Noodler's Kuprin

[yazeh]

Noodler’s Kuprin

Is a rich garnet colour, belonging to the Russian series, an homage to the Russian novelist, Aleksandr Kuprin. The colour, I assume, is a nod to one of his short stories, the Garnet Bracelet, a sentimental story of unrequited love. 

Chroma


Some snippets from the Garnet Bracelet on Midori - Fude nib - Fine nib 



Kuprin was born in 1870 in the Russian empire and after a stint in the army and many odd jobs, settled on writing short stories, the most famous being the Duel (life of an officer in a dreary garrison in southern Russia), The Pit (vignettes about life in a second tired brothel), and many other short stories.


His style is poetic and paints well the end and the obvious demise of the Tzarist Russia. 

TR 68 gr


Apica Medium/ fine nib



I found several of his lines describing Jews, a sad reflection of the pogroms. 
He left before the 1917 revolution to Paris and never achieved his fame again. He returned to Soviet Union, destitute and finished, to great triumph and died a year after, at age 67, in 1938. 

In contrast to his depressing life, the ink is rich, deep warm burgundy, with delightful. I found the ink non lubricated when I pressed the nib hard but smooth if I wrote with a light touch. 

Here is a comparison with some other burgundy inks: 



Ink is definitely waterproof:


And here is a whimsical sketch to brighten your day:


Note Russian series inks are more expensive than standard bulletproof inks. 
Ink is bulletproof. 


• Pens used: Noodler’s Ahab/ Kaweco Perkeo Fine/ Jinhao Medium/fude 
• Shading: Quite a bit on good paper.
• Ghosting: No
• Bleed through: Didn’t notice.
• Flow Rate: Balanced
• Lubrication: Better with soft/ smooth nibs. I would recommend this ink to people who have a soft touch. 
• Nib Dry-out: Note noticed
• Start-up: Not noticed
• Saturation: Deep rich burgundy
• Shading Potential: Delightful
• Sheen: None
• Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: No
• Staining (pen): Very easy to clean…
• Clogging: None
• Water resistance: Excellent
• Availability: 90 ml bottles

 

 

[namrehsnoom]

Thank you for this lovely review. I’m not sure if the colour is different enough from others I have in this family, but it looks like a good ink for an EDC pen. And the shading on this ink is definitely something!

I quite like the extra background you give on the ink name’s origins.

And that unicorn could come straight out of LizEF’s wizard tales 😉

[mizgeorge]

I know I've already said this, but thank you @yazeh for a lovely review. I also love the extra information therein

[LizEF]

Wonderful review, @yazeh!  The ink is lovely from your big fat nib.  Looks a bit too muted (for me) in the swatch.  I don't remember reading any Kuprin in college (I majored in Russian), but that might only mean I don't remember, not that I didn't read anything.   (I didn't especially like Russian literature - no happy endings. I liked 12 Chairs and A Hero of Our Time, and oddly, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, but not much else.)  Anywho, thanks for the back ground, the nice ink, and the unicorn, who now needs a name:

 

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

And that unicorn could come straight out of LizEF’s wizard tales 😉

The back of my brain has already found a geographic location for him (her?) but how (s)he needs a name!  Taking suggestions.  Alprin? No, sounds like a pain killer (probably one invented by the Swiss)....   Alekprin?  (Aleksprin is back to pain-killer-ish.)

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

Thank you for this lovely review. I’m not sure if the colour is different enough from others I have in this family, but it looks like a good ink for an EDC pen. And the shading on this ink is definitely something!

Yes it is. It is good for people who like a waterproof ink and have a light touch. The shading is amazing with wider nibs. 

2 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

I quite like the extra background you give on the ink name’s origins.

Thanks. I learn from the best 🙏  

2 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

And that unicorn could come straight out of LizEF’s wizard tales 😉

Yeah, subconsciously maybe I wasn't so enamoured with her goat 😛

 

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

I know I've already said this, but thank you @yazeh for a lovely review. I also love the extra information therein

😊

[yazeh]

 

40 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Wonderful review, @yazeh!  The ink is lovely from your big fat nib.  Looks a bit too muted (for me) in the swatch. 

It is a surprising ink. It is muted and not murky

40 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

 

 

I don't remember reading any Kuprin in college (I majored in Russian),

I know! 

40 minutes ago, LizEF said:

but that might only mean I don't remember, not that I didn't read anything.   (I didn't especially like Russian literature - no happy endings. I liked 12 Chairs and A Hero of Our Time, and oddly, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, but not much else.) 

I know there's no happy ending. But seeing what they went through, it doesn't surprise me. How can you have happy endings?

 

40 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Anywho, thanks for the back ground, the nice ink, and the unicorn, who now needs a name:

 

🙏

40 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

The back of my brain has already found a geographic location for him (her?) but how (s)he needs a name!  Taking suggestions.  Alprin? No, sounds like a pain killer (probably one invented by the Swiss)....   Alekprin?  (Aleksprin is back to pain-killer-ish.)

Haha! 

What about Unique! 

[aidanbernal]

Awesome review! Reminds me of Herbin Poussiere de Lune. I may not pick this one up, but it's a cool ink nonetheless. It's nice that it seems like it doesn't have the same sort of spreading that some Noodler's bulletproof inks have.

[LizEF]

53 minutes ago, yazeh said:

What about Unique! 

Have you been watching the Friesian Horses?  They have a horse named Uniek (which sounds like ooNEEK, and I assume means unique)!  Example video.  Uniek adopted the colt next to her at the point where I started the video, after her own foal died at birth, and the colt's mother died at birth (the next day, I think).

[yazeh]

55 minutes ago, aidanbernal said:

Awesome review! Reminds me of Herbin Poussiere de Lune. I may not pick this one up, but it's a cool ink nonetheless. It's nice that it seems like it doesn't have the same sort of spreading that some Noodler's bulletproof inks have.

Thank you. I haven't tried Poussiere de la lune, so I can't say. 

I didn't notice any spreading. Though the ink is a combination of wet and dry. If you tend to push the nib on the paper, you won't like it, it acts dry. However, if you have a light touch, it glides.... 

38 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Have you been watching the Friesian Horses?  They have a horse named Uniek (which sounds like ooNEEK, and I assume means unique)!  Example video.  Uniek adopted the colt next to her at the point where I started the video, after her own foal died at birth, and the colt's mother died at birth (the next day, I think).

No. Unique  is play on Unicorn / and unique...

[LizEF]

29 minutes ago, yazeh said:

No. Unique  is play on Unicorn / and unique...

Sometimes the obvious escapes me and all I see are weird random associations.  I'm unique that way... 🤪

[PithyProlix]

Your reviews of these Noodler's Russian series inks are really pushing me to reconsider Noodler's. And that's a pretty big accomplishment.  Thanks! 

 

Ink names generally have no substance with me but, as a little bit of a russofile, especially fond of the literature, they somehow got a little hook into me. (Now, if they had an ink named Turgenev ... whatever oversaturated, feathering, bleeding, staining, ugly mess it may be ... I'd buy it and my pens, paper, fingers, and wallet be damned!) 

[yazeh]

8 hours ago, LizEF said:

Sometimes the obvious escapes me and all I see are weird random associations.  I'm unique that way... 🤪

 

8 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Your reviews of these Noodler's Russian series inks are really pushing me to reconsider Noodler's. And that's a pretty big accomplishment.  Thanks! 

Thanks. To be honest I was curious about them myself. Hence my attempt to use them and share my findings. And see if they are worthwhile. 

8 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Ink names generally have no substance with me but, as a little bit of a russofile, especially fond of the literature, they somehow got a little hook into me. (Now, if they had an ink named Turgenev ... whatever oversaturated, feathering, bleeding, staining, ugly mess it may be ... I'd buy it and my pens, paper, fingers, and wallet be damned!) 

Ironically the don't have any, Turgenev.  Nathan jumps quite about from literature to composers. Kuprin's style reminds me a bit of Turgenev, but his style is more concise....

[inkstainedruth]

Interesting color. I wonder how it compares to the version of Black Swan in Australian Roses (I have an old bottle of that -- it was one of the first Noodler's ink I ever bought).  

For that matter, I'm wondering how it compares to Iroshizuku Yama-budo, which is similar to BSiAR but doesn't have the black haloing....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

19 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Interesting color. I wonder how it compares to the version of Black Swan in Australian Roses (I have an old bottle of that -- it was one of the first Noodler's ink I ever bought).  

For that matter, I'm wondering how it compares to Iroshizuku Yama-budo, which is similar to BSiAR but doesn't have the black haloing....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth... I don't have the old bottle of Black Swan. But if you want I can post Swabs of the latest one, Kuprin and English Roses... 

Alternatively, if you want I can send you a written sample, on the paper of your choice

 

[inkstainedruth]

Yes, posting images would help (although you can skip the BSiER -- I tried a sample of it a few years ago and it was much too brown a red for my tastes).

I know that at one point there was a much more purple version of BSiAR (I think there was some issue at the time in getting the dye components), but I never got a chance to compare it to my bottle.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[yazeh]

9 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Yes, posting images would help (although you can skip the BSiER -- I tried a sample of it a few years ago and it was much too brown a red for my tastes).

I know that at one point there was a much more purple version of BSiAR (I think there was some issue at the time in getting the dye components), but I never got a chance to compare it to my bottle.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

Ruth, there is Black Swan Australian in the comparison. Bottom corner right

[inkstainedruth]

Duh.  So there is.  

In my defense, it's been a fairly crazy and somewhat stressful week, and my sleep cycle is severely messed up....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth