Noodler’s Pasternak - A poetic grey

[yazeh]

 

A complex grey belonging to the Russian series, an homage to the great Russian Poet, Boris Pasternak. 

In its early iteration this ink was purple. Check 2012 reviews of @Sandy1and @mhphoto 

 

Pasternak was born in an integrated Jewish Russian family. His father was a painter, his mother a pianist. As a four-year-old, Tolstoy visited their house, to listen Pasternak’s mother play the piano. 

A young Pasternak by his father Leonid 1910, Courtesy of Wikipedia. 

In his youth he met Alexander Scriabin, the great Russian composer, and decided to become a musician but after six years of toil he realized he had no talent. So, he abandoned music and studied philosophy in Germany, but to no avail. Thankfully he settled on literature: Poetry and translation

 

Here is a sample of his work (translation used from Poemhunter) on TR 68gr

and Midori… 

 

 

While like many Russians artists, he embraced the promise of the revolution, he soon became disillusioned. He survived the great purge. It is said that Stalin had written besides his name: leave alone this cloud dweller. Yet his lover was sent to the gulag and had a miscarriage. Some say he survived maybe, because he translated works of Georgian Literature. Stalin was from Georgia/Russia. 

 

The culmination of his work was Dr. Zhivago, his only work of prose, for which and his poetry he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature, which brought him disgrace. He died two years later.

 

 

 

He died two years after, is dishonour for having accepted/awarded the Nobel prize (though he rejected it, 6 days after).  Dr. Zhivago was published in Russia in 1988.  

 

I don’t know why Nathan has settled on grey. I am not familiar enough with Pasternak’s work. However, the complexity of the chroma has convinced that the literary imagery of this genius would demand a cacophony of colour to create a vibrant grey. 

 

Now for the ink: 

This is a dream ink for an occasional sketcher, on good fountain pen paper. The ink is wetter than the other Russian inks, I tried and it would embrace copy paper like a long-lost lover, never to let go. I preferred it most in my medium Jinhao. I enjoyed less with EF/F nibs, though truth be said, I’m not a fan of fine lines in general, unless I’m doodling.  With TWSBI Stub, was a bit difficult to control. Though enjoyable to write. 

 

Here is an unrelated sketch:

 

 

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

Ink is bulletproof.  However, excess ink will wash away as you can see on the left image. 

 

 

·  Pens used: TWSBI Go STUB – Jinaho 450 fude/ medium nib, No name F/EF nibs. 

·  Shading: Quite a bit on good paper.

·  Ghosting: No

·  Bleed through: Yes on copy paper

·  Flow Rate: Wet

·  Lubrication: Cushiony

·  Nib Dry-out: No.

·  Start-up: No

·  Saturation:  Deep rich grey. Though on absorbent paper it turns into a dull grey. 

·  Shading Potential: Yes

·  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 

[lapis]

Great review as always, yazeh!  And it (yes, your review) somehow fits perfectly to the colour itself. And to my own attraction to inks -- especially grey inks -- because as we always like to say... "a grey isn't just any ol' grey". May of course also pertain to blacks but it's the non-grey in a grey which makes it the most attractive colour! Whew!!

[yazeh]

  On 1/5/2022 at 7:07 PM, lapis said:

Great review as always, yazeh!  And it (yes, your review) somehow fits perfectly to the colour itself. And to my own attraction to inks -- especially grey inks -- because as we always like to say... "a grey isn't just any ol' grey". May of course also pertain to blacks but it's the non-grey in a grey which makes it the most attractive colour! Whew!!

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Thanks Lapis. Yes, I was surprised by the complexity of this colour. And how it hovered between blue / green slate  and then dried to a surprising grey... Normally I fill a couple of pen.. but with this I had to fill several pens, just to appreciate the shades/ nuances...

 

[LizEF]

Great review, @yazeh!   Perhaps he chose grey because Russia is very grey (seriously, it's a very grey place - well, Moscow at least).  That chroma is fascinating.  Thanks for sharing another interesting "Russian" ink & its backstory.

[yazeh]

  On 1/5/2022 at 7:50 PM, LizEF said:

Great review, @yazeh!   Perhaps he chose grey because Russia is very grey (seriously, it's a very grey place - well, Moscow at least).  That chrroma is fascinating.  Thanks for sharing another interesting "Russian" ink & its backstory.

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Thanks Liz. If that was the case most of the Russian series have to be grey

Pasternak poetry is really fascinating. I had an EF sample, but iCloud deemed it not necessary to cooperate. So, I'll post it later

 

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review.  There really aren't a lot of reviews of the Russian series inks. On my screen the color seemed to range from almost black to that greenish tone when wet, but mainly similar in color to Diamine Grey (which I have in a pen at the moment).

This one is a maybe for me....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

  On 1/5/2022 at 9:55 PM, yazeh said:

If that was the case most of the Russian series have to be grey

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Well, maybe Pasternak got the grey, and he had to pick other colors for the other Russians.

 

  On 1/5/2022 at 9:55 PM, yazeh said:

I had an EF sample, but iCloud deemed it not necessary to cooperate. So, I'll post it later

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Maybe iCloud was all greyed out..... 😇

[yazeh]

 

@inkstainedruththanks. I say get a sample.... I don't do greys in general. This one really hit a spot for me. Both colour and name wise.

@LizEFI gave up on the photos and rescanned... 

 

Here is EF/F contrast on Tomoe River 68gr. The poem was written 2 years before winning the Nobel prize and his eventual disgrace. Quite prophetic....

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Nice.  Love that the shading still comes through in the finer nibs, just in a much lighter color.

[AmandaW]

Thankyou for mentioning the colour had changed! I just looked on the website of the local online store that carries Noodler's and, yes, the Pasternak they show is purple. I want the grey!!!

[PithyProlix]

Prospective purple poesy betrayed by grey truth,

Where Scriabin's sounded spectrum told no tone,

In dim darkened fog where luster lacks:

My tears descend like charred pears from the sky.

[yazeh]

  On 1/6/2022 at 4:06 AM, LizEF said:

Nice.  Love that the shading still comes through in the finer nibs, just in a much lighter color.

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Nothing shows off ink, like good paper!

  On 1/6/2022 at 4:09 AM, AmandaW said:

Thankyou for mentioning the colour had changed! I just looked on the website of the local online store that carries Noodler's and, yes, the Pasternak they show is purple. I want the grey!!!

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It's most intriguing when wet. Good paper does help!

But still get a sample if you can

 

  On 1/6/2022 at 7:37 AM, PithyProlix said:

Prospective purple poesy betrayed by grey truth,

Where Scriabin's sounded spectrum told no tone,

In dim darkened fog where luster lacks:

My tears descend like charred pears from the sky.

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🙏

[namrehsnoom]

Thank you for the great review and the short history lesson. Looks a very lovely grey… I like the inherent complexity in the undertones (those green & purple tones surface in your water test). Seems to have a broad range… going effortlessly from very pale grey to almost black - depending on nib/pen. Cool! This one goes on the wish list - I love greys, and this one is worth having.

[yazeh]

  On 1/8/2022 at 11:18 PM, namrehsnoom said:

Thank you for the great review and the short history lesson.

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  On 1/8/2022 at 11:18 PM, namrehsnoom said:

 

 

 

Looks a very lovely grey… I like the inherent complexity in the undertones (those green & purple tones surface in your water test). Seems to have a broad range… going effortlessly from very pale grey to almost black - depending on nib/pen.

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It's not a perfect ink. But I almost finished my sample. Which is rare

 

  On 1/8/2022 at 11:18 PM, namrehsnoom said:

 

Cool! This one goes on the wish list - I love greys, and this one is worth having.

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It is however, a wet ink.  

 

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for this wonderful review. The only thing missing is showing it to us under UV light. That's part of what makes this ink magical. You really brought it to life for me. Thank you.

[yazeh]

  On 1/18/2022 at 1:26 AM, amberleadavis said:

Thank you for this wonderful review. The only thing missing is showing it to us under UV light. That's part of what makes this ink magical. You really brought it to life for me. Thank you.

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Thanks @amberleadavis means a lot. 

Here you go:

This is mini ink wash drawing on a COL-O-RING paper... (scan) 

 

 

Here's a photo under UV...

[amberleadavis]

OH WOW That is cool!

[mizgeorge]

  On 1/18/2022 at 2:09 AM, yazeh said:

Thanks @amberleadavis means a lot. 

Here you go:

This is mini ink wash drawing on a COL-O-RING paper... (scan) 

 

 

Here's a photo under UV...

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Love this!!

[yazeh]

@mizgeorge

@amberleadavis

This is the ink artists dream ink

[amberleadavis]

@Tas I think you should check this out, based on @yazeh's comment!