3 De Atramentis Brown Inks (& A Few Other Tobacco Leaves!)

[pgcauk]

Here's some more scrawling and brushwork with the three. I can see some appeal in both Havanna and Umber, although both are very pale. I have a bottle of York Brown now so if I learn to love it I'll report back! "Adobe bricks" was today's image. They exist, so why souldn't this color?

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1526431348__havanna_umber_york.jpg

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have Huckleberry ink, no idea what it's normal name is. To me a dull nothing much brown. No shading.

Maybe an ink for an EF nib??????

 

Havana never interested me enough to try it again...a bit too light from my memory. Could be I was thinking it was more like Waterman's old name Havana and was not ready for light cigar leaf.

Could be worth trying again....now that I'm not quite so noobie with inks.

 

Kupfer Braun, again not enough spiffy...have tried it twice. A bit mat, no shading I noticed. Would have to try a better paper perhaps.

 

Ockergelb....way too light...........would perhaps try it vs MB Golden Yellow....which my wife surprised me with. If it shades, could be worth finding out how to darken it a bit.

Edited May 16, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[pgcauk]

Thank you Bo Bo, and also Ruth!
I addition to the three "cool" browns I selected, we now have additional insights into Van-Dyck Brown, Copper Brown and Ocher Yellow.

 

If I have time and feel organized I may make a list of all De Atramentis Brown Inks, with links to reviews where available, to identify remaining "blind spots".

 

In the meantime . . . . having spent a week or so with York Brown now, I have started to build a relationship! Thinking back to the colors of the 1970s really helped!

This morning I was thinking "Cool Brown" - I already have (and love) Rohrer & Klingner Sepia, so I did a quick comparison, which was quite revealing. I would call call R&K a cool taupe tending violet (Herbin Cacao De Bresil being the warm equivalent), whereas the York is clearly brown, with yellow/green undertones. To fill up the page I added my two established "Yellow Browns", Diamine Sepia and Ochre, both of which I would consider to be warm colors! Only one of these four looks like Tobacco to me (the Diamines being classic Fall colors)!

The difference in water resistance (or not) is quite striking - I resisted "re-touching" the Diamine's - the color they offer is glorious, but very little line remains:

 

Edited May 17, 2018 by pgcauk

[pgcauk]

The purpose of this thread was to give initial impressions and comparisons of little-reviewed De Atramentis brown inks.

However, having used the word "Tobacco" in the thread title, and having come up with some pretty vegetal (shed two) and autumnal (shed four) options, I thought I would make a comparison of the four inks here that best seem to fit the "tobacco" description.

Caveat: If exploring Tobacco inks was my primary purpose, I would certainly want to explore:

Standardgraph Schilfgrun (Reed Green)

Stipula Calamo Verde Muschiato (Is that Moss or Musk Green?)

Sailor Cigar

Sailor Kingdom Note Japanese Cicada

- none of which I own!

Edited May 17, 2018 by pgcauk

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

"taupe leaning to Violet" is a good description for RK Sepia. Love that ink, it flows beautifully.

 

Thank you for showing me Diamine Ochre, I was looking for a companion to Diamine Sepia and Macassar.

[pgcauk]

Hello again RoyalBlueNotebooks!
Yes Sepia is a lovely thing! I put off buying it for a long time as I "already had" Cacao De Bresil as my Taupe, but thankfully I'm over that now - Sepia remains cool, while Cacao is on the warm side, which is enough of a distinction for me!

Did you see the great artwork with R&K inks over at the Jet Pens website? I think the R&K Sepia would be a great ink for architects?

Diamine have a great range of brown inks. Ochre is rich and lovely, but I find mself not using it much (yet) as it falls between their magnificent Sepia as a yellow brown, and their tonally magnificent but lacking in saturation (?) Burnt Sienna as an orange brown. If you haven't tried their Rustic Brown I can recommend that too as a red-based brown. I find I use the latter as one of my main inks during the Winter season.

I did a thing with bricks and roses a while back. Impossible to scan unfortunately, but one of the images is here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/323800-diamine-earth-tones-bricks-roses/

[Bo Bo Olson]

I've not tried my R&K Sepia, will have to empty some pen....in I have 19 inked right now and make that two pens, a superflex (to test tine spread/railroading and a regular flex in M. In I have MB Sepia in both those flexes now inked.

 

Will have to take very much care in cleaning R&K Sepia filled pens....a three day cleaning & full paper towel draining/drying , in R&K warns against mixing their Sepia with any ink. (Probably why I've not used it....am very lazy.)

I'll have to check if I have any other 'sepia' inks..........will check reviews for a Sepia comparison. I might have an ink considered Sepia, that I've forgotten.

 

I was down to 5 inked pens....In that way I'd use up more ink faster....a few new inks crawled in.

I made the mistake of coming to Ink Reviews and suddenly I have 19 pens inked.

Use to be my max was 17 pens.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Dcpritch is fine poster who made this list. A few of the inks I'd not even thought of as 'sepia'.

There are so many different definitions of sepia.

 

Sepia Toned Ink Comparison - 32 Inks

 

Have the bold.

Caran d'Ache Grand Canyon...thought more as a nice medium light brown.
• Carter's Harvest Brown (vintage - c. 1941)
• Diamine Burnt Sienna
• Diamine Golden Brown
• Diamine Raw Sienna
• Diamine Rustic Brown
• Diamine Sepia
• Hakase Sepia (available only in Japan)
• J. Herbin Cacao du Brésil
• J. Herbin Café Des Îles...had as 'coffee'.
• J. Herbin Lie de Thé.....had as 'tea'.
• J. Herbin Terre de Feu
• J. Herbin mix by Avetikus**
• Montblanc Carlo Collodi...which I thought as a red ink...much too red, in I saw very little brown that others saw....so never used it; in red inks are bad for piston pen windows...out side a dip to see.

• Montblanc Sepia (out of production)...have and am inked in a superflex and regular flex M....such a difference the nib wetness makes.
• Noodler's (Art Brown) Brooklyn Brawn
• Noodler's Golden Brown....takes at least one full page on another sheet before it is dry enough to use the back. Is ia good shading ink. Didn't think of it as sepia, but why not.
• Noodler's (Swisher) Grizzly
• Noodler's Kiowa Pecan
• Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman's Sepia
• Noodler's (Swisher) Seminole Sepia
• OMAS Sepia
• Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown...thought as a red-brown ink.
• Pilot Iroshizuku tsukushi
• Pilot Iroshizuku yama-guri
• Platinum Pigment Ink Brun Sepia
• Private Reserve Chocolat
• Private Reserve Copper Burst
• Private Reserve Sepia
• Rohrer & Klingner Sepia ..to try....worries about super cleaning the pens have kept me away.
• Stipula Calamo Sepia
• Visconti Brown (aka Sepia)

 

So I do have more Sepia inks than I thought.

. Got to move all my 'sepias' to my new 'sepia' shelf.... Well, mental shelf....don't want to toss the sixty pewter topped beer mugs that clutter up my ink cabinet. Use to be a beer mug cabinet.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[pgcauk]

Bobo - that is a great list with lots of inks I would love to try on it! The master reference for inks that may fall under the obviously rather loose term "sepia" is here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/209494-sepia-toned-ink-comparison-32-inks/?hl=+sepia%20+comparison

Rohrer & Kingner Sepia is indeed a lovely ink. I only recently allowed myself a bottle as I "already had" J. Herbin's Cacao De Bresil (and the preposterous notion that one ink in a particular color range was enough!!) - although they are similar the R&K is decidedly cool whereas the Herbin is as warm as a cup of milky cocoa on a snowy day! I have generally only had good experiences with Rohrer & Klingner - I even have Fernambuk and Helianthus in Pilot Penmanships for commenting on student papers without the offense of red ink. Alt Goldgrun is "the master" and Salix and Scabiosa are just fabulous! Did you see the rather lovely artwork with Rohrer & Klingner inks over at Jet Pens?

 

At my end I am still worrying away at Umber and York Brown:

(All of the below are with a Hunt Round-Hand nib, bar the paler Umber, which is a Pilot Parallel).

Edited May 20, 2018 by pgcauk

[pgcauk]

- also the mention of "boring brown" above brought something to mind - I had a sample of Diamine Saddle Brown that I once thought fit that description exactly! How does that look in comparison to York Brown?

Ans: Utterly distinct!

This "boring" word often doesn't hold up to further investigation!

[Bo Bo Olson]

It was Dcpritch's well done work.

I had missed it first run....got it this time.

 

Someone also did 35 or so murky greens, which also impressed me, with my lack of knowledge; and how nice murky could actually be.

 

It was good to review the R&K inks, I only have 6 and a spare bottle of Verdura, a very good green-green shading ink at least tied with MB Irish Green. I had it a nose ahead, other good posters had Irish a nose ahead....so I'll call it a tie.

 

Didn't see the art work. Yours makes the inks live.

 

I'm trying to chase paper right now..........and use up inks I have. The never ending story.

Edited May 20, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[pgcauk]

Just to update that 6 months or so down the line, both Umber and York Brown have been in constant use and are now well loved (although with York Brown it took a while!).
https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1543801634__november_18_reed_bed_ii.jpg

[pgcauk]

Subsequently added DeA's Khaki, which is more subdued (and has less use of the letter 'h'!) than the Robert Oster. I like it! I havve both that an the umber (a constant companion) on the go and they feel quite distinct. Thinking of looping back to upgrade Havanna from a sample to a full bottle - and possibly throw in some Bahama Brown too? Choice is a good thing?!?

[pgcauk]

Here's the (edited) newbies:
Very pleased that I took a punt on Bahama. Quite tempted by that Ocher (I have sample only). Discarded Topaz Gold and Apricot (others might love that, but the fluorescent wash scares me!), but the swatch of Old Gold (provided by VanNess) looks quite nice!

(I think Bahama and Ocher should get married!?)

Edited April 17, 2020 by pgcauk