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

[Parc Monceau]

J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe.

 

The ink is very well- behaved, both in use and in color. With respect to the latter, I would say it is modest to a fault. The color of the drink for which it is named is far more vivid and striking. The ink color is more angelo than diabolo.

 

The color stands out more on cream, buff, or pink paper than on pure white. I don't think it's perfectly suited for either correspondence or note taking. It might serve well on place cards for a spring or summer party.

[bob_hayden]

Jinhao Bamboo Green and Hao You Liang green

 

 

Cheap inks from China

 

Jinhao Bamboo Green

 

The Jinhao cartridges came in a plastic tube holding 50 cartridges for $10. Jinhao Blue cartridges have been familiar for a long time, black can sometimes be found, and only recently I have seen blue-black as well, but recently a much wider array of colors has appeared. Bamboo Green is a light shade that i ordered because I like yellow-greens like Levenger Always Greener but most inks near that color bleed and feather badly. Hence I am always on the lookout for a tamer ink of similar color. Bamboo Green is a similarly light green but without the yellow in Always Greener. I do not like the color of Bamboo Green as well, but bleed through and feathering were not an issue in my brief test. These were on a sheet of paper containing other unrelated projects but you can see some basis for comparison. I was surprised to see that Waterman Black had the biggest problem with bleed-through. In combination with that pen it was a very wet writer.

 

Bamboo Green looks pretty to me but is a bit light for long documents. As with other Jinhao cartridges, these are compatible with standard international cartridges on the end that gets shoved into the section, but have a different shape overall which may result in their not fitting into some pens designed for standard internationals. Check before puncturing the cartridge or screwing in the section. For me the more serious problem is that the plastic in the cartridges is very stiff and I cannot squeeze it to get ink flowing again should it stop. To me the major pluses are that it is an unusual color and very cheap -- about 20 cents US per cartridge of $1 for five -- way below famous brands.

 

Hao You Liang green

 

I have never seen this brand until recently and did not even know the brand name until the ink arrived. It's bottled ink in 16 colors. The bottle is glass and has a distinctive shape and cojes in a box so presentation is classy. The bottle says "30 cc" but I am guessing that is the maximum bottle capacity. But the bottle is not filled to the brim like Noodlers'. I estimate there was 22-23 cc of ink inside. Even so, at about $6 US postpaid it is reasonable priced. Diamine 30 cc bottles are plastic and run $11-15. The color is a fairly dark green with touches of blue and grey in it though the blue does not annoy me as much as it does in many European "green" inks. I found it a bit dry in the pen I used but flow was fine. So like the Jinhao ink this offers a distinctive color at a bargain price.

 

http://statland.org/PenPix/2greens1.png

http://statland.org/PenPix/2greens2.png

 

[amberleadavis]

Thank you!

[ScarletWoodland]

Found myself with three olive greens inked at once today (which may never happen again) so it'd be rude not to share my scruffy comarison.

 

 

BTW - Safari will be a little condensed in that desk pen so this is more the colour you could expect from a wet, western fine than a Japanese extra fine.

[pgcauk]

Yay - Olive party!
I was recently tempted to "sample" some Graf von Faber-Castell and Kaweco inks via cartridges. The GvonFC Olive is really quite lovely - somehow has an antique look? But I already have my Olive, don't I?

Kobe #49 isn't what I would call Olive, and a wash brings out a blue side, which is more Pine to me, but by golly, I think it might be my favorite ink!

[pgcauk]

[pgcauk]

Adding Diamine Classic Green "for school" - thought it might be equivalent to GvonFC Olive, but it's a good deal more saturated, without the blue-green qualities that many green inks (Kobe #49, Tokiwa Matsu) have in the wash. Interesting?

[pgcauk]

Prettiest Green-gold I ever had was Organics Studio Willow Green. Such a lovely (or is that rotten?) color, but unfortunately my bottle was a bit too 'organic' for safe FP use. Filtered and dilute with Smirnoff, it's now reserved for dip-pen only.

Ooh, it's only one day in but, especially in a broad wet nib, Diamine Classic Green is giving me the same vibe that snagged me with Walt Whitman: ambiguous, not noticeably any color at all but not black or blue and with something opalescent and gentle about it! OK, so it's day one of a new affair, but for me this one tops:

Tokiwa Matsu - too fussy (red sheen and blue in the wash is not what I expect from an "olive"!)

Monteverde Olivine - Great but so dark!

Robert Oster Moss - great in itself but too Blue!

Diamine Safari - not enough mystery,

Emerald - lovely but . . . well . . . green!

Salamander - too blue and brown and . . . mutable!

Kobe #49 has not given up its throne just yet, for now we're sharing (and I have a second box of Graf von Faber-Castell Olive cartridges on order) - The Kobe is 'drab', darker and more definite, but blue in a wash.

[pgcauk]

So here's my current "top three", discussed above, all in regular fountain pens (not dip-pens):

[pgcauk]

Not that similar in appearance, but similar in mood? Walt Whit above, Classic Green below. The writing is Classic Green with a Lamy Broad Gold nib, which gives a pretty good impression I think?

[amberleadavis]

@PG - WOW WOW WOW

[pgcauk]

Quick comparison of a new one I couldn't resist, Sailor Manyo Shirakashi.

I have had Rikyu Cha for a while, but after the initial oohing and aahing have never really used it - just too much going on for me, green turning brown with red sheen and a blue undertone! First impressions of Shirakashi are basically the same thing but gentler, which, hypocrite that I am, I am finding very appealing - a soft ambiguity between grey and brown, green and blue.

 

[pgcauk]

So I find I have two sets of pens on the go, "greens" and "the rest", in probably similar quantities. Just comparing the subtle differences can be a real pleasure. Here's what's enpenned today:

 

[amberleadavis]

 

Noodler's Audie Leon Murphy inked up for an FPN letter.

[Sailor Kenshin]

20 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

 

Noodler's Audie Leon Murphy inked up for an FPN letter.

 

Those Noodler's pens aren't all that flexible.  You have to really lean on them.

 

Pretty pen, though!  👍🏻

[amberleadavis]

1 minute ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

Those Noodler's pens aren't all that flexible.  You have to really lean on them.

 

Pretty pen, though!  👍🏻

 

That's what I was thinking.  My old Ahab is just awesome, but I took it home during the pandemic and now I can't find it.  

Any thoughts on how to soften it up?

[Sailor Kenshin]

1 minute ago, amberleadavis said:

 

That's what I was thinking.  My old Ahab is just awesome, but I took it home during the pandemic and now I can't find it.  

Any thoughts on how to soften it up?

 

Sorry.... I have my Ahab currently loaded with 'Blue Nose Navaho.'  I have to ignore the so-called flex.  As a medium stiff point, it's nice.  

[amberleadavis]

4 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

Sorry.... I have my Ahab currently loaded with 'Blue Nose Navaho.'  I have to ignore the so-called flex.  As a medium stiff point, it's nice.  

 

I'd love to see Blue Nose Navaho.

[Sailor Kenshin]

15 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

 

I'd love to see Blue Nose Navaho.

 

And my Ahab at work?  Still at the same address? 

[amberleadavis]

Just now, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

And my Ahab at work?  Still at the same address? 

Yep!