Jacques Herbin – Les toits de Paris / Gris toits (couleurs de Paris)

[yazeh]

Jacques Herbin – Les toits de Paris/Gris toit (couleurs de Paris) 

 The last of the Paris inks, in J Herbin packaging. Again the naming is confusing, it's sold under Gris Toits (Grey roofs) but on the bottle, It's written Paris rooftops in French, bien sûr!

You can find the previous reviews here:

Rue de la Verrerie

Jacques Herbin - Moulin Rouge
Jacques Herbin – Tour Eiffel/ Brun Eiffel (Couleurs de Paris)

Jacques Herbin – (Vert) Métropolitain (Couleurs de Paris)

 

The name is a nod to the zinc rooftops of Paris. When the colour is applied lavishly with a brush you get that, but in writing it's a pale blue grey. 

 

I was  looking forward to this ink. But it turned out to be my least favourite for writing. It’s pale and lacks lubrication (think Kyoto Tag). It was so bad, that I didn’t want to touch the pens anymore. When I  filled a vintage Conway Stewart with an oblique flex nib the ink redeemed itself. Now the interesting part, when I tried the pens a few week later, they writing experience was much, much better. Maybe @InesF can shed some science, about that. Evaporation? 🤫

So to make it work you need a nice soft, smooth nib, preferably wet pen and good paper (absorbent or Iroful), and patience  

 

This would be an instant hit with @mizgeorge & @namrehsnoom  

 

As for the colour it’s a gorgeous blue grey, somewhere between the J Herbin Vert de gris and Diamine Celadon Cat.  

I enjoyed it most on Rhodia (it became darker, thus legible) and Iroful, (the line become wider) and the pastel colour more pronounced.  

 

Chroma:

 

 

 

Writing Samples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo:

 

Comparison:

This is the blue version of Diamine Celadon Cat. 

Water test:

Left side 10 seconds under running water. Not bad. 

 

Art Work:

A room at the top (a nod to the tiny rooms at the rooftop in Paris)

Jacques Herbin Les toits de Paris (rooftop), Moulin Rouge, Rue de la Verrerie, Tour Eiffel and Noolder's Lexingtion Gray

 

·      Pens used: Pilot F3A Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B), vintage Conway Steward Oblique flex. 

·      What I liked: Colour for drawing. Writing experience after forgetting it in a pen. 

·      What I did not like: Very dry, long dry times. Lack of lubrication. 

·       What some might not like: Very dry, long dry times. Lack of lubrication. 

·      Writing experience: Awful in the beginning, ok after letting the pen rest for a while, good with a soft vintage nib

·      Shading: Subtle on most papers. Extreme on Iroful

·      Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. 

·      Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper.

·      Flow Rate: Wet with a wet pen, restrained with a dry pen. 

·      Lubrication: Non-existent. But surprisingly if you forget your pen it gets better. 

·      Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

·      Start-up:  Ok

·      Saturation:  Pastel

·      Shading Potential: Very good, even on copy paper

·      Sheen: No. 

·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: A bit on copy paper.

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

·      Staining (pen): No. 

·      Clogging: Did not notice.

·      Cleaning: Very easy

·      Water resistance: Not bad. 

·      Availability: 10 ml bottles/ 30 ml bottles, or a set of 5 X 10 ml bottles 

 

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

 

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Well now!  This was my favorite of the Paris inks (on sight in a Japanese review, didn't buy yet).  But I did not expect it to be so dry.  Of course I like the chroma and love the illos!  
 

In the Japanese videos, the ink tester used a glass dip pen, and maybe a Kakuno.  It was the onscreen color that caught me.
 

I have Vert de Gris and Blue Nose Bear, neither of which has given me a speck of trouble.  But I recall the Great Aonibi Crisis that @LizEF experienced in a beloved pen.  I never had a sample of that.

Still thinking about Toits….I do love blue-grays.  Thanks so much for these ongoing Inkifications, @yazeh.  I especially loved this JHerbin series.  Looking forward to your next review.

 

[lapis]

Again, nice, but almost silly that they don't get around to giving the ink  one  name like they did for the Moulin Rouge (considering what's to be seen on the bottle's label. The off-grey, too, is good, but too much teal and/or green. I think I'll stick to O' Gramp Winner.

[LizEF]

Hmm.  The intro has me skeptical. The color on Rhodia, from the wetter nibs is nice, though.  Too green on Midori.  I think I won't find this so tempting.  Good that it has some water resistance - leaky roofs are such a hassle.   Love the artwork.

 

Thank you, @yazeh, and congratulations on finishing the series!

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Well now!  This was my favorite of the Paris inks (on sight in a Japanese review, didn't buy yet).  But I did not expect it to be so dry.  Of course I like the chroma and love the illos!  

I thought you might like this one. It needs a nice pen with a smooth nib, and abandoned in the pen for some time. Do you remember we had the same experience with Vert de gris  or some other dry ink in the mystery series. The more the ink stayed in the pen, the better it got

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

In the Japanese videos, the ink tester used a glass dip pen, and maybe a Kakuno.  It was the onscreen color that caught me.

The colour is really nice, but a bit wishy-washy  

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I have Vert de Gris and Blue Nose Bear, neither of which has given me a speck of trouble.

Those are both two great inks. I've been going through a patch of dry inks, this, Diamine Celadon and another Brown ink. I could  tell which ink was in what pen, blind folded, from the lack of lubrication  

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

 But I recall the Great Aonibi Crisis that @LizEF experienced in a beloved pen.  I never had a sample of that.

That was because of the curse of the Viscount-Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Still thinking about Toits….I do love blue-grays.  Thanks so much for these ongoing Inkifications, @yazeh.  I especially loved this JHerbin series.  Looking forward to your next review.

 

The next would be Diamine Celadon. I thought it would be fitting as both ink are so similar I would also recommend getting a 10 ml bottle. You might like it, or do some of your cute drawings  

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, lapis said:

Again, nice, but almost silly that they don't get around to giving the ink  one  name like they did for the Moulin Rouge (considering what's to be seen on the bottle's label.

I'm surprised by the naming confusion. Especially as Gris toits is so meaning less. The roofs in Toulouse are pink, then you have the Vert de Gris / Verdigris copper patina rooftops and then the slate rooftops of patrimonial buildings  

1 hour ago, lapis said:

 

The off-grey, too, is good, but too much teal and/or green. I think I'll stick to O' Gramp Winner.

It's blue. When you see it compared to Diamine Celadon Cat, you see it  I did a side by side scan of both inks to show the contrast  

[yazeh]

36 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Hmm.  The intro has me skeptical.

If you like Kyoto Tag inks and can bare the dryness, it'll work for you. It's not a good ink for Lamy Safari, and I would shudder of doing an Efnir with it. Nails on the cardboard

36 minutes ago, LizEF said:

The color on Rhodia, from the wetter nibs is nice, though.  Too green on Midori.  I think I won't find this so tempting.  Good that it has some water resistance - leaky roofs are such a hassle.   Love the artwork.

The scan is off on MIdori. It's definitely blue  I was exhausted by this time with the artwork  

36 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thank you, @yazeh, and congratulations on finishing the series!

Oufs! C'est fini!  

[inkstainedruth]

Hmmmm.  I like how it looks on the Rhoda paper (even if a bit on the pale side in finer nibs).  But on the other paper types?  Too green leaning for me.

But thanks as usual for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Hmmmm.  I like how it looks on the Rhoda paper (even if a bit on the pale side in finer nibs).  But on the other paper types?  Too green leaning for me.

But thanks as usual for the review.

Ruth this is definitely blue grey on all papers, even Midori. The scan is off. Here is a comparison with Diamine Celadon Cat, a very similar ink, on the green side. 

[PithyProlix]

I have been eagerly looking forward to your review of this one and I am glad to see it is right up my alley. Thanks for the comparison to TAG Stationery inks - I am OK with the several TAG Stationery inks I have so this will probably suit me well too. And grey-blues/blue-greys are my jam lately! 

 

12 hours ago, yazeh said:

It needs a nice pen with a smooth nib, and abandoned in the pen for some time. Do you remember we had the same experience with  Vert de gris   or some other dry ink in the mystery series. The more the ink stayed in the pen, the better it got

 

I am having the same issue with Terre deFeu. Color-wise, it is a really great match for a pen I just got but, at first, it barely wrote. Disappointed that it wasn't a match with this pen performance-wise, I put it aside, thinking that, when I got back to it in a couple days, I would try some flow aid or empty it out and try another ink. But, surprise, it wrote fine. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Thank you for this great review, as a well as you other reviews of this series! A really wonderful & appreciated contribution to our community! 

[yazeh]

12 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

I have been eagerly looking forward to your review of this one and I am glad to see it is right up my alley. Thanks for the comparison to TAG Stationery inks - I am OK with the several TAG Stationery inks I have so this will probably suit me well too. And grey-blues/blue-greys are my jam lately! 

Glad to know, my reviews are helpful. Yes these remind me of TAG and I can understand the attraction of the colours. 

12 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

I am having the same issue with Terre deFeu. Color-wise, it is a really great match for a pen I just got but, at first, it barely wrote. Disappointed that it wasn't a match with this pen performance-wise, I put it aside, thinking that, when I got back to it in a couple days, I would try some flow aid or empty it out and try another ink. But, surprise, it wrote fine. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yes, that was my experience too. It was a very nice surprise. Nowadays, if I have a dry ink, I left sit for a while and then I can enjoy it

12 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Thank you for this great review, as a well as you other reviews of this series! A really wonderful & appreciated contribution to our community! 

A pleasure, my friend, and good to see you virtually  🙏

[InesF]

Your ink review, @yazeh, brings memories. Having lived in a rooftop chamber once, long, long time ago, I can still feel the tent-like atmosphere you captured in your line and wash drawing. However, cat and mouse in Paris look happy!  

 

Thank you for this ink review   which surprises me because of the pale colour, much in contrast to the comparably dark original roof colour which is so widespread over Paris houses. Luckily, I have already a blue-black ink favourite in Pelikan 4001 and a blue-grey in R&K Isatis.

That doesn't reduce the joy of reading your review, the quotes and having fun with your drawings. Cat seems to either receiving support from cat family or starts with strange quantum experiments?   

 

On 10/5/2024 at 2:19 PM, yazeh said:

Maybe @InesF can shed some science, about that. Evaporation? 🤫

mmmp ..., hmm ..., aehm ... 🤫, maybe?

I guess, the vintage Conway Stewart pen has an ebonite feed? And you have not used it for a while?

If yes to at least one: read the spoiler.

If no to both: 🤔 - I have no clue!

Spoiler

I observed (and still observe) a similar behaviour with some of my pens. It is an already elsewhere described phenomenon of delayed wetability of completely dried organic material. It becomes hydrophobic and repels water until the surface has absorbed a certain amount of water vapour and becomes hydrophilic again. I once read somewhere (sorry, can't remember the site), that some vintage ebonite feeds required a couple of days until they were reconstituted and the ink flow was back to the level as expected.

I observe that quite frequently with one Stipula and all of my Aurora pens. My current work pen, the MB Gold Leaf, did the same but was reconstituted within 24 hours.

 

Thank you for the review and for the add-on scientific riddle!  

[yazeh]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Your ink review, @yazeh, brings memories. Having lived in a rooftop chamber once, long, long time ago, I can still feel the tent-like atmosphere you captured in your line and wash drawing. However, cat and mouse in Paris look happy!  

Cat and mouse are often happy as long as there's shelter, no water, or an umbrella and some cheese  

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you for this ink review   which surprises me because of the pale colour, much in contrast to the comparably dark original roof colour which is so widespread over Paris houses. Luckily, I have already a blue-black ink favourite in Pelikan 4001 and a blue-grey in R&K Isatis.

When applied as in the drawing the colours resembles Parisian rooftops  

7 hours ago, InesF said:

That doesn't reduce the joy of reading your review, the quotes and having fun with your drawings. Cat seems to either receiving support from cat family or starts with strange quantum experiments?   

 

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

 

 

mmmp ..., hmm ..., aehm ... 🤫, maybe?

I guess, the vintage Conway Stewart pen has an ebonite feed? And you have not used it for a while?

If yes to at least one: read the spoiler.

If no to both: 🤔 - I have no clue!

This was more in relation to the Lamy Safari. It wrote fine with the Conway Stewart, which like most vintage pens is very, very wet and cannot handle modern wet inks  

7 hours ago, InesF said:

  Hide contents

I observed (and still observe) a similar behaviour with some of my pens. It is an already elsewhere described phenomenon of delayed wetability of completely dried organic material. It becomes hydrophobic and repels water until the surface has absorbed a certain amount of water vapour and becomes hydrophilic again. I once read somewhere (sorry, can't remember the site), that some vintage ebonite feeds required a couple of days until they were reconstituted and the ink flow was back to the level as expected.

I observe that quite frequently with one Stipula and all of my Aurora pens. My current work pen, the MB Gold Leaf, did the same but was reconstituted within 24 hours.

Does this theory work with modern pens? 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you for the review and for the add-on scientific riddle!  

 🙏

[InesF]

13 hours ago, yazeh said:

Does this theory work with modern pens? 

Yes, it does - with many modern ebonite feed pens but only with some with plastic feed. There is an interaction with capillary diameters and diameter relation between ink and air channel, with nib material and with material/polymer/metal surface roughness, means: the number of possible combinations of positive and negative effects is beyond quick estimations, unfortunately.

If the pen producer was aware and set all parameters towards a quick wetting, the still existing effect of slow water migration may become unnoticeable.

[yazeh]

13 hours ago, InesF said:

Yes, it does - with many modern ebonite feed pens but only with some with plastic feed. There is an interaction with capillary diameters and diameter relation between ink and air channel, with nib material and with material/polymer/metal surface roughness, means: the number of possible combinations of positive and negative effects is beyond quick estimations, unfortunately.

If the pen producer was aware and set all parameters towards a quick wetting, the still existing effect of slow water migration may become unnoticeable.

Thanks for your enlightening information. It makes sense. I have found that many low lubricated inks become better with time. But ideally they need really wet pens and soft nibs

[Sailor Kenshin]

After swearing off ALL ink, I bought not only Toits but Taccia Ao.   Opposite properties, I suspect… oh, and a fancy dip pen to test them.

 

Yup, I blew it.   😹

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

After swearing off ALL ink, I bought not only Toits but Taccia Ao.   Opposite properties, I suspect… oh, and a fancy dip pen to test them.

 

Yup, I blew it.   😹

I'm betting you fell for a Kakimori  Nothing compared to the Carene of @LizEF &  @Penguincollector 

[Penguincollector]

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I'm betting you fell for a Kakimori  Nothing compared to the Carene of @LizEF &  @Penguincollector 

 

 

I’ve been meaning to buy a Kakimori. 

[yazeh]

24 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

I’ve been meaning to buy a Kakimori. 

 Hope you're feeling better 🙏

[Penguincollector]

Just now, yazeh said:

 Hope you're feeling better 🙏

 Thank you!