The quest for the perfect blue ink

[landonitron]

Hello all! I have been looking at a lot of inks lately, trying to find the perfect purple, green, and blue. Blue is probably the most common color of ink, and definitely is the most common if you include blue-black. With all the options around I was wondering if any of you have found the perfect blue (or blue-black) for you? What was the journey like?

 

Personally, my perfect blue used to be Monteverde Capri Blue. I love the deep, bright, pure blue when used in a wet nib. It has good flow and some shading and sheening as well. I prefer washable inks too so that seals the deal. My only hang up with this is the problems Monteverde had with contamination. I have had some bottles go bad on me and am hesitant to buy from them again but I may have to when my beloved bottle of Capri Blue runs out (or I find STIB!). So now I am on the lookout for a match that won't have me worried about things growing in my bottle.

[arcfide]

Still working on that one myself. Not sure at all right now. 

[lapis]

I have a dozen perfect blues. The most perfect one (at least the one I use the most and which has zero problems) is Horizon Blue. After that, I'd include MB's Royal Blue and Permanent Blue.

You might want to check out Sandy's OOTT blues which is from 2011.

[Lithium466]

If you like Capri blue and want a similar hue but in another brand, I think the Sailor Ink studio x40 series might get close, perhaps the 540? Otherwise maybe Diamine Asa blue.

 

I prefer my blues on the purple side, and still haven't found my perfect one. Well, BSB would be the perfect colour, but the behaviour not so much.

Pilot blue has the perfect behaviour for me, but the colour, not so much  

[Estycollector]

A good wet ink for vintage pens is Waterman. I enjoy Serenity Blue. 

[Doc Dan]

https://www.penchalet.com/blog/best-everyday-blue-inks-monthly-ink-comparison/

 

Here is an interesting comparison.

 

[PithyProlix]

If someone held a gun to my head and screamed, "Perfect blue for you or you're a goner!", the first thing I'd probably blurt out is "L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Oconto!" (OK, well, maybe not blurt because it takes a while to say.) It's a good thing to contemplate beforehand in case such a situation arises.

 

Thing is, I'm pretty confident that most in this sub-forum love exploring many different inks in the blue family (as well as many other color families), have no aim whatsoever to settle on 'the one', so to speak, and are quite happy that we don't actually have to make that choice.

[Arkanabar]

Welcome to one of the most common Waypoints on the Inky Journey, Quest for the Perfect $color!  In your case, $color = blue.  (I used to use square brackets, but this software now interprets that as a markup tag.  Unfortunately, I can't go back and fix the first post in "Waypoints on the Inky Journey.")

 

My requirements differ from yours.  I wanted an attractive color that was definitely a blue, lightfastness, legibility, and decent behavior.  For me, that wound up being Noodler's Blue, which I dilute 4:1 or so with distilled water prior to use.  As for what makes for an attractive blue, that's a matter of taste, and de gustibus non est disputandum.

 

You might also look into the Shawndo Sample Mayhem thread/series, in which member Shawndo bought over 250 blue samples, and posted samples.  Alas that we've changed software since then, so the inline images have been converted back to URLs that must be selected and opened in new windows or tabs.  He passed the unused samples on to Amberlea Davis, who reviewed a fair number of them (all with the phrase "Shawndo Sample Mayhem" in the review titles).

 

Additionally, a thread collecting huge numbers of blue ink writing samples can be found here.

[Penguincollector]

  It’s blue, they’re all perfect 💙🩵.  For me, it’ all depends on the pen it’s going into. I really like Monteverde Inks and have been spared so far.  I have the Bloō collection and all those inks are lovely in my drier pens. I find their inks very wet, so maybe something like Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao, or Papier Plume Calle Real would work. 

[PolarMoonman]

For professional stuff I would go with Noodler's Bad Blue Heron, so many excellent properties that come with it. And for a bright vivid blue I go with Noodler's Blue Eel. Both have served me well.

[ErrantSmudge]

I have over two dozen different Monteverde inks, and a few years ago a handful of them did go bad.  Monteverde replaced the affected bottles and I haven't had problems since.  I'm not concerned about buying more of their inks.

[AlexLeGrande]

God has created beautiful blues in all shades.

[lapis]

Yes, I won't argue about that. But some are more beautiful than others. And -- above all -- some are more compatible with me.

[Claes]

>God has created beautiful blues in all shades.

 

Actually: no. Not in all nuances/shades/hues. Neither has Man managed to invent them.

 

I have worked with colourants (which is a collective term for pigments and dyestuffs) for many decades. In real life, there are no really pure primary pigments. They are either leaning towards green, blue, red, or yellow.

 

The colour wheel which is most up-to-date with science shows six man-made (almost primary) colours. To identify their position in the wheel, a new term was added, denoting whether the colour has a shade of (or bias towards) green, blue, red, or yellow. From that colour wheel you will learn that there yet does not exist any pure primary pigments at all.

 

A true primary colour is easy to define: no tint/bias either way, but it can neither be found in nature, nor in the chemistry lab. At least not yet.

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

[PithyProlix]

54 minutes ago, Claes said:

A true primary colour is easy to define: no tint/bias either way, but it can neither be found in nature, nor in the chemistry lab. At least not yet.

 

Off-topic but I still don't get it. No tint/bias from where? How do you define "blue" for instance (even if it is an abstract concept not actually found in nature)? What is primary still seems arbitrary to me.

 

Note also that there seems to be no 'standard' to what we actually see since each type of cone cell detects a range of frequencies.

 

(All that said, I am pretty ignorant about color theory ...)

[Claes]

> How do you define "blue" for instance (even if it is an abstract concept not actually found in nature)? What is primary still seems arbitrary to me.

 

Because the Colour Wheel (invented by Man) says that there ought to be a pure primary blue 🙂, opposite to pure primary yellow.

 

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

[PithyProlix]

26 minutes ago, Claes said:

Because the Colour Wheel (invented by Man) says that there ought to be a pure pigment blue 🙂, opposite to pure pigment yellow.

 

There's a lot I could write about that but I will summarize succinctly: oy vey!

[MHBru]

I've been on that quest for many colors but for some reason I found my perfect blue quite early.  For me it is Iroshizuku Kon Peki.  That being said, I have other very nice blues, as well.  Waterman Serenity Blue, Iro Asa Gao,and the old formulation from 20 years ago of Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue (emptied a very long time ago). 

[Doc Dan]

God created these beautiful blues that allow us to make things and describe the colors. Blue is a wonderful color, both happy and thoughtful, both dark and light, both shocking and comforting. 

[senzen]

I also have a few perfect blues: a very saturated Tsuyu Kusa in an M Pro gear, Asa Gao freshly inked in an F Carène, a very slightly watered down Blue Velvet in a B Pro Gear, Kon Peki in an M Carène, Ama Iro in an EF Studio and, and Gulf Blue in an M M120. I have to take care to store an F 75 well so Souten doesn't come out much darker.

 

With so many blues I was sure I wouldn't be adding any more but Topaz looks spectacular freshly inked in a B 725, and Bleu de Minuit really suprised me in an M Capless and a WA 912, it's a very special hue.