A question about Noodler's Black line of inks

[misalignedtines]

I use Noodler's Black mainly for illustration. I generally make a pencil outline, then ink it and finally erase the pencil under drawing with a pencil eraser. 

When I do erase, I find that Noodler's Black also gets 'erased'. As in, it loses a bit of its saturation on the paper. I've used it in different pens on different paper and different erasers but have the same result. 

I have Bad Black Moccasin and it's completely fine when I erase over it. 

I was planning to invest in another bottle from Noodler's Black line of inks for drawing. 

I had my eyes on Heart Of Darkness, X feather Black and American Eel Black. 

I was wondering if anyone who has used these inks can provide some insight on how they behave when you use a pencil eraser over them? Any insight is much appreciated. 

Edited October 23 by misalignedtines

[inkstainedruth]

I tried an experiment a number of years ago with a variety of black inks from various brands to see which behaved the best in less than ideal circumstances -- inking over pencil line on crummy printer paper in relatively humid conditions to see if there was something that worked better than what I usually use for that (Uniball roller ball pens, after managing to wean people off of using the Pilot ones (which IME tended to smudge worse).  But of course that was long before I started using fountain pens.  And that "better black ink for the conditions" experiment fell by the wayside because I was using cheapie Platinum Preppies set up with the roller ball heads and couldn't keep track of which ink was in which pen.... 

I haven't tried a lot of brands of black inks, but I like Heart of Darkness better than Noodler's Black in general -- mainly because it dries a little faster, and is generally "black enough" for my needs; and recently discovered (while trying to cross out my name and address and the bar code -- and in some cases, the QR codes, especially on slick paper or cardboard for ad flyers -- especially for political ads) that it works better than using a black Sharpie!  

Noodler's Old Manhattan (which used to be exclusive to Art Brown's in NYC before they closed, and *might* be available at Fountain Pen Hospital) is blacker than either of those two -- but part of that is because it tends to spread (so a bit of an optical illusion).  

Sorry I can't be of more help; even growing up using ballpoints, I didn't like black ink as well as blue ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

[Monophoto]

My experience with Noodler's Black is that it is extremely saturated; it does sink into the paper, but as it dries it also tends to leave a bit on the surface.  And after it dries, some of that surface material can be rubbed off.  Some people refer to this as a tendency to smudge.  But regardless of what you call it, the result is that what is left is the ink that has soaked into the paper.  It's still black, but just not quite as black as it was.

 

One solution that many people have found for this 'problem' (and it may be more of a characteristic than a problem) is to dilute the ink a bit with water.  I've seen recommendations that range from 10% up to 50% - I think I typically go for about 25%, but it ain't rocket science.  Dilution prevents this 'smudging', and also helps flow.  That said, I will caution that if you go the dilution route, its prudent to always shake the bottle before filling the pen to make sure that the dilution is uniform when the pen is filled.

[yazeh]

I am an amateur sketchier.  I would say get yourself a bunch of samples or stick with the ones you know best Vanness has 4 ml ones.

What I can say, is the X-Feather has long dry times. 

The blackest bullet proof ink, I have tried, is Polar Black. But there's a hick, when you do washes, the excess black washes into the other colours. 

You can check my review here:

I now use Lexington Gray. It's fast dry and very dependable. This video convinced me to get a bottle. And I have not regretted buying it:

The other two black inks, I use regularly are Platinum Carbon Black (with a Platinum Pocket Pen) and Sailor Kiwi-guro with a fude nib pen. 

Other inks: 

De Atramentis has a line of Document inks and also an Arrival Black ink. 

Rohrer & Klingner and Octopus have also Document inks. They both have also a line of Drawing inks, SketchInk for the former and Write & Draw for the latter. 

 

Hope it helps and good luck

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

That's interesting, yazah.  I tried Lexington Grey awhile back and I don't know if I got a bad batch or what but I remember the color being VERY pale -- way lighter than what I'm seeing on what you posted.  I was quite disappointed -- especially because I knew a number of people had said that they really liked the ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

29 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

That's interesting, yazah.  I tried Lexington Grey awhile back and I don't know if I got a bad batch or what but I remember the color being VERY pale -- way lighter than what I'm seeing on what you posted.  I was quite disappointed -- especially because I knew a number of people had said that they really liked the ink.

I bought a bottle based on the above review. Ironically, I have to yet review this ink myself. I use it with an Ahab and a special 2.7 ml  cartridge. Since may, I have filled it up 3 times. Plus I have a water brush filled with half/half mixture of water and ink.  Which I have emptied twice. 

Noodler's has a new darker grey, called  Clairvoyance Slate, which is a darker version of Lexington Gray. I prefer LX Gray because of it's fast dry time. And the fact that the ink doesn't budge. It's neutral enough. And I've grown to appreciate it. 

[LizEF]

54 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

That's interesting, yazah.  I tried Lexington Grey awhile back and I don't know if I got a bad batch or what but I remember the color being VERY pale -- way lighter than what I'm seeing on what you posted.  I was quite disappointed -- especially because I knew a number of people had said that they really liked the ink.

If it was a sample, maybe they didn't shake the bottle well before sampling.  If it was a bottle, did you remember to shake the bottle well?  (I assume you did, but had to ask.)

 

Regardless of what Noodler's say, their inks look and act like pigmented inks, which means stuff can settle, and they need shaking before inking a pen.  FWIW.

[inkstainedruth]

It was a sample.  
Oddly, I had a similar experience with the (full) bottle of Noodler's Legal Lapis I picked up at an estate sale a few weeks ago.  But after filling one of the FPCs with it, a couple of days later the ink was darker and a bit bluer than how it looked when I first tried it.  

Still trying to make up my mind about whether I like it, or whether I should try it in a broader nibbed pen next time....  OTOH I only paid five bucks for it....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

If this may help:

The Kiwa-guro was used in a Sailor Fude De Mannen - The Noodler's in an Ahab.

Paper is Talens Mixed media.