Shading - Are You A Fan?

[frazzlerazzle]

Afternoon,

 

I must say that I am a big fan of nibs and inks that give beautiful shading. How many of you also have prolific shaders amongst your collection? If you do, could I ask which nib and ink combination gives you maximum shading. I know there are a few threads on this from the past, but with new pens and inks of the recent year, there may well be some updates.

 

I am thinking of getting a left oblique for my SS Parker Sonnet and some Waterman South Sea Blue.

 

Regards,

 

Brian

[777]

Hey Brian! My favorite shading combo is this:

 

My Parker 51 Custom 1.3mm Stub nib along with Noodlers Cayenne. I'm looking for a good brown ink with tons of shading but haven't found "the one" yet...

 

I love, love, love shading!

 

Regards,

777

Edited May 23, 2011 by 777

[PaulT00]

I'd say the most dramatic shading in my collection comes from my Omas 556/S, very flexible fine point, filled with Iroshizuku Kiri-Same ('drizzle', or 'autumn shower') which is a silvery-grey, not too saturated but with very good flow.

 

I get very good results from a Stipula with a T-flex nib and Montblanc Racing Green; there's also a Parker Duofold Maxima (aerometric fill) with a quite broad oblique nib which will give pretty good shading with a variety of inks and a Vacumatic with another very broad oblique which shades pretty much anything!

 

So the combination seems to be a wide or flexible nib and - possibly more importantly - an ink with good flow which isn't too dark or heavily saturated.

[ANM]

If by shading you mean inks that are transparent, no I don't care for those at all. I do have a nice collection of pens with italic nibs and some with flexible nibs. I do like to use those on occasion but for the most part I prefer extra fine nibs with just a little flex.

[Titanic9990]

I'm looking for a good brown in kwith tons of shading

 

I use Noodler's walnut slightly diluted in water. It shades quite nicely if the correct water to ink proportions are used. -while i love noodlers walnut im still on that same "hunt for the perfect brown" lol

[bluemagister]

A lot of shading can come from the nib, itself, as well as the writing style. Whenever you have to loop back over a line or stop and lift the pen, you'll get that little drop of ink. Any Noodler's ink can give pretty good shading if it's diluted properly, making it thin enough to contrast with the darker ink drop.

[redisburning]

personally I distinguish between pooling at the end of letters and an ink that can actually shade in connected letters.

 

tsuki-yo does it. very few other inks do it.

[Alieanor]

Of all the inks I have, Herbin Poussière de lune shades the best for me, in just about any pen. I've used it in everything from pens with M/F to customized to be a firehose B. Shades well in all.

 

Herbin's Orange indien is another one I like for shading, and their Bleu myosotis makes me swoon.

[Bo Bo Olson]

frazzlerazzle, IMO, modern obliques are a waste of money, get your self a vintage pre'66 German semi-flex, or somewhat flexible/'flexi' oblique.

I have nine, in the above, and in 15 and 30 degree grinds.

Swans have good nibs too.

Compared to vintage semi-flex or 'flexi' nibs, modern oblique nibs are just for some one who holds his pen crooked.

 

I do like shading inks.

I like Waterman South Sea Blue.

 

How ever even with regular nibs, you can get good shading.

Using MB Toffee a nice shading ink, I got:

Fine was light with dark trails.

Medium was 50-50 breaking the prejudice I'd picked up on this com against mediums.

Broad was dark with light trails.

 

Semi-flex being somewhat wet writers was dark.

 

Shading also has to do with the paper.

Lamy Turquoise did not shade on 80 g/sm for me, but did on 90 gs/m.

[51ISH]

Pelikan BB seems to shade quite nicely for me.....

 

I understand from what I have read here that Montblanc Toffee is a good brown shading ink.....and Waterman Havana...

although less so.....I have yet to try either .....so YMMV

[frazzlerazzle]

Very interesting responses.

 

@ANM: "If by shading you mean inks that are transparent, no I don't care for those at all" no - not thinking of transparent, still plenty of colour, but heaps of gradient.

 

@Redisburning: "pooling at the end of letters and an ink that can actually shade in connected letters" - yes, helpful to recognise the difference, thanks for pointing this out.

 

@BoBoOlson: "modern obliques are a waste of money...modern oblique nibs are just for some one who holds his pen crooked" - yes, I think you just saved me wasting some cash on a new nib, will check out your suggestions and also bear in mind that the paper will affect the ability to shade nicely.

 

I have some Waterman Havana and Sheaffer Turquoise, but not Waterman South Sea Blue, so will be buying some of that shortly. I will experiment with adding some water and seeing how that helps. I wonder what ratio water to ink, 30% water 70% ink for Noodlers maybe. My Private Reserve inks are so highly pigmented and wont shade, so it's interesting to recognise how the water content will affect this.

[FrankB]

I really like the aesthetics of shading. I get some of my best shading from J. Herbin inks in combination with B nibs. I have several good shading pens, yet my favorites seem to be my MB 149 and Pelikan M-1000 with B nibs.

[frazzlerazzle]

Thanks Frank, I notice that J. Herbin inks have a nice water content, so they shade well straight from the bottle - or at least, I believe that's why they're good on getting nice colour gradients.

[DAYoung]

Afternoon,

 

I must say that I am a big fan of nibs and inks that give beautiful shading. How many of you also have prolific shaders amongst your collection? If you do, could I ask which nib and ink combination gives you maximum shading. I know there are a few threads on this from the past, but with new pens and inks of the recent year, there may well be some updates.

 

I am thinking of getting a left oblique for my SS Parker Sonnet and some Waterman South Sea Blue.

 

Regards,

 

Brian

 

Is this the sort of thing you're after?

 

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/DAYoung_2006/Asa-Gao-cropped.jpg

[JOBPM]

Shading and line variation are probably my two favorite things about FPs. It's what sets them apart from ball pens. I'd have to say my favorite shading inks are probably Black Swan in Australian Roses and Private Reserve Arabian Rose.

[bluemagister]

Shading is deliciously analog.

[frazzlerazzle]

@DAYoung: That's beautiful writing and wonderful shading, the gradients are smooth and uniform, rather than the nib simply dropping out a load of ink at the end of the stroke. Wow!

[JonSzanto]

Shading is deliciously analog.

Ooooh... excellent analogy (no pun intended).

[andru]

Shading is deliciously analog.

Ooooh... excellent analogy (no pun intended).

I second that! And also about the pooling vs. shading. Although if shading is not due to pooling, it must be due to qualities of the paper, no? (Original texture, and any nib blade effects.)

 

It's a tricky balance of factors isn't it. Paper absorbancy, etc.

 

Has anyone tried a brush pen? I haven't although I've painted a few bookmarks with ink on watercolour paper, and the shading was hypnotic! Is the shading of a brush pen superior to that of nibbed pens?

[DAYoung]

@DAYoung: That's beautiful writing and wonderful shading, the gradients are smooth and uniform, rather than the nib simply dropping out a load of ink at the end of the stroke. Wow!

 

Glad you like it. That's a Pelikan M215 M with Iroshizuku Asa-Gao, on Clairefontaine paper.