Inks That Create A Darker Outline Around The Letters?

[egglorru]

I don't actually know what to call this phenomenon, or if there are inks that do it regularly regardless of pen. The best example I have is from someone who wrote with coffee (source), but I'd like to find inks that do this:

[A Smug Dill]

It's just one manifestation of sheen, I think.

 

No such thing as 'regardless of pen', because it depends on sufficient/more ink accumulating on the outline of each pen stroke or shape and left to dry unabsorbed by the paper; I'm sure you can find a pen that is 'dry' enough to not allow that to happen.

[minddance]

Pen is extremely important. The pen has to be wet enough. And I mean very very very wet. The ink must not be scraped away by the 'feedback' of the nib and be allowed to pool and left alone on paper to dry. Be prepared for rather long dry times.

 

Many artefacts of inks come through only with a very very very extremely wet pen. Dip pen wetness, and it must be constantly, freshly dipped.

 

It depends on whether you want to play or write. Normal pens do not give you this kind of wetness.

 

Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz and some Herbin give this effect.

 

Inks that dry to a paste normally do this quite well. Quite the opposite from inks that form a glittery 'sheen'. But yes, this is another form of 'sheen'.

Edited January 29, 2019 by minddance

[Margana]

It's called outlining. The example you posted is beautiful, but I haven't seen an ink that does it half so well. In my experience, an ink that outlines is uncommon and I have yet to find one that does it consistently with all pens. Flex nibs like the dip pen used in your coffee sample do it best with the occasional cursive italic or stub coming in a very distant second.

 

A few samples produced with a fountain pen:

 

Noodler's Australian Roses in a Noodler's Standard Flex Pen

 

Noodler's Apache Sunset in a Noodler's Standard Flex Pen

 

 

Platinum Century FF and Iroshizuku fuyu-syogun

 

Esterbrook 9128 nib with Namiki Blue ink

 

 

 

 

[senzen]

Interesting question egglorru, very useful info Margana. Gives me another excuse to try a FPR flex nib on a Muji one of these days.

[inkstainedruth]

Some people on FPN refer to the phenomenon as "haloing". It's actually a type of shading, I think, because unlike sheen, you can see it without looking at the paper at an angle. Basically, it's a type of pooling of the ink in places along the written line, only instead of being in a big section (the way "normal" shading works", it pools along the edges of the line on the page.

Some of my favorite inks, like vintage Skrip Peacock, do this. And it doesn't seem to be paper-dependent (because I've gotten the effect on the really crappy absorbent Piccadilly paper in the sketchbooks I use to test different inks and review them for myself, and compare them to other, similar inks). I haven't yet determined if it's pen or nib dependent, although it's more visible with broader nibs.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Intensity]

I'm pretty sure that outlining effect (a.k.a. halo effect) has to do with how ink separates into constituent dye colors as it is absorbed by paper. If you do chromatography on something like a paper towel, some of the ink components will travel farther out than others due to how fast they dry/get absorbed by paper fibers. Those inks that have a noticeable amount of constituent dye that travels all the way to the outer edge will exhibit the halo behavior. By noticeable amount I mean either a different color from the base ink hue or much darker than the base hue, or both. Usually to get the most visible outlining you want a less saturated, more translucent ink, and let it come out of a pen in a juicy line to allow it to spread a little within the line, so that the darker/different color component pools up on the edges of the line. Vintage fountain pens (especially flexy ones) and dip nibs generally have very high flow and offer wider line, so it's much easier to get the outlining to show up vs. from a fine drier nib.

 

For example, see chromatography samples by Jan and note the chromatography (spread) sample long strip on the bottom right--the outlining on the outer edge at the top shows the separation of the dye that will give the outlining effect:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/330203-robert-oster-bronze-compact-review/

 

At the same time, note that this chromatography sample shows white paper at the bottom and no dark line--it means that this ink is not water resistant. If you wash it with water, no dark clear line will remain.

 

Here's one for J. Herbin's Rouille d'Ancre that has great outlining property -- you can see the very different blue hue that washes out to the edges:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329703-j-herbin-rouille-dancre-compact-review/

 

An example of an ink that can give that outlining effect AND leave a legible line behind after a wash (note the dark line at the bottom of the chromatography strip):

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/334569-birmingham-schenley-park-thicket-green-compact-review/

 

Here's another visual example using simple paper towel droplet spread--this is one of my favorite inks (Papier Plume "Pecan"), and it has noticeable greenish halo/outlining when writing on high quality paper with a juicier nib:

 

 

 

And finally, see this thread for a sample collection of inks with outlining/halo properties (not a complete list, of course, there are lots more):

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329891-halo-ing-inks/

Edited January 29, 2019 by Intensity

[bobje]

Nice explanation, Ruth, and thank you for the link to the comprehensive thread on the halo effect, Intensity. This is one of the most subtle and lovely qualities of fountain pen writing.

[lgsoltek]

Some orange brown inks have that haloing effect where the outline is darker, like Diamine Ancient Copper.

But in the specific case of the photo youve shown, I think thats more because theyre using a dip pen flex nib here: the sharp tines cut through the paper, hence the darker outline.

[wallylynn]

I'm pretty certain that this is the "Coffee cup ring" effect. Not capillary like chromatography. Not the tines cutting the paper. But you do need good paper that *does not* absorb ink that allows the ink to pool and slowly evaporate. It's the evaporation that causes the coffee (dyes) to migrate to the edge.

[Intensity]

I'm pretty certain that this is the "Coffee cup ring" effect. Not capillary like chromatography. Not the tines cutting the paper. But you do need good paper that *does not* absorb ink that allows the ink to pool and slowly evaporate. It's the evaporation that causes the coffee (dyes) to migrate to the edge.

 

Hm well maybe there's a parallel between chromatography and the process you've described, as so far chromatography has described inks that can do outline/halo in writing pretty well. For example, both in writing and with absorption chromatography, you can see that green outline with Papier Plume ink I've linked earlier in this thread. Likewise generally when chromatography shows a very distinct outline at the end of the spread, the ink will do the outline/halo in writing--most visible with high ink flow and wider nib size to show the variation within lines. There's no need for "paper cutting" effect of a flexible nib either with such inks. A perfectly flat smooth-gliding juicy stub nib can show outlining and even medium round point nibs in more extreme cases, depending on ink and paper.

Edited February 1, 2019 by Intensity

[wallylynn]

The chromatagraphic halo is also called feathering... it's the opposite process, the ink spreading out past the edge. The coffee halo is the ink coming together and concentrating to form a dark edge, but not past it. It remains crisp.

 

You can see the difference in the list of halo-ing inks. Note the difference between the chromotography strips, and compare to the swabs and splashes. The swabs and splashes show the outline of the drops where the ink was slow to dry. Especially at the end of the swab where there's a big drop of ink. One has the dyes separating to the component colors, the other is just dark.

 

 

[jthole]

Penman Sapphire did this quite well. The high dye intensity made this a bit troublesome ink though.

Edited February 2, 2019 by jthole

[Misfit]

I got a bottle of Diamine Turquoise and saw the outlining on Tomoe River paper and in a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook. Hurray! That’s why I bought it.

[inkyreflections]

I was surprised to see this with Diamine Aqua Lagoon the other day. I was using a broad wet nib (Twsbi Eco) on Rhodia paper.

[Misfit]

A review of Edelstein Star Ruby showed outlining.

[Karmachanic]

Callifolio Inti exhibits this effect.