Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris

[namrehsnoom]

Rohrer and Klingner Verdigris

Rohrer and Klinger – founded in 1892 in Leipzig, Germany – is a company that is mainly focusing on inks for all purposes, including fountain pen inks. Their inks come in very recognizable retro-style 50 ml bottles. R&K have produced a number of really good-looking inks, and this Verdigris is one of them. It’s only quite recently that I got a bottle of it and tried it out in my pens. Probably already reviewed ad nauseum, but I’d still like to take a shot at it and give you my own opinion.

 

R&K Verdigris is a blue-black ink at heart, but it goes beyond that. It’s balancing on the boundary between blue-black and teal… there’s some green in the mix, but not enough to cross the border and be called a true teal. I love this type of complexity in inks, where it is difficult to pinpoint the colour at a single glance. The ink is wet and saturated, and thus writes beautifully in very fine nibs. But it’s also an ink with an attitude, that doesn’t work well with lower quality paper. But in my opinion, the Force is strong in this one – a great addition to my ink stash!

 

The chromatography shows a complex mix of dyes – the blue & black tones dominate, but there is also a strong yellow-green component. All this mixes together to a lovely and complex blue-black, that leans towards teal territory. Rohrer & Klingner’s ink-makers sure know their craft!

 

To show you the impact of saturation on the ink’s look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of a piece of 52 gsm Tomoe River paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. Verdigris has a narrow contrast range – even the lighter parts are already quite saturated. You can expect some subtle shading in dry pens (that typically cover the left side of the spectrum), but with wet pens the shading will mostly be drown out and disappear due to the intense saturation of the ink.

 

Technically, the ink writes wet and well-lubricated with heavy saturation. I also noticed that this Verdigris doesn’t tolerate low-quality paper. Especially with rough-surface paper, the ink gets sucked right into and through the page, resulting in quite some see-through and bleed-through. For me, the sweet spot for this ink is dry pens and/or fine nibs, combined with good-quality paper. 

 

In the writing samples below, I use my typical variety of different paper types. This gives you a good feel for what the ink is capable of. On each scrap of paper I show you:

• An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip
• 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation
• An ink scribble made with an M-nib Safari fountain pen
• The name of the paper used, written with B-nib Lamy Safari
• A small text sample, written with the M-nib Lamy Safari
• Source of the quote, with a Pelikan steel F-nib
• Drying times of the ink on the paper, with the M-nib Lamy Safari

 

I’ve also added a photo to give you another view on the ink. Scanned images and photos often capture different aspects of the ink’s colour & contrast. That’s why I present them both. In this case, both scan and photo capture the ink’s colour well. The shading is more realistic in the photo (it’s washed out in the scan).

 

Verdigris looks good on all types of paper, both white and more creamy ones. The ink definitely prefers hard-surface and high-quality paper. On more absorbent and lower quality papers (most office-type copy paper), you can see a bit of feathering, and you also get see-through and bleed-through. Drying times are in the 15 second range on most good quality papers. On absorbent copy paper, the ink gets sucked right into the page, with 0-5 second drying times.

 

Writing with different nib sizes

The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing. R&K verdigris can handle all nib-sizes, but looks at its best in finer nibs and/or dry pens (my opinion). With wet pens, the increased saturation burns away any shading, except when using EF/F nibs. I prefer to use this ink with fairly dry fine-nibbed writers – in my opinion that’s the sweet spot for this ink. And the colour looks really serious and business-like. It’s definitely a good candidate for your office pen (provided you use your own notebook with fountain-pen friendly paper). 

 

Related inks
To show off related inks, I use my nine-grid format, with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test – all in a very compact format. Diamine Blue Black and L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Equinoxe(5) seem to be closest in colour to this Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris.

 

Inkxperiment – Pyramids
As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing. It’s a fun extension of the hobby, and these single-ink drawings often present a real challenge. It also gives you an idea of what the ink is capable of in a more artistic setting.

 

Inspiration for this inkxperiment comes from Terry Pratchett’s Pyramids. This book tells the story of prince Teppic of the tiny kingdom of Djelibeybi. A land where the pyramid city of the dead eclipses the city of the living. A land where pyramids accumulate energy during the day, and where the night sky is bright with the light of pyramids flaring off their energy. A land where the gods are real and walk the streets. I tried to capture these ideas in my inkxperiment.

 

I started with an A4 sheet of HP photo paper, and covered two square cut-outs with some paper. I then used heavily water-diluted ink and a piece of paper towel to create the background. Next I stenciled in the pyramid shapes with rubber stamps, and added the flaring beams that release all that pyramid power. Finally I added the Egyptian-themed figures to the square cut-outs, completing the drawing. The king in the top-right cut-out looks a bit childish – non-abstract drawing is definitely not my forte 😉. Nevertheless, the end result gives you a good idea of what can be achieved with this Verdigris in an artistic context.

 

Inkxpired – computational art
I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper, and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper.

 

For this computational derivation, I tried to convert the ink drawing to create the impression of a photograph of a mural, painted on a recently excavated temple in the desert. Archeologists are ecstatic - the energy-flaring pyramids are unquestionably there, and serve as proof that the mystical land of Djelibeybi  is more than a myth…

 

I started by inverting the colours in the original inkxperiment drawing, and applied a glossy magazine filter to the result. I then toned down the colours using an “old paper” filter, and finally used a cooler colour scheme to achieve that old painted mural effect. I quite like the end result, that summarizes Pratchett’s novel well.

 

Conclusion
Rohrer and Klingner make some great inks, and this blue-black Verdigris is no exception. A very nice – but difficult to define – colour that works great for both writing and drawing. Best used with a fine-nibbed pen on good quality paper. Definitely an ink that appeals to me, and a great addition to the ink stash.

Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib

 

Back-side of writing samples on different paper types

 

 

[LizEF]

Thank you, @namrehsnoom!  I love this ink.  If I didn't already have so many similar colors (and ink up to my ears), I'd have a bottle of it already.  It is definitely one of my favorites.  I'll probably end up with a bottle of it next time I order samples (toward the end of next year...).  I've never understood why FP people would care about crappy paper anyway...    If the pen and ink are worth buying, then so is good paper!

 

Love the computational version of your art best - my first thought was it was the true nighttime version of the pyramids, lighting up the sky with their energy.

[yazeh]

Another excellent and exquisite review @namrehsnoom  
Most of all I enjoyed your art work, even the digital version (I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to art). It seems a shoot out will be soon on its way

 

[SashK]

An excellent and in depth review of a legendary ink. 

 

This is the ink I test all new pens with first. If it doesn't work well with this ink, there is something wrong with the pen!

 

 

 

 

Fun fact: My profile picture shows R&K Verdegris. And yes, Klingner is missing an N.

[lapis]

Thanks for the good review. Especially the 8 comparative colours. Not all that easy to whip out so many blue-blacks (of which there are hundreds, I'd say) with the right dosage of green in them....

[mizgeorge]

Wonderful. Just wonderful. Thank you @namrehsnoom for another fantastic contribution - these are so appreciated.

[namrehsnoom]

Thank you all for the kind comments. I had a lot of fun doing this review, and with this Verdigris it was definitely worth the effort.

 

3 hours ago, yazeh said:

… It seems a shoot out will be soon on its way

🤔 Hmm… let’s see. That Equinoxe(5) is a big favourite of mine. That one will surely knock the bejesus out of this R&K ink … or not? Time to reserve the boxing ring and schedule the fight.

[LizEF]

10 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

That Equinoxe(5) is a big favourite of mine. That one will surely knock the bejesus out of this R&K ink … or not? Time to reserve the boxing ring and schedule the fight.

Yes!!!

[FayeV]

Thank you for this excellent review. I enjoyed reading all the quotes. R&K Verdigris is one of my favorites and it is permanently paired with my Lamy 2k.

[mizgeorge]

13 hours ago, LizEF said:

Yes!!!

and a big +1 here

[amberleadavis]

Steller review!  And what is the book?

[senzen]

Great review; Verdigris with an F solid blue M605 is as perfect as it gets for me, also looks nice, lighter with an Artus 41 FK. For some reason it didn't make sense to me with a Midnight Blue Sailor Pro Gear but it might for those that like their pens the same colour as their inks...

[InesF]

Thank you, @namrehsnoom, for this comprehensive and exciting review. Verdigris has become one of my favourite inks as soon as after writing only two text lines.

I love your graphical interpretation of Pyramids and appreciate how much effort you put into your reviews! Well done! 😃

[eli68]

Thank you!  Such an in-depth review deserves congratulations, and of a favourite of mine, too!  Well done!