Noodler's Greens and Green-Mixes

[Melnicki]

I could comment on this scan in many different ways:

 

(1) Sequoia Grey brings out the green in Sequoia and makes it less back. Some people seem to have bottles of Sequoia that look more like my mix than like my straight-up Sequoia. I play around with the proportions a lot, it will work with 50/50, but going with a bit less Sequoia will bring out the green more.

 

(2) My "Homemade Green-Black" is currently my favorite mix -- I use Green Marine mixed with Walnut (not Black). If you use Black it won't shade as nicely. I've also tried this with Verdun (adding Walnut) and it also shades nicely, though I haven't shown it here (it tends to not be so dark). I usually go for something like 60:40 GM:W, though you can certainly go heavier on the GM side of things. Sorry for the lack of originality of this mix's name.

 

(3) Verdun (a swisher's exclusive); it looked like a kermit-the-frog color in every scan I've seen on here. Mine has a bluish component to it. Not bad, but I wasn't expecting this. It's a great ink, by the way, performs well in all the pens I've tested. Lakeshore Spruce (a Swishmix) contains Verdun as a base, as you should be able to notice.

 

(4) Verdun Grey was an attempt to match the color of my Lysium Rotring Core; fairly close!! It also appears much closer to the scans I'd seen previously. It is completely waterproof and I think I will use this mix more often. It was about 50/50, maybe a bit heavier on the Verdun side.

 

(5) Lexington Grey! wow, it feathers so much when wet! I don't always see this. Lakeshore Spruce (being a Swishmix) usually feathers on copy paper, but it didn't here; yet Lex.Grey did!!

 

(6) Golden Sequoia is Noodler's Golden Brown chasing a previous-penful of Sequoia. As Sonia_Simone will point out, Golden Brown is amazing for exploratory mixing, due to that yellow-component.

 

The paper has a watermark saying Strathmore Writing, 25% fiber, with lines that make it look like cigarette paper. It performs well with my FP's, but it's very different from some other papers I have that have the same information in the watermark. It's a cream-colored paper, and I didn't do any color-correction (sorry).

Edited May 7, 2007 by Melnicki

[lefty928]

Thanks for the samples -- the benchmark inks are very helpful. The layout is attractive, too -- has an Arts and Crafts Movement appeal -- I can see it in a Stickley-style frame.

[Melnicki]

here is a sliver of the above post, so you can see a really-zoomed-in version of the inks!!

[Viseguy]

Wow, I'm really surprised by the LexGray feathering! I've never seen it behave that way coming out of a FP nib -- at least, none of mine. Is it the dip pen, do you think, or does it feather in your FPs too?

[Melnicki]

This was the worst I've seen it -- flexing a dip pen (note the writing to the right, without flexing the nib, doesn't feather as horribly), but indeed I do note feathering on a parallel with the swishmixes even in FP's -- on some copy papers and on some nicer papers too (but definitely not all). Don't worry, it hasn't broken my heart yet.

[Inkanthropist]

Thanks for the wonderful scan and mixes, Melnicki. Using Walnut instead of Black in a Green-Black mix sounds like a great idea.

 

Neil

[Dave Johannsen]

here is a sliver of the above post, so you can see a really-zoomed-in version of the inks!!

 

Boy! A little feathering from the Lexington?

 

Dave

[bossy]

That Lexington Gray is pretty. Could be called Fractal Grey.

 

[Arkanabar]

Speedball resevoir dip pens often write EXTREMELY wet with fountain pen inks. I'm not surprised that the Lexington feathered; I'm suprised that the Sequoia did NOT.

[G-Man]

Melnicki:

 

I, too, enjoy Green-Black mixes, but I need a good Blue-Green recipe. Do you (or does anyone else) have some thoughts?

 

Thanks,

 

G-Man

[Melnicki]

I need a good Blue-Green recipe. Do you (or does anyone else) have some thoughts?

 

Start with mixing your blues + your greens 50/50!!

 

I only have a few blues, and have tried Glacier Blue + Lakeshore Spruce (didn't like it), and DC Supershow Blue (just a bit) tinting Verdun. Wow! I love the second mix, I call it "Sari Blue" because the mix was started as a mix for my brother's fiancee, whose name is Sari. It comes out as a sort of deep, greenish aquamarine. Blue-greens are difficult to describe. Hmm... I guess I'll have to get over to the scanner and scan it!!

[SallyLyn]

Blue Green mixing...

I found a website that listed a bunch of recipes. I grabbed them but lost the site. Many of the recipes were using Sheaffer or Waterman inks. Nice cuz they are quite safe. Also you can then take the recipe and try to match with the brands you have.

 

This is what I said in another thread....

found a recipe for what was called a dark teal. 50% Waterman Green and 50% Fla Blue. Just tried it. Don't know that I would call it dark, might need 1/2 drop black for that, but it is a nice green teal. May not have put in enough Fla Blue. While I don't call it dark, it is fully colored.

 

Another recipe called for Turquoise ... Waterman, Sheaffer or Pelikan and adding the same brand of Black. Said it would be a dark blue-green. I tried something like it the other day and a little black goes very far!!! On my attempt, I was adding Sheaffer Turquoise to a very, very empty black cartridge. Couldn't even see the Blue-green. Few days after using, added a drop of yellow and now have a nice dark, black green teal.

 

Don't know what Turquoise (or Waterman South Sea Blue) and green would be like. Have to go find another empty cartridge for mixing.