So, is it generally the case the PR is saturated and shows no variation in writing, and is just always bright; while Diamine shows "shading" or variation in intensity depending on your stroke?

--John

I'm afraid that it isn't a simple as this. Whilst I would agree that PR inks are probably more saturated, some of the ones I own will show shading.

Others will, no doubt, chime in on this one.

Of course not. There are no hard and fast rules. Private Reserve Copper Burst is a wonderful ink that shows delightful shading, for example... and PR Shoreline Gold shows fantastic shading!

Inks behave differently in different pens. You may see little to no shading with a wet medium-nibbed pen, but a pen with an italic or flexible nib could show something entirely new and lovely.

The pen and its nib are very important here. I have a Parker Sonnet (F) that will show shading with used dishwater.

I have found (for my own uses) that the Jinhao X-450 is a middle-of-the-road pen for showing shading. Some inks it does, others it doesn't. I use it to judge if an ink shades or not. In fact, I have now put together a matched set of three X-450s for ink testing and mixing.

The paper is also important. Some papers absorb the ink so fast, it doesn't get a chance to build up a layer that shows the shading. Other papers are so hard and un-absorbent that the ink flows and levels out before it dries, also hiding the shading. I now use OCE Topcolour or Clairefontaine DCP for ink testing because these papers seem to have the best balance of absorbency and hardness.

So for example, using the above pen and paper, I have these results --

Shaders --
Diamine Mediterranean Blue
PR American Blue
Parker Penman Sapphire
my Faux Penman Sapphire #5b

non-Shaders --
PR Lake Placid Blue
Diamine Imperial Blue

I have one PR and one Diamine in each group.


These are my results with my setup. Yours may vary.

I agree with dcwaites. Private Reserve inks used to be more saturated, normally, but doesn't say anything about saturation and shading. For example, DC Supershow Blue and Tanzanite are bith very saturated colours, but while Tanzanite doesn't shade at all, Supershow Blue does. I think it depends more on pen and especially the paper than the ink, because I did the experiment on highly glossy paper (which are not to recommend for writing with fountain pens on them, this paper is for printing the catalogues and not writing on them), even Tanzanite shades. YMMV

Shading in PR American Blue and PR Chocolat is minimal, and PR Daphne blue is too light (i find) for daily use or much shading; PR. Sherwood Green and Pr Naples blue are excellent for shading.

As long as you use the term "generally" loosely, you are correct. However, there are always exceptions. My experience is that the Diamines shade well, Private Reserve does not.

pretty much "ditto to everyone else" here. I haven't ever seen shading with DC Blue but all of my pens are very wet writers. So it's pen, paper, ink, in combination. The only statement that can really be said *fairly* safely is, "Most PR inks are very saturated and Most Diamine inks are less saturated than most PR inks."

From there, it's all in how you use the ink.

I've been testing Lamy Blue/Black (iron gall) ink with various pens and dip nibs recently and found tremendous variation in shading characteristics. With some (FP) nibs, the ink shows as a watery blue-gray with plenty of shading, and with other (mostly dip pen) combinations, the same ink is opaque black, with no shading whatsoever. I'd expect that any ink will show some variation depending on the pen and paper.

As always, YMMV.

Interesting how ink behaves in different pens. Using a globe bowl 513 EF and loaded PR Tanzainite showed a dark saturation at first few letters then a pleasing lighter shading in last few letters.