J Herbin Rouge Opera

[yazeh]

J Herbin Rouge Opera

Many thanks to  @Lithium466  for the sample. 

 

 

 This is a more of a burgundy than a red.  I’m assuming the colour was inspired after the plush seats of Paris Opera. 

 

 

 

It’s a wet ink, not suitable for copy paper, lubrication below average. 

I would say, if you’re an opera lover this might be the ink for you, if not prends garde à toi 🌹

(sorry, opera quotes will abound. The line is from Carmen's Habanera aria, which translate as Beware!)

Chroma:

 

 

 

Writing Samples:

 

 

 

Photo:

 

Comparison:

Water test:

 

Art Work: Queen of the Night

 

This little fountain pen sketch was inspired by my cat, who sometimes "sings" in early mornings, to be let out. Her yowling reminds me of from Mozart's The Magic Flute:

 

Other inks used:

Graf von Faber-Castell Stone Grey

Rohrer & Klingner Helianthus

 

 

·      Pens used: Pilot Kakuna Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B, BB), Nib Creaper semi-flex

·      What I liked: Nice colour. 

·      What I did not like: It’s a pinkish red. Maybe I'm not much into reds

·       What some might not like: Very wet, low lubrication, longish dry times. 

·      Shading: Subtle. 

·      Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper, unless you write with Japanese Ef.

·      Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper.

·      Flow Rate: Wet

·      Lubrication: Slightly below average

·      Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

·      Start-up:  Ok

·      Saturation:  Pastel

·      Shading Potential: Subtle 

·      Sheen: No. 

·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. 

·      Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice.

·      Staining (pen): Did not notice. 

·      Clogging: Did not notice.

·      Cleaning: Ultimately, it’s a dark pink ink. So, the more it stays, the more time it’ll take to clean. 

·      Water resistance: Meh!

·      Availability: 10 ml, 30 ml and cartridges. 

 

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

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Chroma looks bright pink on my monitor.  And most of the writing on white paper looks to lean pink, too.  The ink looks nice from your flex nib, though.

 

Love swatch kitty and mouse!  And I'm thinking water test kitty was most intimidating before he got drenched.

 

And the artwork! Fabulous!  Poor mousey!

 

Thank you, @yazeh for a too-fun review!

[Misfit]

I like some opera. I have a bottle of this ink. I’ll have to see if I have any writing samples to share. 

[yazeh]

7 hours ago, LizEF said:

Chroma looks bright pink on my monitor. 

It's a difficult colour to describe for sure. Even Herbin doesn't lump it with their other "reds" but with the pinks

https://www.jherbin.com/fountain_pen_inks.html#bottled

7 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

And most of the writing on white paper looks to lean pink, too.  The ink looks nice from your flex nib, though.

Yeah, it does nice. So, one has to choose pen according  

7 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Love swatch kitty and mouse! 

Classic isn't it  

7 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

And I'm thinking water test kitty was most intimidating before he got drenched.

 

It was inspired by one of Wagner's operas, and Fritz Lang's silent movie, Die Nibelungen.  I remember a scene vividly when the inter-title introduced " a beauty" and the audience laughed as the "beauty" standards were way off  I always wanted to capture the essence of that scene  

7 hours ago, LizEF said:

And the artwork! Fabulous!  Poor mousey!

Yep, I sure as a double cat owner, you know what it is. They have a knack, especially to sing only in the mornings, when you haven't slept well  

7 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Thank you, @yazeh for a too-fun review!

Glad you enjoyed it 🙏

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, Misfit said:

I like some opera. I have a bottle of this ink. I’ll have to see if I have any writing samples to share. 

Then listen to a favourite one and play with this ink and not vice versa   

[Lithium466]

Oh yes, Opera! But the ink? No. That's the colour of old worn out seats in one of these small cinema that still existed when I was young, after 30 years of popcorn explosions and Pepsi spills, or worse.

Could mousey have fainted due to disgust and/or boredom? But I exaggerate, this isn't such a bad ink (there's Monteverde "red" for that), just very "Herbin", and not their best...

 

Thank you for the review of that (not so) singing ink

[lapis]

Hmm.... I see you're into opera. Don't have to love red for that....

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Oh yes, Opera!

 

2 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

But the ink? No. That's the colour of old worn out seats in one of these small cinema that still existed when I was young, after 30 years of popcorn explosions and Pepsi spills, or worse.

You mean like the  Champollion?  

2 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Could mousey have fainted due to disgust and/or boredom?

Ah no too much Castafiore at dawn  

2 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

 

But I exaggerate, this isn't such a bad ink (there's Monteverde "red" for that), just very "Herbin", and not their best...

It's ok but not exciting  

2 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

 

Thank you for the review of that (not so) singing ink

A pleasure!

 

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, lapis said:

Hmm.... I see you're into opera.

I used to be. A lot! Not anymore, don't have the patience for it anymore  

1 hour ago, lapis said:

 

Don't have to love red for that....

Nope. One doesn't

 

[LizEF]

3 hours ago, yazeh said:

It was inspired by one of Wagner's operas

I assumed so.   Once again reminds me of a Looney Tunes where Bugs Bunny is the opera singer.  

 

3 hours ago, yazeh said:

Yep, I sure as a double cat owner, you know what it is. They have a knack, especially to sing only in the mornings, when you haven't slept well  

They tend to be the reason I haven't slept well....

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have Rouge Opera (as well as Skrip Red), though not really being a red ink person, I tend to use Monteverde, or my own Red Mix (into which went the Skrip!)

 

Poor wet kitteh diva!  But I can almost hear the aria.

 

Opera-lover here, by the way… thanks as always, @yazeh, for these thorough and vastly entertaining Ink-Splorations. 

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

I assumed so.   Once again reminds me of a Looney Tunes where Bugs Bunny is the opera singer.  

 

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

They tend to be the reason I haven't slept well....

🙀

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I have Rouge Opera (as well as Skrip Red), though not really being a red ink person, I tend to use Monteverde, or my own Red Mix (into which went the Skrip!)

I get that. I'm not much of a red person myself, ink wise that is  Monteverde must be nice and well lubricated, I hope

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Poor wet kitteh diva!  But I can almost hear the aria.

Especially at 5:30 am

 

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

Opera-lover here, by the way… thanks as always, @yazeh, for these thorough and vastly entertaining Ink-Splorations. 

A pleasure!  🙏

[InesF]

Thank you, @yazeh, for this comprehensive ink review, for the insight into healthy opera-sleep and for the nice try to resurrect brave mouse without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!   

 

Rouge Opera was the first red ink I used. It was somewhere around 1985 to 90 when I first experienced that some inks look nice but are not useable with my Lamy CP1 M steel nib. The red flooded the paper and required to write 5mm minuscules. So I "diluted" it with Pelikan 4001 Black and received a useable black-red that looked quite the same as pure 4001 Black. 🤷‍♀️ 🙄

It was the first time I asked myself: "why do some inks behave so strange? 🤔", followed by: "why did I buy this 🙄, why not stick with Waterman Blue and Green? "

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @yazeh, for this comprehensive ink review, for the insight into healthy opera-sleep and for the nice try to resurrect brave mouse without mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!   

4 hours ago, InesF said:

 

Rouge Opera was the first red ink I used. It was somewhere around 1985 to 90 when I first experienced that some inks look nice but are not useable with my Lamy CP1 M steel nib. The red flooded the paper and required to write 5mm minuscules. So I "diluted" it with Pelikan 4001 Black and received a useable black-red that looked quite the same as pure 4001 Black. 🤷‍♀️ 🙄

Thanks for sharing your experience and experimentation 🙏

4 hours ago, InesF said:

It was the first time I asked myself: "why do some inks behave so strange? 🤔",

I ink, I exist  

4 hours ago, InesF said:

followed by: "why did I buy this 🙄, why not stick with Waterman Blue and Green? "

Glad you didn't stay only with Waterman Blue & Green  

[yazeh]

@LizEF another take on the water test Kitty, this time with R&K Ebony

Unfortunalty as I added Rouge Opera in the Back ground the "notes" disappeared  

 

[LizEF]

2 minutes ago, yazeh said:

@LizEF another take on the water test Kitty, this time with R&K Ebony

  Very operatic!

 

2 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Unfortunalty as I added Rouge Opera in the Back ground the "notes" disappeared  

Ah, but we can still see them.

 

[yazeh]

8 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Ah, but we can still see them.

 

🙏

[Sailor Kenshin]

Wagner perchance? 

[Misfit]

2 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Wagner perchance? 

Yes!! That’s the opera I like the most, or have the most experience with.