Kobe #45 And #49 - Two Stone Greens

[pgcauk]

I ordered a sample of #49 alongside my bottle of #45, just to check it out.

Both are rich, complex inks, but #45 is so severe that, if you're looking for a Grey-green, #49 might be an option worth looking at?

Here's to mysteries worth exploring!

[lapis]

Thanks for this excellent comparison. "Complex" is the right word for sure, but IYAM, that term applies to both of these gems.

[pgcauk]

So I loaded my sample of #49 into a Fountain Pen and was surprised to find it closer to #28 than #45. The shading is comparable (= magnificent) but the underlying tone of #49 is more grey and sombre - #28 has a gorgeous lush quality from the yellow green showing through the dark.

Simple handwriting comparisons were not enough to show the differences, but the paintbrush made everything clearer!

If anyone wants to add #1, #15 or #34 alongside, that would be great!

 

 

N.B. No botanical or geographic research whatever went into this post!

[amberleadavis]

Wonderful comparison! Thank you!

[DrDebG]

Thank you for taking the time to share!

[pgcauk]

Here's Jenny in Kobe #45:

[pgcauk]

Well it's a year on and both of these inks have been in constant use and are still intriguing.
#49 Kitano Olive (which is NOT what I would call olive!) quickly became my first "EveryDay Carry" - my daily drab! On it's own it's amazingly neutral, neither cool, nor warm, yellow nor blue, not even really reading as obviously green = boring! But it makes a great backdrop for just about anything else!

#45 - what is this? Looks great in my Duke 51 Fude nib, and lives in a Lamy with a 1.9 stub, but is this anything more than "not black"?

So I finally succumbed to Miruai. Blue-Green is not an easy territory for me, but I was given a blue-green pen (Conklin Duragraph - still don't know who gave it to me!). Verdigris is lovely, but I don't reach for it. Dark Reseda Green ditto. Miruai seems to be a more saturated Dark Reseda Green - not sure yet if I will reach for this either, but it does have an interesting relationship with Kobe #45 Hachibuse - which in contrast appears green, and Birmingham Pens' Rachel Carson, the only blue (=Teal) I seem to use (it's dirty and green/grey!), which reveals Miruai to be green!
Possibly unfathomable, but interesting to explore!

[pgcauk]

Still intrigued! Comparisons here are Noodlers' El Lawrence, which is waterproof, and KWZ's Hunter - which is, to me, a very cool brown. For watercolor and brush work the Kobe is very appealing (but my new fude pen was, after three months of waiting, misdelivered - what country is this!)

[ENewton]

Still intrigued! Comparisons here are Noodlers' El Lawrence, which is waterproof, and KWZ's Hunter - which is, to me, a very cool brown. For watercolor and brush work the Kobe is very appealing (but my new fude pen was, after three months of waiting, misdelivered - what country is this!)

 

So the rightmost swatch is KWZ Hunter? I never quite trust my monitor, but that looks like my kind of color.

 

What fude pen is taking so long to reach you?

[pgcauk]

 

So the rightmost swatch is KWZ Hunter? I never quite trust my monitor, but that looks like my kind of color.

 

What fude pen is taking so long to reach you?

 

Dear ENewton,

 

Well, I wrote you a reply that was worthy of Hemmingway, but the blue screen of death appeared just as I was completing the last gruesome couplet re. my battle with the US Postal Service (have you tried to use them recently?! Utter madness in what was once a first-world country!). Nothing remains but these two images:

 

Inspired by you, Sailor Fude De Mannen 55 (I love it) and 40 (I find tricky, but determined to keep at it!)

I also have my original Duke 51, which my nephew sent me and am currently fighting with the USPS dragon to attain my Sailor Profit, wich is like a 1911 but 1/7 of the price with the 55 fude nib in a pocketable pen, I think?

 

Best wishes to you!

p.s. If these are not violet enough, you could try Noodlers' Nightshade as a purple brown (the purple equivalent of "Hunter Green" above, but with some curious properties), or for a purple grey I've always meant to pick up a sample of Robert Oster's Charcoal. I have and appreciate Sailor Chu Shu, but it's just too solemn for everyday use!

Whenever I visit Kinokuniya I rummage through the Kobe Inks for Suma Purple, but haven't found it yet!

Edited August 11, 2020 by pgcauk

[ENewton]

 

Dear ENewton,

 

Well, I wrote you a reply that was worthy of Hemmingway, but the blue screen of death appeared just as I was completing the last gruesome couplet re. my battle with the US Postal Service (have you tried to use them recently?! Utter madness in what was once a first-world country!). Nothing remains but these two images:

 

Inspired by you, Sailor Fude De Mannen 55 (I love it) and 40 (I find tricky, but determined to keep at it!)

I also have my original Duke 51, which my nephew sent me and am currently fighting with the USPS dragon to attain my Sailor Profit, wich is like a 1911 but 1/7 of the price with the 55 fude nib in a pocketable pen, I think?

 

Best wishes to you!

p.s. If these are not violet enough, you could try Noodlers' Nightshade as a purple brown (the purple equivalent of "Hunter Green" above, but with some curious properties), or for a purple grey I've always meant to pick up a sample of Robert Oster's Charcoal. I have and appreciate Sailor Chu Shu, but it's just too solemn for everyday use!

Whenever I visit Kinokuniya I rummage through the Kobe Inks for Suma Purple, but haven't found it yet!

 

I've been wary of Noodlers but might try Nightshade at some point. As for Charcoal, it looks nice in the swatches, but the Oster purples I've tried turn an unattractive green on the papers that I use most often, and according to nahmesroom's review, Charcoal partakes of that same quality:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/331240-robert-oster-signature-charcoal/

 

I bought my Suma Purple from Van Ness. I, too, checked Kinokuniya first, because I like to patronize brick-and-mortar stores when I can, but they didn't have it.

 

I hope that your travails with the postal service will soon come to a satisfactory end.

[pgcauk]

Thanks ENewton, you really are the "go to" on purples! I absolutely wouldn't recommend the Nightshade for its properties (smearing!), but the idea of a brown-purple is an interesting one (?) that it would be nice to see well executed?

Thanks for the pointer to nahmesrooms review, which is thorough enough that I don't feel the need for a sample now. The only review I can find of the Kobe Suma is Visvamitras, which shows it very dark indeed!

Did you ever try L'Artisan Pastellier's Cassis?

I am onto my second bottle of Scabiosa, which I still find captivating, with either Oster's Sydney Lavender (which I call "Pewter"), or Summer Storm (which I call " Soft Snow of Australia") on the blue flank and Claret (which I call "Hollyhock" or "Mauve") on the red side.

I obviously have issues with the way Robert Oster names his inks!

[ENewton]

! I absolutely wouldn't recommend the Nightshade for its properties (smearing!), but the idea of a brown-purple is an interesting one (?) that it would be nice to see well executed?

 

Maybe it's time for a brown-purple thread. Probably no two people will have the same idea of what fits into that category, but no matter.

[amberleadavis]

 

Maybe it's time for a brown-purple thread. Probably no two people will have the same idea of what fits into that category, but no matter.

 

We have some cross overs with the Violets and we had a whole discussion with the color Caput Mortuum (Mummy Brown).

[airstairesc]

On 6/26/2019 at 9:57 PM, pgcauk said:

Here's Jenny in Kobe #45:

 

Beautiful. What paper did you use here?

[pgcauk]

31 minutes ago, airstairesc said:

What paper did you use here?

 

There's quite a range of papers overall here, but Jenny is surely in a Midori notebook, which has become my favorite ink testing and drawing paper. For some reason it often looks like I spilled my tea when scanned, but that's a scanner issue, I don't think it can cope with the creamy color.

For writing I am equally fond of Tomoe River, which I buy loose leaf and make my own books for economic scribbling, but Midori is much better at taking a wash.

[airstairesc]

6 minutes ago, pgcauk said:

 

There's quite a range of papers overall here, but Jenny is surely in a Midori notebook, which has become my favorite ink testing and drawing paper. For some reason it often looks like I spilled my tea when scanned, but that's a scanner issue, I don't think it can cope with the creamy color.

For writing I am equally fond of Tomoe River, which I buy loose leaf and make my own books for economic scribbling, but Midori is much better at taking a wash.

 

Your various swatches and drawings with #45 are what sold me on this ink, so thank you. I'm just about to check-out a bottle of this from Vanness. 🙂

[pgcauk]

I have yet to meet a Kobe green that hasn't been a stunner, I'm currently in love with #28 again for Spring, but #49 would probably be my "Desert Island Green".

[airstairesc]

1 minute ago, pgcauk said:

I have yet to meet a Kobe green that hasn't been a stunner, I'm currently in love with #28 again for Spring, but #49 would probably be my "Desert Island Green".

 

Both of those are beautiful as well. I was also drawn to #49 in your comparisons.

 

I have two greens in my current collection: Diamine Salamander and R & K Alt-Goldgrun. I enjoy both but I never fell in love with either. I thought Salamander would be it, but I don't like when it leans towards brown/yellow. I do love Kobe #22 Shinkaichi Gold, though.

 

I think #45 could be my long-lost green. Stone Green is the perfect category for it. I love how stoic it looks on both white and ivory papers.

[pgcauk]

I'm going to post these which I can't find online anymore. Not my work but great stuff, and I think it was this that persuaded me not just to buy one but sample the other, ending up with both! Gratitude to our the unknown Polish ink sampler!