Roberson's Penman Transparent Olive Peridot

[SamCapote]

I was looking at this lineup of inks which have not been discussed or reviewed much, and decided to order most of their "C. Roberson & Co. Penman Classical Transparent" inks from Jacqui and Tracey Blackman's website here after verifying that they are designed and safe for use in fountain pens. They have some lovely colors, and Roberson's makes their own inks. They have a nice clean look to them, and a pleasant ink smell. (Ann, for the Roberson's category please note there is no "T" in their name, which I just caught after naming all my image files.)

 

I picked their Olive Peridot for my first review, and to see how close it was to MB Racing Green. It is lighter in color, but I was surprised to see it has pretty nice water resistance once dried, and excellent shading. It is a bit slower drying, especially if laid down thicker. To the eye, it is darker than a classic Army green, and an excellent example of an Olive green color. I decided to use thumbnail images to help loading, since I wanted to compare the scan with some photos. The ink was much darker and well pigmented than the scan shows. I would say Photo #2 is closest to actual color on my monitor. Enjoy.

 

• First is the Scanned Image:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/pike444/Inks/Robertson/Robertson-Olive-Peridot-Scans.jpg

 

 

• Second is a Flash Photo #1:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/pike444/Inks/Robertson/Robertson-Olive-Peridot1s.jpg

 

 

• Third is Ambient Skylight Photo #2:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/pike444/Inks/Robertson/Robertson-Olive-Peridot2s.jpg

 

 

• Fourth is just a shot of the bottles I received:

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/pike444/Inks/Robertson/Robertson1s.jpg

 

 

Edited May 2, 2010 by SamCapote

[roger3]

Great review! Thank you for sharing your discovery. However, I am puzzled by this quote taken directly from their website

These inks offer a wide spectrum of colours, made from the highest quality, full strength natural dyes to provide maximum resistance to light and ageing. The translucent colours have a bright, rich tone, are water soluble and Ph neutral. The Classical Transparent ink range are suitable for use with :- Dip pens; Quill, Reed or Calame; Fountain pens (except Mont Blanc); Technical and Ruling pens, Automatic pens, also the Airbrush.

Especially concerned because of the MBs I see in your review...

Edited May 2, 2010 by roger3

[saintsimon]

They seem to switching to plastic caps on the bottles. My two old violet agate and obsidian brown bottles came with metal caps from the same source. Forgot that I have them.

[SamCapote]

Great review! Thank you for sharing your discovery. However, I am puzzled by this quote taken directly from their website

These inks offer a wide spectrum of colours, made from the highest quality, full strength natural dyes to provide maximum resistance to light and ageing. The translucent colours have a bright, rich tone, are water soluble and Ph neutral. The Classical Transparent ink range are suitable for use with :- Dip pens; Quill, Reed or Calame; Fountain pens (except Mont Blanc); Technical and Ruling pens, Automatic pens, also the Airbrush.

Especially concerned because of the MBs I see in your review...

 

Ahhh, I should have addressed that point because it caught my attention as well. If you follow to a specific ink, there is a "more details" link going to this page discussing the categories of inks. Specificly addressing your question is this quoted information from that page:

 

The Classical Transparent ink range are suitable for use with :- Dip pens; Quill, Reed or Calame; Fountain pens (except Mont Blanc, as using ink other than their own voids the warranty); Technical and Ruling pens, Automatic pens, brushes, also the Airbrush. Recommended surfaces: HP watercolour paper; Bristol board or card; good quality writing and/or smooth surfaced papers.

[Scriptorium Pens]

They have some interesting looking colors. Now to see how long I can resist the temptation to order a few bottles....

[roger3]

Thanks Sam for your reply. I had a thought that the caution was not related to any damaging properties of the ink, but addressed to the MB warranty. Thanks for confirming.

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, thanks, a really nice and interesting colour.

[Bronze]

- Thank you for the review and for the introduction to the Roberson inks

 

 

Interesting colour, have you compared it to Diamine Umber? On my screen it looks to be in the same vein.

 

Looking forward to the reviews of the other Roberson inks.