErrantSmudge]

 

 

I kinda guessed as much! Howdy!

 

Howdy! Glad to be the twice-removed recipient of your PIF. I have a more extended review of the Canyon Rust in the works, given my initial experience with it. The jury is still out for me on this China Blue ink.

[HalloweenHJB]

 

I have a more extended review of the Canyon Rust in the works, given my initial experience with it.

 

 

Looking forward to it.

[ErrantSmudge]

Monteverde Capri Blue. I'm currently evaluating a whole bunch of Monteverde blue inks, along with Canyon Rust. The test is starting to tax my pen collection.

 

Capri Blue does shade nicely on Clairefontaine paper, with this broad stub nib.

 

 

 

Capri Blue, Lamy Safari, Clairefontaine paper.

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[ErrantSmudge]

Monteverde Malibu Blue. This is a "washable" blue ink. Monteverde sells an ink eradicator that supposedly can "erase" this ink.

 

What I can say is that this ink goes down deep and dark, and lightens considerably as it dries. The scan here is the dried writing. Clairefontaine paper.

 

 

This sample on 20 lb. copy paper is lighter, likely due to the greater absorbency of the copy paper.

 

 

Malibu Blue on an inexpensive office pad (Tops Docket) shows some noticeable but not terrible feathering.

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[ErrantSmudge]

Monteverde Sapphire Blue.

 

This one is my hands-down favorite of the Monteverde inks I have tested so far (I haven't tried Horizon Blue yet, but a bottle is on its way).

 

Sapphire Blue is a rich, dark blue and the ink flows nicely in my pens. Dry time is fairly short on Clairefontaine. It reminds me of Levenger Cobalt Blue but without Cobalt's issues (very long dry time, smearing even after dry).

I should give this ink a try for note-taking.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[ErrantSmudge]

Another writing sample of the Diamine China Blue that I was PIFed by Amberlea/HalloweenHJB.

 

This writing comes from a vintage Wahl-Eversharp Skyline with a flex nib that I purchased from Greg Minuskin at the LA Pen Show. Only the ribbons and vertical tics really show off the flex, I'm inexperienced with flex and don't wish to damage this vintage Eversharp nib. What's neat is that my everyday writing does show some subtle line variation from the flex nib.

 

The flex nib is very wet and puts down a great deal of ink, which helps account for the very long dry time.

 

 

China blue on the TOPS docket office pad shows a significant amount of feathering. Keep in mind this is from the wet Skyline nib.

 

Edited March 7, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[HalloweenHJB]

Another writing sample of the Diamine China Blue that I was PIFed by Amberlea/HalloweenHJB.

 

This writing comes from a vintage Wahl-Eversharp Skyline with a flex nib that I purchased from Greg Minuskin at the LA Pen Show. Only the ribbons and vertical tics really show off the flex, I'm inexperienced with flex and don't wish to damage this vintage Eversharp nib. What's neat is that my everyday writing does show some subtle line variation from the flex nib.

 

The flex nib is very wet and puts down a great deal of ink, which helps account for the very long dry time.

 

 

China blue on the TOPS docket office pad shows a significant amount of feathering. Keep in mind this is from the wet Skyline nib.

 

 

 

YIKES! That feathering is a tragedy! Is this inexpensive notebook paper or better quality paper?

[HalloweenHJB]

Monteverde Sapphire Blue.

 

This one is my hands-down favorite of the Monteverde inks I have tested so far (I haven't tried Horizon Blue yet, but a bottle is on its way).

 

Sapphire Blue is a rich, dark blue and the ink flows nicely in my pens. Dry time is fairly short on Clairefontaine. It reminds me of Levenger Cobalt Blue but without Cobalt's issues (very long dry time, smearing even after dry).

 

I should give this ink a try for note-taking.

 

 

 

Very nice "blurple"! You'll have to try J. Herbin Éclat de Saphir and some of the other sapphire colors for comparison to find your bliss color...

[ErrantSmudge]

 

 

YIKES! That feathering is a tragedy! Is this inexpensive notebook paper or better quality paper?

 

I'm using an inexpensive office pad for that particular test. It's pretty cheap paper. And the Skyline flex nib does put down a wet line.

 

 

 

Very nice "blurple"! You'll have to try J. Herbin Éclat de Saphir and some of the other sapphire colors for comparison to find your bliss color...

I have an ink sample of Eclat de Saphir I purchased from Amberlea at the LA Pen Show. It's time for a bakeoff.

I compared my writing sample of Monteverde Sapphire to Levenger Cobalt, and they're very close. Cobalt has a touch more purple. Otherwise they're dead ringers in terms of vibrancy and saturation.

Edited March 7, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[lgsoltek]

Very gorgeous blues from Monteverde! I look forward to your Horizon Blue. That's the one I have been eyeing. How's the flow of these new Monteverde inks?

[ErrantSmudge]

Monteverde Horizon Blue.

 

This is Monteverde's Parker Penman Sapphire workalike. It is similar to Diamine Blue Velvet and Visconti Blue. I recently purchased a full bottle of Blue Velvet, so I may have to do a faceoff between the two.

 

The Sheaffer Prelude used in this sample has a wet nib.

 

Edited March 7, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[ErrantSmudge]

Very gorgeous blues from Monteverde! I look forward to your Horizon Blue. That's the one I have been eyeing. How's the flow of these new Monteverde inks?

 

I've been purposefully filling all my pens with Monteverde inks so I can get a feel for how the brand behaves. I'm working up the fortitude to write a mega-comparison over in the Ink Comparisons forum.

 

Out of the inks I've tried, I'd rank them from wettest to driest:

 

Sapphire Blue - This flows beautifully from both my Pilot 78G BB Italic, and from the Lamy Safari.

 

Horizon Blue - In my Sheaffer Prelude with M nib (a gusher pen), it comes out wet but not too wet.

 

Malibu Blue - Loaded in my Cross ATX, again wtih a super-wet, medium nib, it puts down a slightly wet line.

 

Canyon Rust/Capri Blue (tie) - these two write dry in my Pilot 78G BB Italic pens. Canyon Rust in my Aurora Talentum runs to the dry side in that pen, but otherwise there are no issues. My Lamy Safari has medium flow with Capri Blue.

 

With my Pilot 78G BB Italic pens, both Canyon Rust and Capri Blue left the pen dry immediately after filling from the bottle! The pen wouldn't start, and even after priming the nib they both wrote dry for an entire page. But, the 78G pens were brand new when I filled them, and this problem has not repeated itself since.

Edited March 7, 2017 by ErrantSmudge