I wrote my thoughts elsewhere, but thought that FPN should at least get the comparison scan:



On my screen the samples look a little bluer than the original. YMMV.

Doing these sample sheets and writing with these inks in rapid succession really helped clarify my opinions about them. I was about to give up on green altogether, but this helped me to really see what I thought would be suitable.

I've been wanting to love Zhivago for some time, but each time I write with it, I like it less. It's still a fascinating color, but not one I want to write with. I've rekindled my love for Private Reserve Sherwood, gained new appreciation for Waterman Green, and no longer know what I was thinking when I used Hunter.

I really really like the blend I came up with a few months back. I'd put it on the shelf when I started using Zhivago, but I think it's going to find its way into rotation again.

Full rambling comparison

I really enjoy these comparisons. They really give me a better idea of what the ink really looks like if I own, at least, one of them.
I like your blend the best, though! Have any idea what proportions you mixed for that?

Cedar

love that comparison, Splicer! Thanks! I used to use more green inks but have mostly changed to blue inks. Maybe it's time for me for a new green phase.

Thank you! And forgive me if I have this wrong. I know it's an inexact recipe, which is not good because the Grey Flannel is extremely sensitive. I did 20 parts grey to one part Sherwood Green and it came out Sherwood Green. No kidding! (That was NOT the final recipe! That was an example of what NOT to do!)

The final recipe if my notes are correct was:

1 entire bottle of PR Grey Flannel
2 eyedroppers full of PR Velvet Black
3 eyedroppers full of PR Sherwood Green

How much an eyedropper is in actual measure, I don't know. Two, maybe three ml? I've got a zillion of them in my studio, so if you really want to make sure you get it the way I did it I'll mail you one!

Interestingly enough, that third eyedropper full of Sherwood lightened the mix dramatically. 2VB/2SG + the bottle of Grey Flannel was a full shade darker, and could have been used as a warmer replacement for Zhivago. I wish I'd kept half that way and half in the mix I ended up with. Maybe someday I'll try again, but before then I want to attempt the same sort of mix using Noodler's. I don't have a grey, but I do have the White Whale. (Although perhaps I should just try getting a bottle of Pushkin to use as a base---or just buy Lexington Grey, which appears to be close to my blend if not quite as warm)

Nice scan to have.

What I think about Zhivago is that it is a kind of black... I don't really consider it green, but I do
consider Diamine Umber green. Go figure. Maybe Zhivago could be known as Green Black,
like Blue Black, only with green, not blue.

(If you haven't seen Diamine Umber, please note that it is NOT what you'd think of as an
umber, which is more like a brown, say R & K Sepia...)

Splicer,

Nice review, especially where you discuss your thoughts. I had to laugh where you mentioned the company where you worked had different colors for different departments to sign off. I too worked at a place with a similar color coding scheme, so it brought back memories. Anyway, I can see what you mean by Zhivago not being warm. Too bad. Personally, I like the look of PR Sherwood Green, but I wonder if it smears even when dry? PR Plum does, and sooner or later gets all over the page in odd little smear marks where you intended pristine writing. On the other hand, I had been hankering after a bottle of Noodler's Hunter Green (love that bulletproof quality) but now see that it looks too light to really be used for a daily writer, so you've definitely helped me.

Keep up the good work,

Regards,

Wade

Thanks for the kind offer, Splicer but it's not worth putting you through that trouble. I'll just use what I have and work out some proportions from there.
I've copied your "recipe" into my files. Hope it's not copywrited! Thanks for sharing it and the scans.

Cedar

Thanks Wade--

When I get home I'll test the PR Sherwood for "smeariness." All I have in pens with me now is the blend, which may not behave the same way. I haven't had any problem with it being smeary, but that might just be me.

As far as the bulletproof qualities, I'm curious about Marine Green, which looks to be a bit darker. I'm confident in "near bulletproof" for being waterfast enough for almost any circumstance.

Splicer, have you seen ISW's Tulipe Noir Water-Test post? Adding Noodler's Black to make it just 1/9th of the mix lends a tremendous amount of "near bulletproof" qualities... You could similarly do this with another "totally bulletproof ink" if you didn't want to go in the direction of Noodler's Black.

Lexington Grey, while being a great ink color, feathers badly on many papers and has horrible nib creep (even leaking out into the cap in my "carry-around" pens...) I'd look into Pushkin or El Lawrence. People have had issues with El Law' but solutions have been discovered (read the discussions). It seems like the color you want.

Green Marine is sometimes a dark vibrant green (close to Sherwood, but not as saturated) and sometimes it's a candy-apple green (not what you want, if you didn't like Hunter Green). It's nice to have a variable ink, one that shades well and is near-bulletproof (it's a light colorless black (not quite grey) after a water test), but if you're going to be mixing then your Sherwood should be suitable.

I haven't tried it, but what about Diamine Dark Green? Umber seems appealing too. I'd try with a lighter green color and add a bit of Noodler's Black. Zhivago probably has too much Black. I used to make a Sequoia-Grey mix, but I don't use Lex Grey anymore for the above reasons.

I just made last week a mix (for a photosynthesis conference) of 1:1:1: Green Marine:Verdun:Sequoia. I call it "Pacific Grove" (because the conference was in Asilomar, in the town of Pacific Grove) and it seems quite nice... A friendlier green-black than Zhivago, probaby due to the bluish properties of Verdun. I think you can make a lot of handsome dark-greens, and semi-bulletproof, too, with this sort of mixing

(I'll scan a picture of the mix within a few days)

Diamine Dark Green is not dark at all. Diamine Umber--I'm not sure if I got a bad bottle or what, but Noodler's Army Green and Zhivago look way better to me.

Regarding a lighter green and Noodler's Black--somebody posted a recipe awhile back using Spearmint and Black that looked interesting.