Noodler's El Lawrence- Is It Black Or Dark Green?

[BDarchitect]

I recently bought a bottle of El Lawrence, knowing that it would be a very dark green to black. What I have found interesting is that once the ink is dry, if I look directly at a word it appears black but the surrounding words have a greenish cast- unless I look directly at them, then they become black, too. As I scan across the page the words right in my center of vision stay black while the rest are slightly green, giving the color an elusive quality. It would seem that the cones (or is it rods?) in the center of my eye aren't as sensitive to slight color shading as the ones on the periphery of my eyeballs' interior.

Anyone else have that experience with this ink?

[Mr5x5]

Every batch of Noodler's is different but to me it always seems more olive-green with a little black. Zhivago is more black but my favorite was a limited edition Noodler's called 5 O'Clock Shadow. 5OS was black enough for all uses, different than a "boring" blue-black, and green enough to be interesting.

[Noihvo]

[pararis]

I haven't used this ink for a good while now.

 

In my swatch, I see it is black in the heaviest application, and it fades to a dark olive green in the lightest areas. Might even be a bit of sheen.

[inkstainedruth]

My batch of El Lawrence is a murky dark brownish grey with some green undertones to it. Really looks like used motor oil. Didn't think I'd like it but I saw a review several years ago and I kept looking at the photos, and muttering "that is one weird-ass color" over and over. But it was like a car wreck, where you can't look away. So I bought a sample to try it and really like it a lot. It's pretty waterproof, and I have used it for writing checks even when I was required by my old bank to use "black" or "blue" ink only and they never quibbled one iota. So I think of it as being a "subversive" ink....

Really should put it back into something. Only the pen I usually put it in, the ebonite Noodler's Konrad, currently has Sailor Souboku in it -- and I just refilled yesterday.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: I should say it's definitely different from Noodler's Luck of the Draw (the 2018 LE ink for the Baltimore Washington Pen Show). Luck of the Draw is a very dark green black.

Edited October 10, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[Maccabeus]

I refer to my bottle of El Lawrence as dirty swampwater. It has shades of green, brown, and black similar to what the OP and Ruth described. It dries to a dull greenish-brown, although it might show more variation if I used a shinier paper than 90gsm linen finish. It looks like something slimy that might've been hurled up from underwater, so it only gets used for Mythos-related writings.

[inkstainedruth]

It looks like something slimy that might've been hurled up from underwater, so it only gets used for Mythos-related writings.

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[The Good Captain]

It can be dry and personally, I think it's a khaki/olive drab colour. Wonderful bullet-proof qualities of course. My preference in the same colour area would be Diamine Salamander but then I am biased...

[inkstainedruth]

Whereas I'm *not* a fan of Salamander because to me it's just a murky green. El Lawrence is a more complex color than that. Didn't think I'd like it at ALL but I realized that it's sort of like going past a car accident -- you just can't look away.... Plus I like that it's pretty much water resistant when dry. And, like I said, I can get away with using it even when black ink is "required"....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth