» Warming Up To Brown Ink
I”ve tested a large number of fountain pen inks this past year and one of the biggest surprises I’ve found is that I actually like brown ink. When I bought my first fountain pen (a red Lamy Safari) two years ago, black was the first and only ink I used in it for the longest time. Then I tried a few shades of blue – but only dark saturated blues. I was looking for the same shade of blue that my trusty Papermate Stick pens used because anything different would just be silly. I thought, “Who on earth writes with a turquoise ink?”
Then came purple… which for me was a little bit on the wild side.
And then Karen asked me if I would like to sample the J. Herbin line of inks & that was it. After discovering colors like Rose Cyclamen, Bleu Pervenche & Orange Indien, I had awakened to the glory of brightly colored inks.
But then there was brown. Let’s just say that I wasn’t a huge fan of brown ink. In the last batch of Herbin inks I received to test, there were not just one, but TWO more bottles of brown ink; Cafe des Iles & Cacao du Bresil. I wasn’t really looking forward to testing them, but once I did, the craziest thing happened – I simply fell in love with the warm reddish brown hue of the Cafe des Iles. It strikes me as very earthy and also reminds me of the color that Leonardo DaVinci may have used in one of his sketchbooks.
See my Herbin Ink Review Index Here (6 more inks to go!)
Comments
“Who on earth writes with a turquoise ink?” Raises hand slowly. Hehe.
I love brown ink. I think it is a drawing thing, as sepia, sanguine and ochre are some of my favourite colours to use.
Café des Îles is a really pretty colour. One of my favourites. :D I’ll have to try Cacao du Bresil sometime.
Sounds absolutely lovely. Would you be able to post writing samples on Rhodia pads and Webbie paper, please? Or did you, and I haven’t had enough coffee yet?!
Oh yea – now I write with turquoise as well…. as well as every other color under the rainbow. But back in the beginning, I was strict with the black and blue inks only.
There is a link at the bottom of the post that will take you to my Herbin ink review index and I think most are tested on Clairefontaine paper – 90g white. I had a clothbound Basics journal that I used as my ink sampling book for the Herbin inks.
For the longest time, I was the biggest fan of purple/violet inks. Recently, I’ve been back to basic blacks and blues. I’m intrigued by the prospect of brown ink. I’ll have to see…
Turquiose ink? I was a terrible one for that, in the form of Sheaffer’s Peacock Blue, in grades 5 and 6. I can hardly face it now, and wonder that me teachers didn’t give me a good yelling at. Browns and the more mellow greens are the place for me, now– Lis de The and Vert Empire, in particular.
A search of your website reveals no review of the two browns listed here. Dadgumit. I was so hopping to see what your review would say about these.
Happy Day
I know… but they will be done soon!
I’m a nut for grey inks, and Cacao du Bresil is my favorite! The fact that it can be classified as both a grey and a brown is one of my things I love about it most.
James
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