EFNIR: Colorverse Bluish Green

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Colorverse Bluish Green

This is review #166 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was easy with plain water but did take just a little longer - seems to be a saturated ink. I have absolutely nothing like this color. I included some common colors for contrast / comparison, but they're nothing like this color. It is green (not teal), leans blue, and is rather dark. It's as if my still camera and microscope just ignored the green. The video is pretty accurate. The scan is the most accurate still by far. I did adjust the color a bit on the others because they were so completely off. They're closer now, but still not quite right. The text in the YouTube thumbnail image gives the right impression. (The images look more accurate on my phone than my laptop, so heaven knows what *you'll* see...)

The new "line width" image was taken at 100x and is one of the lines used to test dry time. The scale marked 330µm is divided into 33µm increments (so the line width is roughly 330µm).  [ETA: I'm an idiot... When I started, the line was 300µm, with 10 divisions of 30µm each. When I changed the scale to 330µm, I spaced on the fact that the divisions would then be 33µm... ]

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Line width measured via microscope at 100x:

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap

Previous Review: Van Dieman's Ink Hanging Lake.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh?  Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[A Smug Dill]

14 minutes ago, LizEF said:

The new "line width" image was taken at 100x and is one of the lines used to test dry time. The scale marked 330µm is divided into 30µm increments (so the line width is roughly 330µm).

 

 

That information is very useful, when it comes to making comparisons! Thank you for that … and for the review, too, of course.

[LizEF]

14 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

That information is very useful, when it comes to making comparisons! Thank you for that … and for the review, too, of course.

You're very welcome!  Once I figured out the calibration, and adding that scale, I realized just how useful it would be.  Over on reddit, people often ask what ink writes the narrowest line.  Once I'm done photographing all my old reviews, I'll be able to give them a fairly scientific answer to that question.  Far from perfect, but I'm not willing to do more, and it's good enough, IMO.

 

(And I think I'll be able to draw other conclusions for my own use, once I've got the data in - e.g. correlation with lubrication and/or flow.  I may have to convert my spreadsheet into a database...  Good thing I used to be a database application developer. )

[yazeh]

Great job @LizEF! 

I seem to have quite a bit bluish- greens. It seems I've been more than you too Muirdoor

 

[LizEF]

27 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great job @LizEF! 

I seem to have quite a bit bluish- greens. It seems I've been more than you too Muirdoor

Thanks!  Surely you found more than bluish green inks on the other side of your Muirdoor?

[I-am-not-really-here]

Thanks for the review.  This color isn't for me but might be okay around Christmastime because it has a color similar to a balsam fir.

[LizEF]

37 minutes ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

Thanks for the review.  This color isn't for me but might be okay around Christmastime because it has a color similar to a balsam fir.

You're very welcome!  Yes, the color is somewhat similar to some evergreens.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Balsam fir!  Exactly.

 

For some reason the video would not work for me.  😭 But thank you for the review and adventure!  

 

Wait.  I switched to the tubey thing.  Eternity dry time?  Nix....and when did Colorverse stop naming inks for planety-spacey stuff?

[LizEF]

14 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

For some reason the video would not work for me.  😭

I just re-tested it in a private window (to ensure it works for people other than me), and on the YouTube app on my android device.  Both worked.  Sorry.  If I knew something I could do to fix it for you, I would.

 

17 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

But thank you for the review and adventure!  

You're welcome!

 

17 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Wait.  I switched to the tubey thing.  Eternity dry time?  Nix....and when did Colorverse stop naming inks for planety-spacey stuff?

  Yeah, the next ink is almost eternal, too.  You'll just have to sit on the edge of your seat waiting...  Colorverse have multiple series these days, some of which are non-spacey.

[mizgeorge]

Thank you @LizEF - a super useful review and I also love the addition of the extreme close up - inspired idea!

 

I've been on the fence about getting this one - the project series are much more affordable than most of Colorverse's other ranges, but this convinces me it's not one I need - either for the colour or properties. 

[axialix]

36 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

..the project series are much more affordable than most of Colorverse's other ranges, but this convinces me it's not one I need - either for the colour or properties. 

 

How I wish Colorverse would offer all of their inks with the pricing and packaging of the Project inks. $25 bucks for 65ml of ink is a pretty good deal. I believe their brand would be enormously popular if they had chosen to go this route.

 

I like this color, and it has a boatload of red sheen, it just writes extremely dry in a flex pen, to the point of uselessness.

 

@LizEF This review is much appreciated. May I ask what kind of paper are you using for your swatch cards?

[LizEF]

48 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Thank you @LizEF - a super useful review and I also love the addition of the extreme close up - inspired idea!

You're very welcome!    Glad it's helpful.  Blame my January de-Junking - it brought the microscope back to my attention, and thanks to the amazing support at Motic (makers of the camera in the microscope) and my crazy aunt who keeps non-functional Windows XP computers, I was able to upgrade the camera's firmware and get it connected to modern computers, leading me to discover the option of measuring line width - something I've wanted to do for quite a long time, but thought I didn't have the tool for.

 

52 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

I've been on the fence about getting this one - the project series are much more affordable than most of Colorverse's other ranges, but this convinces me it's not one I need - either for the colour or properties.

The color's not terribly interesting (to me) and the eternal dry time in a Japanese EF! is just baffling.  I suppose if you like using blotting paper, this is the ink for you, but otherwise...  I'm going to give Colorverse some credit and say there's no way (chemically speaking) to make this ink such that it dries faster, that doing so would alter the color, or make it catch fire when you uncap the bottle, or something that management (or the company lawyers) nixed...

[MissCellany]

Delightful review, as always! I enjoy this color quite a bit, and it'll fill our a gap in my collection between the blues, teals, and greenish turquoises quite well. One to consider, for sure! 

 

Regarding dry times- the only other Colorverse ink I have experience with, Black Hole, also had an inconveniently long dry time. I wonder if that's a consistency with the brand as a whole?

[LizEF]

1 minute ago, axialix said:

@LizEF This review is much appreciated. May I ask what kind of paper are you using for your swatch cards?

You're very welcome!  My swatch cards are Myndology cards from WalMart (Looks like the ones I bought may be discontinued - and WalMart may not be carrying the brand any more, not sure; but I found them on Amazon, so I'm going to buy a 6-pack which should last plenty long enough):

 

 

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, MissCellany said:

Delightful review, as always!

Thank you!

 

9 minutes ago, MissCellany said:

Regarding dry times- .... I wonder if that's a consistency with the brand as a whole?

I've reviewed four Colorverse inks so far, and three had eternal dry times.  The fourth dried in 5 seconds, but had hideous lubrication and almost no color (Anti-Matter).  I have three more to go (though two are Ham #65, with and without glitter), and I know Ham #65 is really wet and well-lubricated, so I suspect it will also have an eternal dry time.  No idea about Vortex Motion.  Perhaps Colorverse are heavily invested in blotting paper manufacturing...

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF for introducing this Colorverse ink and for the story part!

 

Huuuaaah, this is a colour I like a lot.  But wait, there is, again, this eternity descriptor for drying time. Such a pity!

Diamine Holly and Emeraud deChivor without glitter are similar in colour with high, but acceptable dry times. I guess, this is the adverse secondary effect of highly saturated inks.

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for introducing this Colorverse ink and for the story part!

You're very welcome!

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

Emeraud deChivor

They actually look a lot different to my eyes. The Colorverse is darker, more evergreen-tree-ish, less emerald.  I think EOC might have more blue, not sure - it's hard for me to describe the difference, but it's pretty significant to my eyes.  I don't have Diamine Holly, but from a google image search, I suspect it's closer to the Colorverse, but less blue.  In fact, the Colorverse might be a mix of the two.

 

2 hours ago, InesF said:

I guess, this is the adverse secondary effect of highly saturated inks.

It does seem so.  I use blotter pages as bookmarks, so it doesn't matter so much to me.  ETA: I also like watching ink dry.

[A Smug Dill]

On 2/23/2022 at 11:24 PM, InesF said:

Huuuaaah, this is a colour I like a lot.  But wait, there is, again, this eternity descriptor for drying time. Such a pity!

 

 

On 2/23/2022 at 11:24 PM, InesF said:

Diamine Holly and Emeraud deChivor without glitter are similar in colour…

 

For you:

 

Colorverse Bluish Green looks blue-black next to Diamine Holly, which is much greener while ever so slightly leaning towards blue, and Émeraude de Chivor, which appears turquoise.

 

The closest matches in colour I can find are Diamine Seasons Greetings (which is slightly more green) and KWZ Ink IG Turquoise (which is slightly more blue); Colorverse Bluish Green is sorta halfway between those two.

 

Another pair of greener-and-bluer inks, where Colorverse Bluish Green falls halfway in between, but where the conceptual distance between the colours are greater, would be Sailor Shikiori Miruai and Noodler's Aircorp Blue Black.

 

[LizEF]

Thank you, @A Smug Dill!

[LizEF]

For anyone who cares, while I was getting some black inks to test for my aunt, I also picked up those samples which Goulet carry which people have requested I review (assuming I documented the request on my list), and a few more which were on sale and looked at least a little interesting.  I've already added them to my poll, even though they won't likely arrive for a week or more since they don't seem likely to get voted to the top before they arrive.  Here are the new ones:

1. De Atramentis Archive Ink
2. De Atramentis Document Ink Dark Blue
3. De Atramentis Jane Austen
4. Diamine Jet Black
5. Diamine Meadow
6. Diamine Moon Dust
7. Diamine Oxford Blue
8. Diamine Silver Fox
9. Diamine Writer's Blood
10. Diplomat Burgundy
11. Diplomat Caramel
12. Diplomat Caribbean
13. Diplomat Orchid
14. Diplomat Pine Tree
15. Diplomat Purple
16. Herbin Perle Noire
17. Kaweco Pearl Black
18. Noodler's Black
19. Noodler's Rome Burning
20. Noodler's X-Feather Black
21. Noodler's X-Feather Blue
22. Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black
23. Platinum Pigmented Blue
24. Sailor Kiwaguro Pigmented Black

I also added a Rhodia #16 dot pad, to see for myself whether they're really so much worse than in years past, as folks have reported.  Also, not that anyone will likely care, but barring some unusual event, this probably means that I won't be buying more ink samples until spring 2023, since I now have enough to last that long.