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1. Mix a 4:1 solution of ink and place in clear glass vials .... ink was mixed using a syringe for accurate water measurement. Solution mixed smoothly with no problems
2. Allow ink to sit for 24 hours to test for any separation..... ink did not precipitate or separate at all
3. Fill pen and test with a fine and a medium nib to show color at 4:1 dilution ... Filled two Esterbrook pens (1 medium, 1 fine nib), see attached color samples at all dilutions. Pens wrote smoothly, no skipping, not overly wet, and no feathering. Color was clean and had some tonality, colors matched samples sent by Sean earlier (see below).
4. Dilute to 5:1 and fill pen and test with a fine and a medium nib to show color at 5:1 dilution .... Filled two Esterbrook pens (1 medium, 1 fine nib), see attached color samples at all dilutions. Pens wrote smoothly, no skipping, not overly wet, and no feathering. Color was clean, just a slight tint shift from the 4:1 dilution, colors matched samples sent by Sean earlier.
5. Dilute to 6:1 and fill pen and test with a fine and a medium nib to show color at 6:1 dilution .... Filled two Esterbrook pens (1 medium, 1 fine nib), see attached color samples at all dilutions. Pens wrote smoothly, no skipping, not overly wet, and no feathering. Color was clean and there was a definite tint shift from the 4:1 and 5:1 dilutions.
These are both very nice colors. Neither seems to be highly saturated to the point of causing a problem in a normal writing pen (even at the 4:1 dilution). The recommended 5:1 dilution seems to be almost exactly the same tint as the 4:1 dilution and is what I would suggest for general writing. I found the 6:1 dilution of both colors to be a bit too washed out for my personal taste.
I compared the New York Central Green to J Herbin Lierre Sauvage and found the colors close, but I think the NYC Jade has a crisper cleaner color green with just the slightest touch of blue... almost like a fresh spring grass color... very pleasing to the eye.
I compared the Antilles Blue to Noodlers Navajo Turquoise (my favorite Turquoise) and there is a bigger difference in color. The Noodlers is a bluer turquoise with no green under toning. The Antilles Blue is a nice clean turquoise with a pale green undertone that is not at all unpleasant to the eye. I also found the Noodlers to be a darker turquoise and the Antilles Blue to be a less bright, but pleasing color.
Overall I find the concept to be interesting and easy to work with. The two colors I tested were pleasant to the eye, easy on the pen and did not show any feathering, even on ink jet paper at 6:1 dilution. I can see a place for these inks, especially for someone who is doing a lot of traveling. I can also see a place for these inks premixed for sale. Personally, I would prefer to purchase the inks premixed. See the attached color samples. These samples were photographed with a Nikon D50 and on camera flash. Other than simple lighting correction in Photoshop, there were no other color corrections done to either sample.
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This post has been edited by OldGriz: 17 October 2006 - 08:41 PM
MultiQuote
Congrats Sean.
When I was a pharmacist, certain medications---antibiotic powders--had to be reconstituted using distilled water, thus my question...)