Noodler's Lermontov

[yazeh]

Mikhail Lermontov (1814 -1841) Russian poet, novelist.

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.

He came to prominence after Pushkin’s death, writing a poem in his memory, which landed him in hot water with the authorities and exiled him to the Caucuses. He wrote the first Russian psychological novel, A Hero of Our time. He himself, died in duel, at age 26. 

He was also a painter. 

Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.

 

His mother, from Russian nobility, died young and he was raised by his rich, doting grandmother, mostly in the Caucuses due to his fragile health. His grandmother made sure that he would have least contact with his father. 

 

It is no surprise with such an upbringing, and childhood traumas, the main character of his novel, is a narcissistic male, seduced women like Don Juan, but unlike the him was aware of his emptiness.

 

I truly appreciated discovering this very astute and self-aware writer, and his many flaws. And the beauty of his poetry. Here is Sail, translated by Vladimir Nabakov. 

 

HP 32 - Paper - With modern flex nib

 

 

 

 

Apparently, the word blue does not exist in Russian (If I'm wrong, hopefully Russian-speakers will correct me). They have words for dark/navy blue or light blue. The latter is used with much emphasis in the novel. Hence, why I assume, Mr. Tardiff, used this ice blue.

It's a truly agreeable ink, very well behaved, that I used with much ease even on Hammermill 20 lb paper, with no apparent ghosting or bleed through. 

 

Chroma:

 

Writing samples:

Photo:

 

 

Water resistance is quite good. In Noodler's vocabulary bulletproof means that if someone attempts forgery it'll be obvious as you can see on the left side of the image. 

 

Comparison:

 

I was inspired by the last line of his poem Sail, to do this sketch: 

But you, wild rover, pray for tempests,
As if in tempests there was peace!

For the background I used Diamine Shimmering Seas (top), Kakimori Torori (orange yellow). The sky and sea are done with Lermontov, in diluted form. 

And the little sail boat, I used a dab of J Herbin's Larmes de cassis. 

 

Note how eerie it looks in under the UV light It's fluorescent ink)

 

 

 

 · Pens used: Pilot Elite (Ef/Stub) Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B), Kanwrite Ultraflex, 

· What I liked: It’s a pleasure to write with. It shines with Broad nib. 

· What I did not like,: it’s not an ink for all seasons. You wouldn’t want to use it in the dead of winter or on cold gloomy fall days. 

· What some might not like: The colour moves/changes when water touches it. 

· Shading: None. Unless you write on a modern shiny postal card. 

· Ghosting: Very well behaved. Even on copy paper. 

· Bleed through: None. 

· Flow Rate: Wet

· Lubrication: Good. It’s slightly dry. 

· Nib Dry-out: None.

· Start-up: None

· Saturation: Medium.

· Shading Potential: None.

· Sheen: None.

· Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None

· Nib Creep / “Crud”: Nope.

· Staining (pen): No.

· Clogging: No. 

· Cleaning: Easy. 

· Water resistance: Very good. The excess ink came off, but the rest was stable. 

· Availability: 3 oz/90 ml bottles, Russian Series is more expensive than the traditional line of Noodler’s. 

 

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier  

[LizEF]

Thanks for your review, @yazeh, and the very thorough background, as always.   I remember liking Lermontov a lot when I took a Russian Lit class in college.  I had no idea he was a painter too - and I rather like the painting.

 

Russian has multiple words for blue, but perhaps not one that's generic - you'd need an actual Russian (or someone who lived among them more than I did) to tell you that one.

 

Very nice chroma.   The ink looks to lean green, perhaps not quite teal, but headed in that direction.

 

I like your little seascape, sort of like looking out a porthole at a passing ship.  Cool UV version.

[yazeh]

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks for your review, @yazeh, and the very thorough background, as always.   I remember liking Lermontov a lot when I took a Russian Lit class in college.  I had no idea he was a painter too - and I rather like the painting.

For such a young author, he seems to have been honest and very self aware. Funny enough, Nabokov considered his prose awful, while others said, his Russian was nuanced

I find his poem, and the quote is such a reflection of modern times, when leaders, think they'll find peace in war

 

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Russian has multiple words for blue, but perhaps not one that's generic - you'd need an actual Russian (or someone who lived among them more than I did) to tell you that one.

I heard it on a documentary about Lermontov. When I checked the word for blue the translation was navy blue. So, I assumed there was a grain of truth somewhere. 

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Very nice chroma.   The ink looks to lean green, perhaps not quite teal, but headed in that direction.

 

It is indeed. 

5 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

I like your little seascape, sort of like looking out a porthole at a passing ship.  Cool UV version.

Thank you. I was aiming for a tear drop  

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

For such a young author, he seems to have been honest and very self aware. Funny enough, Nabokov considered his prose awful, while others said, his Russian was nuanced

Eye and ear of the beholder and all that...

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I find his poem, and the quote is such a reflection of modern times, when leaders, think they'll find peace in war

I suspect they're looking for wealth and power, not peace, but we'd best stop now or we'll get booted...

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I heard it on a documentary about Lermontov. When I checked the word for blue the translation was navy blue. So, I assumed there was a grain of truth somewhere. 

Yeah, it's darker blues - colors I'd consider "blue" and "dark blue".  The other common word is for a lighter or sky blue.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thank you. I was aiming for a tear drop  

My imagination insisted on turning your tear drop into a porthole, even though it's not shaped like a porthole...   You'll have to excuse it (my imagination), sometimes it gets carried away, or stubborn, or both...

[yazeh]

13 hours ago, LizEF said:

Eye and ear of the beholder and all that...

 

I suspect they're looking for wealth and power, not peace, but we'd best stop now or we'll get booted...

 

Yep you're right to write. 

13 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Yeah, it's darker blues - colors I'd consider "blue" and "dark blue".  The other common word is for a lighter or sky blue.

Thanks for the clarification. 

13 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

My imagination insisted on turning your tear drop into a porthole, even though it's not shaped like a porthole...   You'll have to excuse it (my imagination), sometimes it gets carried away, or stubborn, or both...

That's the beauty of imagination. We see magic in the mundane, vive la difference