» Paper & Ink
Has anyone of you ever tried the J. Herbin Fountain Pen inks on a Rhodia pad? The reason I am asking is, we came across a recent entry by Biffy Beans reviewing the said ink on a Dick Blick drawing paper. Of course, you guys remember Biffy Beans and her Mandala artworks. She actually writes about her spiritual evolution and some earthly concerns, including papers and inks at Biffybeans.com. On the J. Herbin inks, she writes:
“Overjoyed with the ability to test all of these beautiful inks, I decided to do a quick swab test just to get an idea of what each one looked like...
“With this test and the images that follow, I ask that you keep an open mind with the fact that these might look different on your monitor, in your hand, in your pen, or if you swab them yourself…
“We’ve got gray snow clouds in the sky today, and it frustrates me that I couldn’t get better pictures. My scanner also seemed to have a bit of difficulty in accurately representing the colors of the ink. I did my best – hope it’s at least a little bit helpful.“
A lively discussion followed her review. One commenter named Torrey exclaimed:
“Wow, and here I was blown away that, upon requesting to try Lierre Sauvage, Karen from Exaclair included Vert Empire as well! But look at your scan… you got the goods, Biffybeans!”
So now, we’re wondering how the J. Herbin inks work on a Rhodia. Anyone?
Photo via Biffybeans.com
Comments
I’ve been trying the J Herbin inks on different papers such as Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Pen & Ink and Canteo. As Clairefontaine & Rhodia both have a smooth coated texture, I find that all my pens regardless of ink used, write true to their nib size. My finer nibbed pens can feel a little “dry”when using any ink on the Clairefontaine/Rhodia products.
The Herbin colors I’ve tested so far look vibrant and show some nice shading on the bright white Rhodia & Clairefontaine papers, and true to my statement above, some of them felt a little dry in F & EF nibbed pens – but only on those papers.
I have: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asr-cascadian/3127325856/
That isn’t the best of my fountain pens (an inexpensive Cross with a Fine nib), but I’ve used the Herbin “Poussiere de Lune” on several different Rhodia pads and been quite pleased with it so far. I haven’t noticed any difference in smoothness between Herbin and Noodler’s on Rhodia pads.
I used Herbin Bleu Pervenche and Lie de The on a daily basis with Rhodia pads and find that they flow smoothly, do not feather and there is very little bleed through. A good thing for me, as I’m left-handed and tend to dig into the paper a little. The pens I use everyday are Lamy Safari and Al-Star with M nibs, so nothing special, but overall I’d say this combination works well.
Hope this helps.
Mike.
TubbyMike, would you like to write about it as our guest blogger?
Andrew, thanks a lot! I hope you can share us more pics in the future! Also, please do join us on Facebook.
Biffybeans, as always, thanks for the very informative analysis! It’s always appreciated.
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