How Far Do You Go Before You Buy Two Similar Colored Inks

[Ambrose Bierce]

I would say that my ink collection is in the stage of "rapid growth." I am trying to pick up all sorts of colors and brands to see what is out there, and I currently have 10 bottles of inks. What are y'alls thoughts on buying inks that are similar to ones already in your collection. Such as me having a 3/4 full bottle of Private Reserve Electric DC Blue, and going out and buying Liberty's Elysium (this is just an example, I don't actually want LE).

[Davros]

I think the first step is that you begin to make finer distinctions as to what is "similar". For example, when you start off, maybe you want to find a blue ink. It isn't too long before "blue" covers too much ground: from turquoise to violet-blue, from light to dark, from shading to saturated, from bright to grayed out. Suddenly the color space that was once just blue can have dozens of compartments where ink colors are not too similar.

 

Later, you start adding distinctions by properties and behavior: feathering, sheening, water resistance, color change, smell, etc.

 

Eventually you throw in the towel, and stop worrying so much: it seems natural to have dozens and dozens of blues, many similar (but you know their secret hearts). After all, you still only have full bottles of a fraction of the available inks.

 

You begin dispensing advice and buying inks to test against one another, storing them in increasingly complex methods so you can find the one you want immediately. You spend nights touching your bottles gently with your fingertips, stroking their smooth glass curves, telling them your secrets. This is the final stage before beginning your apprenticeship as an inkomancer.

[Joane]

This is not an issue for me because I keep only one of each colour until it is used up. Then, if I still like it I replenish it. If I'm tired of it and want to try something new, I will buy another brand of that colour. My mind can only handle one ink of a colour at a time because if I start having to choose, say, which blue, I get bogged down. I need to keep it simple.

[sombrueil]

Samples. Right now I am trying to find a dark blue-violet and a medium periwinkle blue. I have six samples from Goulet I am working my way through before making a decision. I find that even two quite similar colors may have very different writing qualities. I try to only buy inks that are distinctive from what I have already, which can be hard, because I tend to be drawn toward the same ranges of colors (I like all the permutations of "brown", for example -- browny reds, chocolate, amber, purplish red-brown, greenish brown . . . )

 

If I end up with very close duplicates I tend to prefer one so the other gets moved on.

 

I'm still a long way from my inkomancy apprenticeship.

[lapis]

Not far at all... e.g. I bought Sky High and Souten... just to see how similar (or different) they "really" are....

 

Mike

[amberleadavis]

Uh... LE and Electric Blue are nothing alike.

But I like doppelgangers anyway.

[Millefleurs]

I order samples as well. Right now I'm on the quest for the perfect (for me) black, and have ordered at least a dozen samples of black ink that I'll be testing over the next few weeks (months?). I'm at a point where I have a fairly good idea of what I'm looking for and so I'm fairly confident I'll be able to narrow it down to just one or two (I might wind up with a waterproof ink, let's say, and one that isn't waterproof but that's great on cheap paper).

 

That said, I do have a few bottles of blue (why is it always blue?!) that are similar in color, because when I first got into this ink-buying business I wanted all the bottles and I went a little crazy.

 

I also purchased a bottle of MB pink ink recently even though I already have a bottle of pink ink that will last me forever just because I loved the look of the packaging (box and bottle) so much. Sigh.

 

You begin dispensing advice and buying inks to test against one another, storing them in increasingly complex methods so you can find the one you want immediately. You spend nights touching your bottles gently with your fingertips, stroking their smooth glass curves, telling them your secrets. This is the final stage before beginning your apprenticeship as an inkomancer.

 

Loved this.

[Algester]

ohh lol... considering what I see in inks I still advise a word of caution how looking at 200 inks from 1 maker will have a tendency of overlapping colors

PS: I dont want to be trully responsible for making people dishout 4K USD for inks @_@ <_< >_> >.<

Edited May 5, 2015 by Algester

[inkstainedruth]

Whenever possible I try to get samples. But often I will end up ordering a bunch of similar ones, just to find the one(s) I like best (kind of like Millefleurs' quest for the "perfect" black). But there have been times when I've ended up with colors that are really similar -- but just enough different from each other that I think it's worth springing for a full bottle (e.g. Iroshihzuku Yama-budo and the original formula Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses).

Also, similar colors might have different properties (dry time, flow) which makes inks more suitable for different pens.

Of course I'm also really good at self-justification....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Hallel]

I go through phases where I really love a certain colour and order several several different inks in that hue, then when the frenzy dies down and the madness ends I realize that X ink is a dead ringer for Y ink and why didn't I figure that out before I bought both?

 

Examples would be Diamine Autumn Oak and Noodlers Apache Sunset, Sailor Kobe No. 38 and DeAtramentis Sherlock Holmes, Diamine Bilberry and Sailor Jentle Nioi-Sumire, etc.. For each of these I ended up disappointed in myself for not being a savy enough consumer to realize that I was never going to use up a whole bottle of orange ink never mind two.

 

But after I put them all away in my ink drawer and cleansed my pallet with something else, I discovered that I actually have strong opinions about them and that they are very different after all and I end up appreciating them all even if I never use up the whole bottle. At the rate I'm buying up new inks the chances of me actually finishing a bottle are getting lower and lower.

 

All that to say, a collection of 10 bottles is still a collection that has room to grow. And as you said, you are mostly just trying new things to find out what you like and to have variety. That's really the only way to figure out what you like, but I would second the others who recommended buying samples over full sized bottles until you feel more solid about a purchase.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Hallel

[Legal Eagle]

Most of my ink collection is light blue, turquoise, teal, green and similar colors. I do have some bottles of brown, burgundy, purple, red, and black but they don't get used too often.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Legal Eagle

[VivienR]

Just a few step... Have a lots of reds pinks and purples, many are similar, but not the same. Sometimes I just buy for the bottle, and have less interest about the ink. Like the Caran d'Ache Blue Sky really boring blue, but its in a nice packing, I brought the Carbon to which is an amazing black and it came with a nice packing too.

[white_lotus]

I have many colors that are similar across the range of blue, brown, black, purple and green. But I enjoy them all, and use them. If something is too similar to something else, then I can decide which I like better. And when I run out of them both I'll get the one I like better.

[ac12]

I get samples to narrow in on the ink I want.

But sometimes I like several inks that are close in color. So what the heck I will order a bottle of each.

And sometimes on a limited production or release, you won't have a second chance, so I get it anyway and deal with any similarity with my inks later.

Edited May 6, 2015 by ac12

[Vgimlet]

I order samples as well. Right now I'm on the quest for the perfect (for me) black,

 

 

Me too Millefleurs!

 

Except I've decided there is no perfect black - which is why I've got one on the way (Dark Matter, because it shades) and I'm waiting for Aurora Black to come back in stock. I already have bottles of Noodler's black, and HOD. I will probably order more as I find more favorites, but I use a lot of black ink.

 

I buy samples first, and I'm slowly, slowly going through all of them. I use a lot of colored ink, too, but I am definitely of the "try before I buy a bottle" school of ink.

 

Even if inks are similar, there are differences - like old formula Black Swan in Australian Roses, and Private Reserve Burgundy Mist. The color is similar, but to my eye, totally different. Also Private Reserve Orange Crush and Noodler's Apache Sunset - similar, kind of, but not really. They are both favorites even though I am not a fan of the color orange.

[JimCouch]

My favorite ink color by far is blue-black. As a consequence I have numerous different blue-black inks. I like the variety in what would at first blush appear to be a 'similar' color. The subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences are fun.