J. Herbin Stormy Grey - Written Review

[KaB]

 

How about shading:

 

And how about gold flecks sparkling?

 

 

 

(I've found just one: in the 'h' at the bottom of the pic).

 

 

[dspeers58]

I just got a bottle from Pen Chalet, and after shaking the bottle and loading it into a Twsbi 540 with their old 1.1 stub, the sheen is very visible. The shading is nice, but not huge. The color has a greenish tinge to it

[marjeta]

Thank you for the review, seeing some handwritten is always nice

Which pen did you use in the review?

[Uncial]

I find that it will produce the sparkle for the first couple of sentences and then disappear. I think this is due to it settling so fast within the pen. Fortunately I like the colour of the ink even without the sparkle.

As an interesting comparison (although it really isn't comparing like with like) I wrote with Stormy Grey and Yama-Budo on Tomoe River Paper and the gold sheen from Yama-Budo is actually far superior, which kind of surprised me.

[Bhavna]

KaB thank you for the review, I really like the grey despite the sparkle debacle. The shading is lovely. I can't believe I am the same person who turned my nose up at greys not that long ago. Obviously the God of grey things felt I needed (expensive) correction....

[dspeers58]

Here is the sheen I get with a Twsbi 540 1.1 stub...

[dspeers58]

Here is how the photo looks, straight on. Btw, I did shake up the bottle because the gold does settle...

 

 

[marjeta]

ooooh that looks awesome

[inkstainedruth]

KaB thank you for the review, I really like the grey despite the sparkle debacle. The shading is lovely. I can't believe I am the same person who turned my nose up at greys not that long ago. Obviously the God of grey things felt I needed (expensive) correction....

 

Unlike Bhavna, I do tend to like grey inks, as long as they're dark enough to be legible but not overly dark. Normally this is a little darker than I would pick for myself but after seeing a written exemplar at DCSS last summer I knew I just HAD to have Stormy Grey.

The gold does tend to settle out very quickly, and I have found it takes a LOT of shaking to get the gold back into suspension in the bottle (several minutes of strong agitation). But on better paper the ink is amazing. I tried it on something like Rhodia and watched the gold sort of come to the forefront as the ink dried on the page (it's the sort of thing that someone with a video camera should post -- and if I had one I would). I think broader nibs probably are better for this ink (although the sample writing I saw in August was with something with a lot of flex) to really show off the contrast between that dark grey and the gold.

Thanks for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[HalloweenHJB]

 

Unlike Bhavna, I do tend to like grey inks, as long as they're dark enough to be legible but not overly dark. Normally this is a little darker than I would pick for myself but after seeing a written exemplar at DCSS last summer I knew I just HAD to have Stormy Grey.

The gold does tend to settle out very quickly, and I have found it takes a LOT of shaking to get the gold back into suspension in the bottle (several minutes of strong agitation). But on better paper the ink is amazing. I tried it on something like Rhodia and watched the gold sort of come to the forefront as the ink dried on the page (it's the sort of thing that someone with a video camera should post -- and if I had one I would). I think broader nibs probably are better for this ink (although the sample writing I saw in August was with something with a lot of flex) to really show off the contrast between that dark grey and the gold.

Thanks for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

Quite right, Ruth. Lots of shaking!

 

I wrote a few lines on Canson tracing paper, and the sheen/sparkle was phenomenal. The paper really does make a great deal of difference!

[Bhavna]

 

Unlike Bhavna, I do tend to like grey inks, as long as they're dark enough to be legible but not overly dark. Normally this is a little darker than I would pick for myself but after seeing a written exemplar at DCSS last summer I knew I just HAD to have Stormy Grey.

The gold does tend to settle out very quickly, and I have found it takes a LOT of shaking to get the gold back into suspension in the bottle (several minutes of strong agitation). But on better paper the ink is amazing. I tried it on something like Rhodia and watched the gold sort of come to the forefront as the ink dried on the page (it's the sort of thing that someone with a video camera should post -- and if I had one I would). I think broader nibs probably are better for this ink (although the sample writing I saw in August was with something with a lot of flex) to really show off the contrast between that dark grey and the gold.

Thanks for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth, I've seen the light and am a believer, I promise. Desperate for a bottle of Stormy, 7 weeks of seeking and counting..! Edited December 7, 2014 by Bhavna

[KaB]

I urgently need to update my review... after shaking the sample vial vigourously results are very different:

 

 

[amberleadavis]

So, SHAKEN not stirred.

[Green Ink]

That happened to me too! I just didn't shake the bottle enough the first time. I guess that leaves even more gold for subsequent fills!

 

I would love this ink even without the gold. Flows well, great color. Wouldn't it be fun if J. Herbin made a few more gold or silver sheeny inks!

[amberleadavis]

Yes we meed more metallic fp inks.

[cbaytan]

Yes we meed more metallic fp inks.

Indeed, in fact to get a metallic silver or gold look, you don't have to use real gold or silver or any other metallic material. I am sure there are lots of other FP ink friendly material is out there waiting to be discovered for the giving inks a strong metallic look.

I am hoping that nanotechnology will achieve this in the future..

[Tweel]

I have a feeling this couldn't be done, at least in a way that could be dispensed from a bottle, given the relative sizes of light waves and nanoparticles.