Six De Atramentis Brown Inks (And One Additional Curiosity)

[pgcauk]

I have been trying to figure out the De Atramentis Brown Inks (especially the cooler end) for a while. An earlier thread is here. Having added a few more since, including, to me, a couple of real winners, and having found it impossible to find reviews for some of these elsewhere, I thought it worth making an updated record here. The De Atramentis inks are numbered, the marginalia are for reference.

Being De Atramentis, each of these may be available under a variety of names, and some of the names may even get switched around - my only goal here is to provide a "first taste"!

Edited April 18, 2020 by pgcauk

[DrDebG]

Thank you for this comparison. I really like Sahara, which surprises me a bit. Umber also looks interesting. Thank you for the "first taste".

[pgcauk]

. . . . and in the interest of gathering as much as I can together (please feel free to contribute), I'm going to add:
Topas Gold and Ocher

Old Gold - which VanNess didn't have a sample of but (kindly) sent me a swatch. Quite a contrast to "Topas"!

I also have Marone (which can be either a Taupe or, rarely, a green!) and Sepia Brown (it was a gift!), but those are well documented elsewhere I think?

[pgcauk]

Thank you for this comparison. I really like Sahara, which surprises me a bit. Umber also looks interesting. Thank you for the "first taste".

Sahara is a weird fish! It's labelled as a gray but it's a light Spring Green! I think it's well reviewed elsewhere? I was pleased to find Bahama Brown as a more earthy iteration.

Umber is my Ina Ho! I am so lucky that the first pen I tried it in (a 78G with a BB nib) completely sang - so it stays there singing. Any other pen I have tried it in looks drab, so I don't think it's an easy win!

Here's Bahama with Ocher and Sahara with Kobe #54 - which I think are lovely for spring!

Edited April 18, 2020 by pgcauk

[lapis]

Thanks for including the Sahara Grey. Or like it says on the bottle's label (where most or all names are still in German) Saharagrau. Mine was one of the first versions before Dr. Jansen corrected the misspelt labelling Saharagraun (note the "n" at the end). Anyway, that's neither a grey nor a brown but more of a khaki or olive green. Nice ink, though, like all of the others

[DrDebG]

Dr. J. is not the only one who "creatively names" inks. I once received a sample of a Robert Oster ink that was labelled as a purple ink and it was actually a grey-green with a slight purple overtone. Or what about Diamine's Umber that is actually green? And the MB Antoine de Saint Exupery Encre du Desert is a dark earthy burgundy. I expected it to be a warmish tan-brown. Oh well - everyone sees color differently.

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for doing this, pgcauk. I thought I would like York Brown (just from the name ) until I saw how yellowish it looked in a review (but yours looks better).

Also thought I'd like Havana Brown until I got to dip test it a few years ago, back when Birmingham Pens still had the brick and mortar store in Pittsburgh. I had gone in to look at a Lamy Pacific Blue al-Star. Walked out instead with a pink TWSBI-580-AL, and (because Nick had just gotten a shipment in and the bottles were on the counter, bottles of Sky Blue, Van Dyck Brown and IIRC Gold.

Which reminds me. I really should put Van Dyck Brown into a pen again....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[lapis]

Dr. J. is not the only one who "creatively names" inks. I once received a sample of a Robert Oster ink that was labelled as a purple ink and it was actually a grey-green with a slight purple overtone. Or what about Diamine's Umber that is actually green? And the MB Antoine de Saint Exupery Encre du Desert is a dark earthy burgundy. I expected it to be a warmish tan-brown. Oh well - everyone sees color differently.

Although I'm not a fan of Nathan Tardif or his inks, I must say that his creativity as re ink designations is overwhelming.

[pgcauk]

Which reminds me. I really should put Van Dyck Brown into a pen again....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

If you do get a chance to, please post a sample!

 

There's also a Dark Brown, a Saddle Brown and probably a half dozen or so more (Copper Brown for sure) that it would be nice to have proper samples of, but I think I have the ones here that are of most interest to me personally.

 

When I checked the De Atramentis website there were a few other new colors that sound intriguing; Zinc Green, Silver Purple and Tungsten Purple all sound intriguing, but other than the names there's not much to go on.

[Misfit]

I have DeA Maron which I have seen translated to Chestnut. I got a sample of their Red Brown, and liked it. Java Brown looks really nice.

 

I like what you did in post 4 @pgcauk

[pgcauk]

I would love to see a sample of the red brown, if you have one to post?

 

I am finding that these de atramentis inks play alongside each other very nicely to produce a pleasantly subdued palette.

[Intensity]

 

Old Gold - which VanNess didn't have a sample of but (kindly) sent me a swatch. Quite a contrast to "Topas"!

I also have Marone (which can be either a Taupe or, rarely, a green!) and Sepia Brown (it was a gift!), but those are well documented elsewhere I think?

 

This one looks fantastic, wow. I've tried to look for it, but I'm not seeing any google images that reflect this color, except for maybe one just called "Gold". Is "Gold" the same as "Altgold"? And is Altgold exclusive to Vannes?

[Misfit]

I would love to see a sample of the red brown, if you have one to post?

 

I am finding that these de atramentis inks play alongside each other very nicely to produce a pleasantly subdued palette.

Samples done on Clairefontaine and Leuchtturm papers:

 

On Clairefontaine paper it looks a touch more red than on Leuchtturm paper.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Misfit

[Misfit]

This is De Atramentis Richard Wagner or Maron

 

[amberleadavis]

Looks great.

[pgcauk]

Thanks for the additions above. I have, and love, Marone. Red Browns I have Diamine Rustic, which tends to come out at Christmas, but it's red-brown tending purple and I prefer my reds brickish! KWZ Brown #4 was amazing but far too saturated for me, so maybe I'll give the De Atramentis Red-Brown a sample at some point? I do like the saturation level of these inks. Intensity - there are, as far as I can tell, three Gold inks in De Atramentis' Standard range; Topaz Gold (which is super bright), Gold and Old-Gold. The Old Gold does look lovely from this sample . . . . but I already have KWZ Honey . . .
As I have all of the above now and have been playing with them a good deal more, I thought I'd try and discriminate some of the closely adjacent colors. "Olive Drab" is my zone, apparently, so this "Desert Camouflage" area is a fascinating playground - these are similar but, the nuances are fascinating (to me!):

The first is my standard "olive drab", Kobe #59, alongside four De Atramentis green earths. The Smear is the three closest, Khaki as a base with Bahama and Sahara over the top. Below is just those three with Umber. I have all four in pens at the moment and don't find any unnecessary - like a field of ripening grain at various stages!

Edited May 18, 2020 by pgcauk

[Clara]

Questions for pgcauk. What paper do you use for most of these examples? What size nibs? And going back to 18-Mar-2020, you wrote "eat sensibly, exercise diligently, die anyway." and you wrote that twice. Were you quoting someone?

 

I have been a long time reader of FPN and have a fair variety of fountain pens, dip pens, nibs, etc., dabbled in watercolor years ago. Hope to tryout some of these again, sooner not later.

 

Thank you for your many interesting color examples.

 

[pgcauk]

Hi Clara,

When I'm comparing and playing with samples I'm mostly using Brause Bandzug dip nibs, the widest are like applying ink with a snow shovel while the narrowest have a surprising "bounce" that has more character than any steel fountain pen nib I know (although I have become rather fond of my Graf Von Faber Castel EF, which is also surprisingly springy!).

Fountain pens are great for convenience, but a good dip-pen nib is in a different league. I do like the Brause Arrow and Blue Pumpkin for flex, but I'm not using them here.

Paper there's all sorts but the two I stick with are Tomoe River (I buy loose leaf and staple my own books together - affordable enough for everyday noodling) while I seem to have settled on lovely Midori notebooks for sketching and things I might want to keep.

Can't remember who that quote is from, which is rude of me, but I guess Google will know?

My favorite recently was (a paraphrase of) Mary Shelly:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1591484140__ochre_mix__-_mary_shelly.jpg