EFNIR: Nemosine Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Nemosine Black

This is review #319 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Added a couple drops of water to bring the ink up to volume. Shading is only barely visible, and only on paper that really shows it.  Cleaning was quick and easy.  The ink is black; the images look black.

Holy fine line, Batman.  Maybe I should auction my remaining cartridges. I think I have 9 left.

Sorry, folks, I forgot to do the void comparison and the season just has me too busy to go back and add it.  Next time.

Zoomed in photo

Screenshot

Scan of Completed Review

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper)

Line width (The "I" in "Ink:". Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 248µm. With 319 inks measured, the average line width is 297µm.) (To my eye, the sheen looked golden; in the image, it looks reddish-coppery.)

Microscope image (400x. Color is all wrong, reality was sort of a brownish, reddish, purplish murk with a bright yellow-gold sun, almost like glitter.)

Microscope image (400x via mobile phone. Color is closer to reality. It's like something in outer space to me.)

Void (Kitty wins! (Had to use the flash - hooray winter!))

Previous Review: Jinhao Deep Blue.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Holy Starry Night… and then Starry Dusk, with a bunch of baby stars, and suns…. The micro alone is worth the trip.  
 

I do not have any of this black ink, but I do have Pelikan and Waterman.  Waterman can sometimes look grayish.  Pel, I recall, writes black, dry and not much else.  As I already have like NINE black inks, I will enjoy Nemosine from afar.

 

No comparison with Void Kitteh!  @LizEF…Thanks to you and your assistants for making Tuesdays magical and fun... I always look forward to the review and story. 

 

Those wizardesses are quite forceful.  I took charge a few times, but had to stop, or I would be intolerable.

[yazeh]

Great review of the void @LizEF   he's a universe by himself : the origin of black hole 😊🖖

I can understand the need for shading in all colors but black. If I were to use black I want it uniform.

I'm trying to imagine, the scene where the guards are chilling out. Quin appears, then this high falluting head-wizardess/ doctor, marches in with  flowing robes rushes into the high wizard's office/ magic laboratory, meanwhile Makhabesh snarkly commenting the scene to Quin, who will have a hard time keeping a straight face. To make matters worse Essri is caught in her ornate headgear,  sneking about "withardeth".

Both comical and dramatic 👍

 

Thanks for brining creativity and flash light to this grey, dreary day 🙏🙏🙏

 

[LizEF]

25 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Holy Starry Night… and then Starry Dusk, with a bunch of baby stars, and suns…. The micro alone is worth the trip.

Yep, hit the jackpot with this slide.

 

26 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I do not have any of this black ink, but I do have Pelikan and Waterman.  Waterman can sometimes look grayish.  Pel, I recall, writes black, dry and not much else.  As I already have like NINE black inks, I will enjoy Nemosine from afar.

Everyone will have to enjoy Nemosine from afar, except any who still happen to have their inks from olden days when they were still in business.

 

26 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

No comparison with Void Kitteh!

Nothing can compare with King Klaw - just ask him!

 

27 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 @LizEF…Thanks to you and your assistants for making Tuesdays magical and fun... I always look forward to the review and story. 

You're most welcome!   And thank you!

 

27 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Those wizardesses are quite forceful.  I took charge a few times, but had to stop, or I would be intolerable.

I'm thinking Wizardess Doctor Heilari is not used to be told what she can / can't do or where she can / can't go.   Taking charge is a skill best used in moderation, I suspect.

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great review of the void @LizEF   he's a universe by himself : the origin of black hole 😊🖖

Thanks!

 

9 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I can understand the need for shading in all colors but black. If I were to use black I want it uniform.

And here I am thinking that shading and sheen are the only possible good things a black ink could do - well, and maybe write a very fine line...  And lubricate well.  Yep, that's about it.

 

10 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I'm trying to imagine, the scene where the guards are chilling out. Quin appears, then this high falluting head-wizardess/ doctor, marches in with  flowing robes rushes into the high wizard's office/ magic laboratory, meanwhile Makhabesh snarkly commenting the scene to Quin, who will have a hard time keeping a straight face. To make matters worse Essri is caught in her ornate headgear,  sneking about "withardeth".

Both comical and dramatic 👍

Perfect!  More and more I think this story needs a novel version (since I can't do cartoon / graphic novel or animation, let alone a movie).

 

11 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for brining creativity and flash light to this grey, dreary day 🙏🙏🙏

You're most welcome!

[Penguincollector]

  Lovely microscope images (they look like the dawning light that was happening as I was reading this) and as always- I’m left squirming in my seat with anticipation for the next episode in the series. I wonder if this ink recipe has or will show up in a Birmingham Pen Company bottle some day?  Maybe someone more in the know has the scoop. I like the sheen.

 

  I encourage people looking for a shading black (as it was mentioned up thread) to seek out vintage Parker Quink black. I am currently using a rehydrated cartridge from the 1960s and there’s definitely some shading happening.

 

  Klaw is adorable, he said so himself! 😂 I love the sheen of his pupils in the photo. 

[lapis]

Kitty makes a nice "reference" for black. I'd call that a blackish black. Now all I need is an ink that matches the eye pupils (or are those lenses?)

[Penguincollector]

7 minutes ago, lapis said:

Kitty makes a nice "reference" for black. I'd call that a blackish black. Now all I need is an ink that matches the eye pupils (or are those lenses?)

 
  They remind me of opals.

[LizEF]

27 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

Lovely microscope images (they look like the dawning light that was happening as I was reading this) and as always- I’m left squirming in my seat with anticipation for the next episode in the series.

Thank you!

 

27 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

I wonder if this ink recipe has or will show up in a Birmingham Pen Company bottle some day?  Maybe someone more in the know has the scoop. I like the sheen.

I asked them about Solar Storm and they said, no, not the same as the Solar Storm from Birmingham.  I suppose I could ask about this black if you want - they were very responsive - but I suspect it's also not the same (wouldn't surprise me if this was a generic black ink they bought and had packaged in Nemosine-branded boxes).

 

32 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

I encourage people looking for a shading black (as it was mentioned up thread) to seek out vintage Parker Quink black. I am currently using a rehydrated cartridge from the 1960s and there’s definitely some shading happening.

I wonder if re-hydration impacts shading, or if the original also shaded.

 

32 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

Klaw is adorable, he said so himself! 😂 I love the sheen of his pupils in the photo. 

I've told him too often that he's my handsome boy - of course, he's a cat, so he probably already knew that...

[LizEF]

30 minutes ago, lapis said:

Kitty makes a nice "reference" for black. I'd call that a blackish black.

Yes, he's my standard against which all blacks are measured.  It's amazing just how black he is.  (And yep, this is not the blackest black out there - black enough in writing, but with a bit of character, even from my EF.)

 

30 minutes ago, lapis said:

Now all I need is an ink that matches the eye pupils (or are those lenses?)

  I think it would have to be a glow-in-the-dark green.  Good question...  According to google's AI:

 

Quote

When a cat's eyes reflect light, it's not the pupil or the lens, but a specialized reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum located behind the retina, which is responsible for the glowing effect in low light conditions; essentially, the light bounces off the tapetum lucidum and back towards the retina, enhancing the cat's night vision.

...now we know.

[LizEF]

54 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

I wonder if this ink recipe has or will show up in a Birmingham Pen Company bottle some day?  Maybe someone more in the know has the scoop. I like the sheen.

OK, I went ahead and asked Josh of BPC if there's a BPC ink that matches this, or if it was rebranded from another maker, or...?  I'll let you know what he says.

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

Perfect!  More and more I think this story needs a novel version (since I can't do cartoon / graphic novel or animation, let alone a movie).

Well your story is character / dialogue driven. A repressed/secretive young wunderkind wizard, a brutally honest/  firefly loyal cynical Sphinx and an innocently volubile lips Snek, all of three with a lot of family baggage fighting baddies...this is  a writer's dream to have such well-defined characters, each have a distinct voice. 

The novel format will help with detail dialogue. Animation version can be done with clever dialogue and basic animation ... 😊

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Well your story is character / dialogue driven. A repressed/secretive young wunderkind wizard, a brutally honest/  firefly loyal cynical Sphinx and an innocently volubile lips Snek, all of three with a lot of family baggage fighting baddies...this is  a writer's dream to have such well-defined characters, each have a distinct voice. 

The novel format will help with detail dialogue. Animation version can be done with clever dialogue and basic animation ... 😊

I expect I'll have to quit doing ink reviews before I could write a novel version of all this - it would be really hard to separate them in my brain...  Anywho, it is a thought I have frequently, so it may well happen eventually.

[Penguincollector]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

I wonder if re-hydration impacts shading, or if the original also shaded.

  I know that the current iteration (which is way more troublesome than the old solv-x formula) shaded a bit (when it doesn’t clog up the pen- not great for hooded nibs with ink collectors) when I used it. I can’t remember if the ‘90s formula did. I do have some cartridges left from that time, but they’re also in need of a distilled water top up. 

 

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

OK, I went ahead and asked Josh of BPC if there's a BPC ink that matches this, or if it was rebranded from another maker, or...?  I'll let you know what he says.

 Thanks for looking into this! I’m curious to hear what he says. 

[LizEF]

18 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

I know that the current iteration (which is way more troublesome than the old solv-x formula) shaded a bit (when it doesn’t clog up the pen- not great for hooded nibs with ink collectors) when I used it. I can’t remember if the ‘90s formula did. I do have some cartridges left from that time, but they’re also in need of a distilled water top up. 

Quink is a strange animal to me.  I hear about it clogging, yet An Ink Guy says it's dripping wet, so you wouldn't think it would clog...  And hooded nib pens should be the last to experience clogging (despite the massive ink collectors).  Strange.

 

19 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

Thanks for looking into this! I’m curious to hear what he says. 

He says there is no BPC version, so this ink is unobtainium.  Let the battle for my remaining 9 cartridges begin!    (Since I don't use black ink, I expect the first person to send me a letter and ask nicely will get a little package (US only - international shipping from the US is expensive! ).  If multiple people express interest, I might divvy up the remaining carts...)

[Penguincollector]

13 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Quink is a strange animal to me.  I hear about it clogging, yet An Ink Guy says it's dripping wet, so you wouldn't think it would clog...  And hooded nib pens should be the last to experience clogging (despite the massive ink collectors).  Strange.

  I have a small bottle of modern Quink Black, and I tried it in my Super 21, it skips terribly. I didn’t bother trying in a 51. In a more straightforward pen like an IM or Vector it’s ok. 

[LizEF]

38 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

  I have a small bottle of modern Quink Black, and I tried it in my Super 21, it skips terribly. I didn’t bother trying in a 51. In a more straightforward pen like an IM or Vector it’s ok. 

The mysteries of ink!  We'll be vacationing in the gamma quadrant before we understand ink! 👽

[knarflj]

No interest in the ink (it's black), but thanks for the story, and another Klaw pic.  We need to figure out a way to get Smoke pics here occasionally, too.

[yazeh]

56 minutes ago, knarflj said:

No interest in the ink (it's black), but thanks for the story, and another Klaw pic.  We need to figure out a way to get Smoke pics here occasionally, too.

For that she has to start reviewing a lot grey inks  

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

I expect I'll have to quit doing ink reviews before I could write a novel version of all this - it would be really hard to separate them in my brain...  Anywho, it is a thought I have frequently, so it may well happen eventually.

Well you can use each episode as a backbone and then after the storyline (i.e. adventure) is solidly fleshed out, all you have to do is to fill out with lots of wisecracks, cuteness and surliness

You can also make a short episode, presumably with AI (as you're so computer savvy) or with other animation software, a cute/ short  scene, (Like when Makhabesh and Quin first met)  or a trailer