I know a lot of people choose their inks for very logical and pragmatic reasons - e.g. properties, workplace regulations, even matching to the colour of the pen. I do that too, to a certain extent. But I wondered whether anyone else shared my more eccentric reasons for buying certain colours?

For one thing, vintage or cultural associations can set me off wanting things. As soon as I discovered that Noodlers Antietam was based on a genuine resurrected C19th ink sample, I knew I had to have it. This also explains my obsession with clones of the old Sheaffer Persian Rose. Almost the first new ink I bought after discovering the online "ink craze" was Herbin Violette Pensée: I wanted a purple, but chose this one especially because of its whole set of cultural associations with 2 centuries of French life.

The other thing that sometimes works on me is the name - it may set up a landscape image in my mind like a photograph or a painting. Names like Squetegue, South Sea Blue, and Vert Pré do that. Squetegue's ocean associations suggested a misty, rocky inlet with deep dark water and surrounded by trees. I liked that image.

Obviously, I have to like the colour too, but am I alone in these things??

I purchased Antietem for the same reason as you.

Since that time, I have continued using it because I like the color.

I really wanted Noodler's Apache Sunset... Didn't find it at the local shop so went for the next-darkest, Habanero. It actually worked out better, but I didn't want to go darker as with say, Cayenne. I just like the intense shading of these inks. Go figure, Habanero has been my favorite ink since!

I'm buying a few inks this week because I want to represent the entire color wheel at my desk--who cares if I'll ever use magenta or green?--and I'll feel incomplete if the circle isn't complete.

LOL! Don't forget the complementary and tertiary colors as well.

(I've been doing the same thing - spreading the wheel, as it were)

Antietam was one of the first inks I bought when I got into this whole mess - not because of the resurrected recipe, as I was not aware of that until now! I bought it because I like Civil War history, and the fact that it is a little dry-bloody. Thanks to this thread, now I have another reason to be happy with it.

I bought Zhivago not for the color but for the fact that it is for Zhivago - what a story! Same for the Pushkin ink. I would not have purchased that ink for the color alone, or even the properties. But since I love the story of Eugene Onegin, I had to have the Pushkin ink.

My reason for buying Emerald City Green from WorldLux was completely off, but I am still happy I have it. I am a big fan of the Wizard of Oz and thought the ink was for the story. Later I found out that The Emerald City is Seattle's nickname, hence the Space Needle on the label! :doh: It's still a cool reason to have an ink, even if I have no ties whatsoever to Seattle. And the color is great!

I bought Ottoman Rose, Ottoman Azure, Arabian Rose and Shah's Rose purely for my love of Turkish & middle eastern culture (and don't harass me because I am a Greek-Cypriot! No politics here! )

El Lawrence came into my collection because, after I saw the Lawrence of Arabia movie a year or so ago, I became really interested in ol' T.E., and was learning more about him on my own. This ink came out just in time.

There are only two more bottles of snobbery I have yet to acquire for now:
I want to buy the Socrates ink, as my boyfriend's name is Sokratis; I want Pasternak since he wrote Zhivago in the first place, and I always need another blue; and I want Mata Hari's Cordial because I like codes, ciphers and secret messages. I just wish this one and Socrates were different colors - I am not a big magenta ink fan, but that is not the point, is it!

That's it for now! Boy am I weird..

~ Marina.

I have a Parker Duofold Big Red that I am trying to get ahold of a bottle of Noodler's Army Green for, simply for the association of the pen to General MacArthur...so yeah... I guess I do it too

I was named for Sonia in Crime & Punishment, so clearly I need a bottle of Dostoyevsky.

For drinking!
What else?





:doh:

OK, I'll confess - I bought Noodlers Iraqi Indigo because that distinctive label will someday be historical. BTW, I like the color, too.

Judybug

P.S. I bought PR's Sherwood Green because I've always had a crush on Robin Hood.

Marketers love you!

Really, you have just given voice to the reason for branding something. The association it creates in your mind influences your buying decision.

How about these ?

I bought some Noodler's Blue Ghost for no apparent reason at all.

It caused me to decide that buying a Lamy Vista to put it in would look pretty cool, so now I have a pen and some ink dedicated to no apparent reason at all. It does look pretty cool. though.

But ... I thought this whole obsession with inks and fountain pens was an eccentricity in and of itself. Did I miss something?!

i don't think it's an eccentricity. it sounds pretty normal to me.

Ooo

The point of no return :ph34r: ...when we start accepting it as "normal" :doh:

...for casting spells certain colors and verbage are an absolute...... :ph34r:

It's okay to talk about your problem. That's what this group is all about. And the first step is to admit it...



"Hi, group!"

Ha! What better justification for buying an invisible ink?!

I've bought some inks, and mixed some inks, because they have an antique look to them. To me they do, anyway. I suppose that some would find that odd. Luckily, I don't care.

Taki,

Where did you get those De Atramentis inks? The closest I can get to purchasing them are from Laywines in Toronto, but they will not ship now because it's too cold. They will courrier them at megabucks.

Andrew

Taki
OOOOOh sexy!

Some colours are just me. Bright colours are uncomfortable to read and I quite like distinct but 'dirty' colours, if that makes any sense at all. Zhivago is a lovely mucky colour, but I don't own it. I believe them to be elegant and grown up. In my head I am very regal and sophisticated! I have a full bottle of Antietam but don't like it at all. I've just ordered PR dark cherry because I love red, cherries and it will look beautiful in my pen.

I'm a color junkie, especially for purples, so that's usually what has me buying more ink than I will ever actually use. Do I need Wampum when I have Purple Martin? No. Will that stop me from buying a bottle? Ha!

It helps that my grandfather adored Purple Martins and would spend every year desperately trying to coax them back to his farm. I'm just doubly lucky in that the ink is one of my all time favorites.

I did just order 'Storm' from Art Brown for the name and the color and the way cool bottle.

And, now, of course, I'll have to buy some Ghost because I have an empta Lamy Vista and I can't resist.

On the other hand, I have some Fox Red that is like fingernails on a blackboard whenever I see it.

Of course it's all marketing. Of course it's all emotional appeal. If writing with a violet-scented violet ink didn't make me smile, I could just buy huge bottles of some old standby blue or black and be fine. And put it in a plain old black pen instead of that purple Conklin Mark Twain, or my gorgeous gorgeous Bexley Sheherazade, all sparkly and velvety-blue like a twilight sky.

Although there are days when a crisp black ink in my plain black Parker "51" is just the thing.

I need Noodler's Brown Tortoise and Private Reserve Blue Transparent. I have pens waiting.

Bill

When I get given a pen from someone, I have in past used a colour that reminds me of that person, or their fav colour. Then when you go to use it you think ahh, so and so gave me that pen. I havent done it for a while but I think I will start doing it again.

I think my family and friends consider me eccentric because I have more than one bottle of ink but they humour me. When I look at the dozen or so bottles which I now have on the bookshelf, I recall that there seemed to be a very good reason for buying each one e.g. finding the most intense blue, deepest purple or blackest black, which was important to me at the time. There was also a sub plot in that I tried to get each colour from a different maker so that I would have bottles of various shapes. Hence, I have not bought any Havana Brown yet even though I know it’s good because I already have a Waterman’s Florida Blue. I’d call that an illogical reason for NOT buying an ink.

The first “non standard” ink I bought was Turquoise (Pelikan) because I heard that Parker produced a similar colour (Tunis Blue?) to compliment their then new other-worldly 51 design. I love everything about the Parker 51 especially the triumph of the marketing strategy so I just had to have the right ink colour. That’s logical enough, isn’t it? – except that I’ve reverted to type and now put new Quink Blue in my old Vac 51 because I think it’s safer. That may not be scientifically sound.

And then I discovered Noodlers … I’ve never had a problem with accidentally deleting written work by spilling glasses of water over it but having done one immersion test with Bulletproof Black, I wanted to replace all my inks with Noodlers Eternal for extra security and the permanence. So far, I’ve added Eternal Brown and Polar Blue. And I will admit that I felt a little eccentric when I was buying the last one just before Christmas. It was my intention to get someone in the family to photograph me wrapped up in coat, gloves and hat writing with the stuff in the garden on a snowy day. Perhaps, it’s as well that there wasn’t a white Christmas in Manchester this year.

Anyway, thank you, AndrewW, for starting this discussion, I’ve enjoyed putting my thoughts in writing on this.

I wonder when Parker are going to realise that there are now lots of people who want more from their fountain pens than just writing in blue and black ink.

Colour Junkie as well

Luckily, the local pen store has limited colors and brands, otherwise I'd have more ink than I can spend in lifetime... hmm, I wonder how long will my 10-12 bottles last :doh:


Nenad

Well I don't have one myself, but they are available in numerous stores in Japan. However, I'm not sure I would spend $200+ for the set with the tray

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/hougado/c/0000005453/

That tray of inks look so nice, who makes them?

So I admit that while I only have black and blue inks (so far) that certain reasons were practical, like the polar blue and black since most of my pens ride in my car at temperatures well below freezing.

I can't admit to any practical reason for buying Heart of Darkness other than the description sounded cool and I couldn't resist a free fountain pen.

I'm already thinking about trading or selling my Polar blue, my least favourite of the three inks I currently own for something else.

Bulletproof or Eternal inks only for me!

Well ok the whole idea of invisible ink is just cool so I'm still thinking about that one even though I have no practical application or really even any application.

I'm a fly-fisherman and am drawn to Noodlers just because of the catfish, and so far, I like their inks. But I would especially like Concord Bream because bream are one of my favorite targets in the spring, but I don't see me writing with lavendar ink, so I don't own it yet. I'm sure resistance is futile....

When astronomers started talking about the forthcoming Leonid meteor storm back in November 2001 -- they come 'round every 33 years or so -- I bought one of those old office-sized bottles of Sheaffer blue-black off eBay.

On the night of the meteor shower I took the ink and a plastic prospector's pan to a dark place in the California hills around midnight, and spread out a blanket under the sky, and sat down. I put the prospector's pan on level ground, and poured the ink into the shallow pan.

I spent a few hours watching the fireworks in the sky -- both the flashes in the sky and the ones reflected in the surface of the ink. By 2am there must have been two or three bright ones every minute. Around 3am I poured the ink back into the bottle, rolled up the blanket and called it a night.

Doggone it, Andrew! You had to go and mention that, didn't you? Now I'm gonna have to buy a bottle or three of Antietam just because we go to so many Civil War reenactments. And I thought I was finished buying ink for the year.

Paddler

Great story! And a very creative use of ink!

I'm still searching for the blue that matches the Northern Lights that we sometimes get to see up here. Of course, when I do, it will probably be too pale to be of much use ... still, I keep searching.

T.

I don't think it's at all eccentric. We all (I think even the people who would deny it) make purchases for romantic or idealized ideas of what they are or what they mean or represent. Having things with meaningful associations is an important part of life, whether it's your grandfather's pocketwatch or a trinket you pick up off the ground because it reminded you of something. OK, I don't wish to directly compare the emotional attachment to a bottle of ink with a family heirloom, but they are the same sort of connections, some stronger than others.

I bought Noodler's Polar Black because it's just so cool to have ink that won't freeze. I don't like how it writes, but I won't trade it. Not because I think I may go somewhere where I'll need it, but just how cool is that? You know what? I think I'm going to take it off my ink shelf and start storing it in the freezer. Now that would be eccentric, wouldn't it?

Splicer, just wait for summer, it'll freeze on its own in San Francisco.

Ah yes, I remember well a couple of years ago when the Oakland Tourism Board bought billboards and bus stop ads all over Fisherman's Wharf (where all the SF tourists go) that read, "I left my parka in San Francisco."

It's almost enough to make me glad that hideous Rincon Tower is being built, since it looks like SF sticking a middle finger up at Oakland. But I have to admit it was a brilliant advertisement.

Want!!!!!

At one time, I was going to collect every color J Herbin made. I wonder how close I am.....

Makes perfect sense to me.

Judybug

Oooh, seriously want.

Bank Note Green- ruined my Lamy Safari, but lets you decorate the seals on dollar bills. Plus the label is soo cool. Totally useless for writing, though
Ditto for Manhattan Blue except I love the color

Glad to know I'm not the only one to do that!

I've got one lamy, one mont blanc, some noodlers, a waterman, a quink, a sheaffer, and private reserve on the way.

Oh, I forgot this thread was about colors!

nick

How did bank note green ruin your pen?

Joining the want crowd here...

After seeing all the reasons posted so far I'm not sure mine will sound too excentric but here it goes...

Inspiration! Whenever I fall victim to the white page syndrome I switch color or buy a new one that will suit my mood and bring back rhymes to my nib.

Sometimes ink name get me curious but the name is never enough for me the color is where it is at.

Whenever inspiration dries up I need to find the color of my emotion and go from there

Poussière de Lune is the last ink that lift the writer's block for me....

Ur Poussiere de Lune--I haz dems.

Needs moar J Herbin.

I agree with you on BNG (impractical color with flow and feathering issues, and, oh yes, an awesome label and box). But Manhattan Blue, "totally useless for writing"? Not in my book, it isn't. I think it approaches perfection: classy color, a luxurious "creamy" consistency, excellent flow, no feathering, good water-resistance -- and a New York theme. It doesn't get much better than this, [acronym="In My Opinion"]IMO[/acronym].

I have one of those Pie Shaped sets from Galerie jansen. I bought it shortly after 9/11 and it took forever to get here. I bought it directly from the Gallerie Jansen site... now renamed DeAtramentis. I've been back to that site and haven't been able to rouse anyone. They have ink made from Beer, ink that smells like coffee... an amazing number of inks.

I went to the Japanese site listed earlier in the thread. First went to Google, punched language tools, then followed the instructions on that page and got an english language version of the page but couldn't seem to make it work...

there is a fellow in Germany who carries a number of DeAtramentis inks but I don't recall seeing this pie shaped set. I'll see if I can't find his e mail address
and post it. I got it from someone on Inky Thoughts, I'll see if it's still there.

And finally, Abraxis makes a similar set, the same bottles, different caps and no wooden base. I got mine through Flax Art in San Francisco. I used to get their catalog and didn't see many inks. I gave them a call and the guy said "oh we have lots of inks that aren't in the catalog... So you might try giving them a call
for the Abraxis set. It was $70 plus shipping.

I love different color inks. I especially like Yellow Ink. If you sit in the sun, on white paper it's like a river of gold trailing along behind the nib. Unfortunately if the reader isn't also sitting in the sun, lots of yellow inks are pretty nearly invisible...

Cheers
skyp

Boy you guys are all nutcases!! I can't believe you all go out and buy ink for some of the reasons mentioned!! Me I am very sensible about my ink acquisitions. If it will go in a fountain pen... I'll buy it!!!! I have always taken great care and tried to keep my meager collection of ink to the bare minimum that I need! I only have 56 bottles of ink representing 44 colors. You really do need one color for each two pens you own! Hey, that makes me about 6 colors short!! HMMM... if the FPN Starry Blue ever gets made I'll get my six bottles of FPN Ink shipped to me... two in Starry Blue, two in Galileo Brown, and two in Tulipe Noire! That reminds me I have 4 bottles from Christmas that I haven't even tried in a pen. Gotta go and ink up some pens!