Kohinoor: Special Drawing Ink - BLUE

[Dt123]

*Couldn't find anything about this ink here - so i thought i take a crack at an impromptu review.*

 

Tested on cheap copy paper and Moleskin Cahier pocket sketchbook. For the wet tests pics - i soaked the pages for 3 & 5 minutes and then blow dried em - please see the copy paper wet test pic with notes for specifics on my testing.

 

I have been using this ink for about 10 years in refillable roller ball pens and over the past 3 years in a couple of Pilot Kakuno fountain pens (EF & F).

 

For the Pilot Kakuno - if it's sitting capped for a couple of days it will hard start and then start to flow (i suspect the Kakuno also has average cap sealing).

If i leave it sitting capped for 3 or more days, i have to run the nib under a little water and then it starts right up no problem (in the field I have just spit and swiped yuk!). In the roller ball pens, as long as they have ink in them, they always start perfectly.

 

I've use the entire line in my sketchbooks with wet (water color, gouache, white out, acrylic) and dry media (colored pencils, pastel pencils, chalk, whatever) and to take general notes.

 

In my experience the ink is totally waterproof as long it dries for a minute or three depending on how much I've laid down. Resits erasing great, the paper will generally tear up before the ink does (again, adequate drying is key).

 

The ink is not sold as fountain pen ink. But it's what i use it for (+ the roller ball pens).

 

Anyone else use Kohinoor ink? Special Drawing line? Trans-Media or other?

 

***This is from Kohinoor

"The Koh-I-Noor Special Drawing Ink is a short range of highly pigmented colors with rich undertones that can be used on paper or film. This professional grade drawing ink is available in a 1 oz bottle with a flip up spout that allows for easy measuring and dispensing of ink for mixing ratios and for filling technical and drawing pens. Micro-pulverized pigments are evenly dispersed in an acrylic base, making colors more lightfast than dye-based inks. These inks are semi- transparent and water resistant. They can be used with technical pens, air- brushes, crowquill pens, and paint brushes. Shake well before use as pigments may settle out over time."

 

 

 

 

 

[Dt123]

Link to the SDS sheet (not this color, same line tho)

[LizEF]

Thank you, @Dt123, for this intro and the details from Koh-I-Noor.  I've only tried one ink from their document line, and that was just a cartridge someone gave me for an EF review.  I'm sure artists will appreciate knowing your experience of using this ink in FPs despite it not being designed for that - folks often ask about that.

[Dt123]

Happy to contribute to the discourse @LizEF 

 

This is in my written notes posted here -  this ink line is discontinued. A few of the inks from this specific line (black, blue, yellow, green, brown) are easy to find from Kohinoor, as are the Trans-Media (variation of these). However, Kohinoor does still produce its standard Drawing Inks line - i haven't had my hands on 'em since i still have a lot of this stuff.

[yazeh]

Thanks for this review  As far as I know Koh-I - Nor was divided in to two companies after WW2. One is US the other in Czechoslovakia. 

Which one is yours? 

Czech:

https://catalogue.koh-i-noor.cz/en/catalogue_c627619275997188/colours-and-clays_c349326870052868/inks_c349773546651664

US:

https://www.kohinoorusa.com/inks

The US company doesn't have fountain pen inks byw. 

 

Like @LizEF I know only of the fountain pen document black (From the Czech company)  (which is actually a green black). I know that the document blue has a reddish sheen) and  they have 4 "classic" inks.

 

[Dt123]

Happy to put the info out into the world @yazeh

 

This is the link: https://www.kohinoorusa.com/specialdrawingink

 

And interesting to know about the two companies existing separate (side note...i believe all of the Special Drawing Inks state - Made in the US).

 

I was hoping the Czech site would have the SDS/MSDS sheets - to compare the ingredients - the Czech SDS are readily not available unfortunately (that i could see). However the Czech Artist Drawing Ink did state the presence and the US Special Drawing Ink does not list that, which in and of it self not mean it isn't present, so whatever that's worth.

 

My journey to these inks was circuitous. I was a big fan of the Kohinoor "Nexus" roller ball pens and the ink inside. After the nexus pens where well discontinued i wrote to Kohinoor gushing my love for them and wanted details about the ink inside. That led to a cool email back-and-forth with Ed Brickler of Chartpak. Here in part is what he shared with me:

 

The original rollerball pen was actually designed for me.  I was asked if I had my choice of a pen what would it be.  I asked for a rollerball sketch pen with a permanent waterproof black ink.  That original pen became the Grumbacher Sketch Pen.  The next generation was the Koh-I-Noor Nexus.  

 

To answer your question, since pens were disposable the inks were a hybrid acrylic-based ink.  The closes ink available was the Koh-I-Noor 9066 inks [discontinued]. If you are looking for a color pigmented, we do have the Koh-I-Noor 9065 inks.  They are shellac-based.

 

Although the Nexus pens where intended as disposable, they very easily dissemble and the roller ball and felt pipettes are replaceable - and the entire barrel is the ink reservoir!

 

[PithyProlix]

Thanks for the detailed review! There's a whole world of ink other than the inks intended for fountain pens. It is fascinating! 

 

4 hours ago, Dt123 said:

I was hoping the Czech site would have the SDS/MSDS sheets - to compare the ingredients - the Czech SDS are readily not available unfortunately (that i could see).

 

I really wish more manufacturers would make their ink safety data sheets available. It can sometimes be very challenging to ship ink without one - I have hit a brick wall with DHL, for instance. I tried my best to find an SDS/MSDS for Pilot Japan inks and, when I couldn't find one, asked a couple Pilot contacts for one - all I got from them was silence. 

[Dt123]

No problem @PithyProlix I had fun doing it.

 

Sorry to hear about the difficulty finding Pilot Japan's MSDS. Personally I've had some success going through California distributors for products - since California has a lot of cancer warning requirements.

 

Guessing you've already seen this older white sheet - https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wc-prod-pim/Asset_Documents/Pilot Iroshizuku Ink SDS.pdf

[PithyProlix]

7 hours ago, Dt123 said:

Personally I've had some success going through California distributors for products - since California has a lot of cancer warning requirements.

 

Thanks, I might give that a try. 

 

7 hours ago, Dt123 said:

Guessing you've already seen this older white sheet - https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wc-prod-pim/Asset_Documents/Pilot Iroshizuku Ink SDS.pdf

 

I think I did. I am looking for one for regular Pilot Blue and Black. It needs to be recent but I can't remember what the shippers require.

[Dt123]

Okay, this is a lightfastness update!

 

Left this test page out in full SoCal sun for 16 days.

 

While this is not a 30-90 or 356 light fastness day update, i have been using this ink for 10 years - longer if we account for using the Nexus pens which has a similar ink - and have not had any fading, color shift or evidence of transience on artwork or writing samples under any conditions.

 

Hope it sheds some light on the inks performance 🌞

 

**the only bleed is from my finger rubbing - even tho the camera makes the page look bluish in some areas - it is not
(see above testing notes)**

[XYZZY]

It's an acrylic ink?  And you put it into a fountain pen?  Instead of "That's crazy!" or somesuch comment, I'll say Thank You.  I'm one of those people who frequently wonders what happens when you put "Dry clean only" materials into the washing machine at home, yet have never tried it.  I think it's pretty neat that you tried this and have positive results.  I wouldn't expect that to mean that any acrylic substance will work well, but it's cool that you have one.

 

The Kakuno's cap has an inner cap to provide a seal.  I don't know how it compares to other pens' inner cap sealing, but I wouldn't jump to assume your hard-start problems were because of the cap.  Certainly it could be, but my nickel is on it being the ink.

[inkstainedruth]

I had a set of Koh-i-noor Rapidographs (a high school commencement present from my parents) and I remember back when I was in college, a guy I knew from the campus coffee house didn't understand why I used the Koh-i-noor ink instead of something super black like Higgins India ink.  And I said it was because I mostly used them for drawing, and the grayish/brown Koh-i-noor ink worked well enough for my purposes (it wasn't until I even got to college that I learned that they were "ruling pens" -- the only other person I knew in high school who had some used hers for drawing.  Although later, when I was working doing layout and paste up professionally, I used to wonder if there was some sort of non-repro blue ink I could get for them; the non-repro blue pencils had to constantly be sharpened to get a fine enough point, and the non-repro blue ballpoints were blobby and you couldn't get a fine line with them at ALL...

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Dt123]

9 hours ago, XYZZY said:

It's an acrylic ink?  And you put it into a fountain pen?  Instead of "That's crazy!" or somesuch comment, I'll say Thank You.  I'm one of those people who frequently wonders what happens when you put "Dry clean only" materials into the washing machine at home, yet have never tried it.  I think it's pretty neat that you tried this and have positive results.  I wouldn't expect that to mean that any acrylic substance will work well, but it's cool that you have one.

 

The Kakuno's cap has an inner cap to provide a seal.  I don't know how it compares to other pens' inner cap sealing, but I wouldn't jump to assume your hard-start problems were because of the cap.  Certainly it could be, but my nickel is on it being the ink.

 

From Kohinoor "A Pigmented Acrylic Based Professional Grade Ink"

 

I know that should seem obvious...but, that never even occurred to me with the Kakuno. I'll flush it out and try some rohrer & klingner ink sketchink and see what happens. That said, the ink is so great for my needs - drawing and sketching - that a flash rinse or wet napkin wipe are more than worth it.

 

Thanks for the nickle!

[Dt123]

The Rapidographs are seen a bit of a renaissance right now. Once of my younger brother was asking me about them last week.

 

I don't have any Rapidographs left but i do have a Kohinoor ArtPen fountain pen.

 

Interestingly, the same ink has been sitting in this pen for two weeks, just tried it and no hard start.