Despite the hundreds and hundreds of varities of fountain pen ink on the market, I sometimes don't think that the palatte can be expanded any further; yet it always amazes me that new shades are introduced each year. I mean, Noodler's seems to introduce new colors regularly, and this year alone both J. Herbin and Diamine have expanded their offerings as well.

which leaves me all wondering: of all the shades out there, is there still a gap, some hole, in the existing colors that an enterprising ink producer could fill? If so, what color family is it in? Blacks seem to be pretty well covered, as do some of the vibrant blues. But I think a really good midnight blue that dried quickly and didn't feather would be nice, too. It seems that greens, browns and reds (especially those looking for substitute for Persian Rose) are all potentially on the table.

What do you think? If you could create any new color of ink, what would it be?

James

An eternal/bulletproof olive green to brown shade... Much like the one I created for myself. Its not totally perfect yet, but getting there.

Current mix is 3 parts FPN Galileo Brown, 5 parts Year of the Golden pig and 2 parts Polar blue.

Its close to the shade of my signature on this post as I don't have a scan or photo yet. It exhibits fairly strong metamerism, that is it looks different in different light. Outdoors or with natural light its quite green/olive. Indoors its more brown.


Also there's the possibility of other more subdued but interesting colours as opposed to the more intense shades that seem to be mostly available.
I'll try to find examples. Of course with monitors its tricky to get the same colour across.

Oh and I'm only interested in inks that are at a minimum waterproof if not eternal or bulletproof.

I think a bulletproof red/black would be a good addition. I've been mixing my own recipe (Abigail Rose) for my Pelikan 625. I've included it in the the recipe section (page 6). Still, I'd be nice to just buy a bottle and quit mixing my own.

Will

I had to read the thread title three times.

A red equivalent of Bay State Blue would be very cool.

Harbor Twilight Blue -- with luminosity and hints of seaglass green beneath the variations of blue, just like the sky... and permanent, enduring... Yeah. That's the ink I'd invent if I could.

So poetic...and I agree entirely. That would be a nice color.

This is hard to explain. How about an ink that has the color concentrated in the center of the line written. For instance a color red-black would not be burgandy but be gradient from

red...to...darker red...to...darkest red/black...to...darker red...to...red (if this were a cross of the line)

So the color red could be seen on the edges of the line.

If this could be accomplished, the inks would be amazing and I would be broke from buying them.

My ink would be polka dotted ...

How does Noodler's Dostoevsky compare with your imagined color? Needs to be bluer perhaps?


BULLETPROOF BROWNS: Nathan has been lax with formulating this color lately, as he seems to have done a lot of pinks and purples.

NEAT SHADING: I'm interested in colors that are drastically different when they shade (eg, Apache Sunset being a yellow that shades as red-orange). Shading makes FP's fun.

AMERICAN RED: I'd like to see PR make "American Red", a red-equivalent of American/DCSS Blue. I'm surprised they haven't made this companion ink yet!! How would a red-equivalent of Baystate be different from Skrip Red or Dakota Red? I think those inks are already very close. But I guess neither is waterproof at neutral pH like Baystate is.

OFF-COLORS: There are a lot of shades of olives, taupe, rust, beige, khaki, seaweed that aren't done.

GREYS: There is no elephant purple-grey (I mix Iraqi Indigo with Lex Grey).. There are a lot of slate blue variations that could also be made. The grey category is actually very underpopulated.

I've had my eye on PR Orange Crush and Noodler's Tienamen for a few weeks now. I just need to decide if I want to order a sampler from Pear Tree, or go whole hog and a bottle of each.

Most of my colors right now are in the blue...black...dark green range, so it would be nice to have something that's not garish, but still has a lot of punch to it.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

Happily, the Bay State (Massachusetts) is blue.

This connection is KILLIN' me...

Can you give the Ratio you use? I now have both colors and an empty pen.

I did a search for the Dostoevsky, and yeah, it'd have to actually be, you know, blue. Ha ha ha! The seaglass green is a hint, a light, a glow, but the blue variations would be the color(s) you'd see. You'd have to look again (and you would, because you would want to) to figure out what was happening beneath the surface....

bulletproof DC Supershow.

I would absolutely kill for a bulletproof ink in the shade of PR American Blue. I adore the color, but it would be nice to be able to come within six feet of water without everything I've just written sliding off the page.





Noodler's red-black might as well be bulletproof. I use it all the time when writing inspection or process tags at work, and it holds up admirably to water, coolant, cutting oil, and even mineral spirits. If you haven't already you might want to give it a try.

Agreed about the red/black being bulletproof.

Being a waterproof nut I only use noodler's. In that vein:

A better bulletproof brown would be nice, I don't like the walnut much. Also, a redder red/black would be fun, if less practical.

Damn but i love the red/black

I've been searching for the shade/colour of red wine like a Cab Sav, Syrah, or Zinfandel. There is also the elusive concept of a waterproof Waterman Florida Blue that behaves impeccably (as it already does). I also love the behaviour of Waterman Blue Black -- but wish that the colour was a vintage looking, true BB rather than a dark teal.

Feel free to see it up close and personal (and I'd be happy to give you a sample to take away, too).

Deep rich blue inks, without any green tones, that have the following characteristics: waterproof, fast drying, no smearing, no feathering, no bleedthrough.

As for the color itself, it could be like Florida Blue, American Blue, DC Blue, Lake Placid Blue, Visconti Blue, or Omas Blue. But it would have to have the characeristics listed above.

An ink with some liquid depth, even when dry, perhaps? With dark dark blue shadings on top... Hmmm...

Makes me wish I could watch the sunset over the lake tonight... But the lake is still solid...

It's interesting that, although James asked for desired shades, the predominance of replies were for waterproofness/bulletproofness in an already existing color. It's as if all our inky hopes fall upon the overworked shoulders of Nathan.

...

...

...

I predict we'll be seeing each other pretty soon... !

There is no way that this repeating posting is not going to crack me up! I think it's the photo...!

"Oh no, I posted again!"

"Oh no, I posted again!"

"ACK!"

Re: Lloyd and E-nautrix's posts.

I read in a review that X-feather was more attracted to itself than the paper, maybe if you mixed it and a red, the result would be of interest. Nathan should give us some of those two-tone inks I heard about being available in Asia.

I thought that Baystate was slightly alkaline--unlike Noodler's other bulletproof colors.

Will

I can get into colours as much as any fountain pen user, but I always think of Myrna Loy in this scene:

Myrna

Multi-density inks and the rare oddballs (the Artistic Bay inks, for example).

Second. :-)

I'd like a green like Pelikan green which shades to a darker green. Or a teal which shades to blue.

ditto!

Oh ... forgot one... a a colour like Noodlers Tienamin or Antietam but bulletproof...

I'd like to see an ink that's exactly the color of povidone-iodine solution (otherwise known as Betadine).