J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage

[jde]

I’ve been trying out green inks, and the latest one is J. Herbin’s Lierre Sauvage. The English translation, I suppose, would be ‘wild ivy,’ and I thought ivy an apt comparison to the color.

 

I tested this ink using two Pelikans: my m150 with a medium nib, and my vintage 400 with a fine nib.

 

The ink is not as fast drying as some other Herbin inks in my stable. I thought someone might ask, so I, uh, timed the Lierre Sauvage as drying in under 10 seconds.

 

My every day paper is Dennison National Brand notepaper, and the ink did not bleed through. However, to my surprise the ink did bleed through the paper in my Miguel Ruis pocket flexible notebook. Having used several inks (Noodlers, Herbin, Diamine, Waterman) in my little notebook, I’ve only had one other ink bleed through (Noodler’s Tchaikovsky).

 

The Lierre Sauvage is a good, serviceable green ink for me, and I will use it regularly. Yet this ink doesn’t really make me smile, and I will keep hunting for a green that does.

 

Edited for a new scan:

Edited October 26, 2008 by jde

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Lierre Sauvage will grow on you -- it is now my favorite green (and green is my favorite colour).

[Orval]

Interesting review, because my limited experience with Lierre sauvage is quite different. I just inked it in a Lamy Safari with a fine nib and the colour was much more vivid, not the washed out pastel colour I see on my screen.

Lierre sauvage is with that nib the greenest green. I mean not too yellow, nor too blue and vivid. I used it for editing because of that.

[jde]

Interesting review, because my limited experience with Lierre sauvage is quite different. I just inked it in a Lamy Safari with a fine nib and the colour was much more vivid, not the washed out pastel colour I see on my screen.

Lierre sauvage is with that nib the greenest green. I mean not too yellow, nor too blue and vivid. I used it for editing because of that.

 

That's very interesting. I would like it more if it were a vivid green.

 

[jbn10161]

My experience is the same as Orval's. My LS was much denser, greener.

 

This difference among Herbin inks interests me. From my experience, Herbin inks are remarkably constant from one color to another in many of their attributes, and from my reading Herbin pays attention to maintaining consistent standards of performance over time. Their black has never varied from one bottle to another in years of use. But some other colors, notably Terre du Feu and Cafe des Iles, seem to vary a bit, and now perhaps also Lierre Suavage. I wonder if their dyes, which are naturally based, are more susceptible to temperature extremes in shipping and storage before the bottles reach the consumer.

[jde]

Orval and jbn got me to thinking.

 

The paper I write on is thin and not bright at all, tending toward gray.

I realize that it's probably important only to me how an ink looks on the paper I use every day.

 

In taking a plain sheet of bright white paper, the ink does 'pop' more. Still not what I'd call

vivid.

 

I wonder, though if the scan below is closer to what you are used to seeing? Or still a

color variation?

 

Scan on plain white printer paper:

 

[jbn10161]

I wonder, though if the scan below is closer to what you are used to seeing?

Yes, that's very much closer to what I remember. Good thought.

 

[Mark Cummins]

Mine is a good deal darker still--on quite a variety of papers because I use it for marking students' papers.

 

I also have noted that a fill up goes through my pen much faster than my other inks (Aurora black and Waterman purple). Odd.

 

Mark

 

I wonder, though if the scan below is closer to what you are used to seeing?

Yes, that's very much closer to what I remember. Good thought.

 

[xena]

How is the dry time?

[jde]

As I initially wrote, I found it a bit slow to dry.

 

How is the dry time?