Help Me Choose Some J. Herbin

[Fabienne]

I wanted to try some J. Herbin ink. I hear it praised a lot. I love high shading. What would you suggest in:

• Blue
• purple
• red
• orange
• brown.

Any big faves you have for shading, please let me know. I have read the reviews but sometimes that brings up more questions than it answers. I know that nibs and papers have a lot to do with shading but there are some inks which just shade anyway anywhere. Thanks.

 

P.S. I hear that Eclat de Saphir isn't much of a shader (pity, it's a lovely color) but then I saw a review to the contrary, so that is why I am asking.

[The Blue Knight]

Bleu Nuit as it is a great shadder for your blue far more then Bleu Myosotis,

 

Lie De-the for your brown as it has a lot of shading, really nice color too.

 

Violette Pensee doesn't have that much shading for your purple though.

 

Why don't you buy a few tins of cartridges first before buying a bottle. That's what I did to work out what I liked and didn't.

[Fabienne]

I am going to do that, buy samples that is. Goulet Pens sells them and now Jet Pens has 10ml bottles for lots of sample pleasure.

[Anneleen]

Bleu Pervenche has good shading.

[Abner C. Kemp]

Blue: Blu Nuit seems to be the best shader.

 

Purple: I've only tried Violet Pensee and didn't find it to be particularly impressive.. nice behavior but the color was a bit too pinkish for me and there was almost no shading. Poussiere de Lune is a darker purple which looks like it would shade more .. I also prefer the color but that's just me.

 

Red: Rouge Hematite is one of the coolest inks I've ever tried. The gold sheen is incredible and really offers some flair to your writing. It's not really a shader but the sheen makes up for it. Just be sure to clean your pen often as I did notice some clogging after having it in a pen for awhile.

 

Orange: Orange Indien seems to be the only orange offering from J. Herbin. I haven't tried it so I can't say much.

 

Brown: Lie de-The will shade quite a bit and has a unique color which looks almost exactly like dried tea. It is an interesting brown that definitely sets itself apart from the traditional sepia inks offered by other companies. Whether or not you like the color is up to you though.

[Renfield]

I wanted to try some J. Herbin ink. I hear it praised a lot. I love high shading. What would you suggest in:

• Blue
• purple
• red
• orange
• brown.

Any big faves you have for shading, please let me know. I have read the reviews but sometimes that brings up more questions than it answers. I know that nibs and papers have a lot to do with shading but there are some inks which just shade anyway anywhere. Thanks.

 

P.S. I hear that Eclat de Saphir isn't much of a shader (pity, it's a lovely color) but then I saw a review to the contrary, so that is why I am asking.

 

 

I will probably get stomped on from a high height for saying this, but I wouldn't buy any more J Herbin inks.

 

I love the colours, but have had multiple mould issues with J Herbin it has stopped me buying any more.

 

So i will put the J herbin offerings, and then my alternative ink

 

Brown - Lie de The - Great mid brown ink. Good shading, a little dry, but one of my favourite browns - Alternative - Montblanc toffee Brown. fantastc shading, wonderful flow,

 

Orange - Orange Indien. Lovely pastel orange with good shading - Alternative Diamine Blaze Orange

 

Blue - Blue Pervanche, although not much shading, Alternative Noodlers Navajo turquoise - great shading

 

Purple - Voilette Pensee - not a shader, but nice wet flow. Alternative - Waterman Purple - Good well behaved ink

 

Red - Can't help you, not a huge red fan, so not tried the Herbin ones, but I like Dimaine Deep Dark Red, and Diamine Oxblood.

 

 

 

Ren

[Inga]

I've only tried two, but both have been very good :

RED: Rouge Hematite

PURPLE: Poussiere de Lune

[theinforat]

I'm on my first two bottles of J. Herbin, though I've only gotten to try Eclat de Saphir so far. I have to say, it may not have much shading, but it is quite a pleasant color. I also have Cafe de Isles, but I've not yet tried it, I'll update when I do (lest you've made your decision by the time I do )

[senzen]

I just had to recheck, these all shade nicely on Clairefontaine paper: Vert Empire, Orange Indien (less than the others), Bleu Myosotis, Lie de Thé.

 

[ArchiMark]

+1 for Bleu Nuit.....

 

Has been one of my most used inks the past few years.....taken a lot of notes with it....

[inkspot]

I love Bleu Myosotis, Poussiere de Lune, and Rouge Bourgogne. I get lovely shading from all three. I have Orange Indiene, but I find it a little dull compared to other orange inks, though it does shade well. Rouge Opera is a stunning red, but I don't get much shading with it. I know you didn't request greens, but Vert Olive is a fabulous shader in my experience.

[Bigeddie]

I have tried a number of J Herbin inks, the two that really grab me are Vert Empire (Green) and Lie de The (Brown) (and Perle Noire (Black) but you are not interested in black). Both perform nicely and are quite different from the closest alternatives. Orange Indien is nice, but not as vibrant or as smoothly performing as the Montblanc oranges that I am still working with.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Ren,

There has been problems because of lack of chemicals in Herbin. Contact them, they will send you new inks.

Could well be they will pay the postage to ship your ink back, so they can test it.

They have a pinned some where in the ink sections a thread on that.

They had contaminated tap water.

 

I've had no problems with mine.

 

I don't like Diamine, to me it has a wooly line and or feathers. Meadow is my feather champ of all my inks, easily.

 

The way I grade inks.

BEF...bare eyed feathering from a sitting position.

NEF, near eye feathering...wooly line.

MagF.....using a honking big magnifying glass, wooly line or feathering.

NoMagF....perfect ink.

 

I do use good to better paper....and Herbin IMO is much better than Diamine...

Edited July 28, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[Fabienne]

I got zapped by mold, too. I stayed away from J. Herbin for a long time but now I think I am ready to try again as they say that their problems are solved. That and I am a sucker for nice shading.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Fabienne

[hoipolloi]

I love Poussière de Lune and Bleu Pervenche.

[javierba73]

• Blue: Bleu Pervenche or Bleu Nuit

purple: Poussiere de Lune

red: Rouge Opera

orange: Orange Indien

brown: Lie de Thé

[TheDarkFaery]

Bleu Azure has really nice shading it is an icy blue and a little light for some people though.

[Anne-Sophie]

This is the pinned thread Bo Bo Olson mentioned:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/213803-update-on-j-herbin-ink-problems/

 

Unfortunately, stuff in the form of bacteria, fungus and yeast is all around us.

 

And sometimes, it lands in an ink bottle, any ink bottle, any brand of ink.

 

This is why I use my vintage inkwells as dip pen holders, not ink or even water receptacles.

 

With my dip pens, I use fountain pen ink decanted into small screw top bottles.

 

Decanting is done with the utmost care, but even, that, is no guarantee because microscopic particles fly everywhere, but the most sterile environment.

 

 

I use a lot of Herbin inks but I have never paid attention to shading, does that occur more with finer or bolder nibs?

Edited July 28, 2014 by Anne-Sophie

[77kath]

I have lots of old bottles, mostly blues and browns. Never had a problem with them. Got a new bottle of éclat du sapphire. No problems. Didn't like vert olive or Gris nuage.

[Renfield]

Ren,

There has been problems because of lack of chemicals in Herbin. Contact them, they will send you new inks.

Could well be they will pay the postage to ship your ink back, so they can test it.

They have a pinned some where in the ink sections a thread on that.

They had contaminated tap water.

 

I've had no problems with mine.

 

I don't like Diamine, to me it has a wooly line and or feathers. Meadow is my feather champ of all my inks, easily.

 

The way I grade inks.

BEF...bare eyed feathering from a sitting position.

NEF, near eye feathering...wooly line.

MagF.....using a honking big magnifying glass, wooly line or feathering.

NoMagF....perfect ink.

 

I do use good to better paper....and Herbin IMO is much better than Diamine...

 

 

BoBo,

 

I did contact them, and they did replace them(well one was a sample from the Goulets, so I didn't contact them about that obviously), but I have had 6 instances of mouldy ink(5 of them arrived like that, and 1 was in an ink I had for a while)

 

J Herbin was 4 out of 6. They were bought over a 2 year timescale, and over a range of colour: Lie De The, Bleu Nuit, Vert Reseda, and another one I can't recall now.

 

And as I said, I do like their colours, and how they behave when being used, but I don't want to risk them again. I am using what I have, in modern only pens, that I can totally dismantle in case it happens again and I need to sterilize them.

 

I have around a dozen different Herbin inks, and as they dont come out with new colours all the time, I dint think i am missing much, with not buying any more.

 

 

as for Diamine, I have tried 20+ Diamine, and have not noticed any real feathering at all. If I use really bad paper, it will feather, but so will most other inks.Maybe I am not looking close enough, but they work perfectly to me

 

Ren