I just noticed something and want to make sure I am not crazy... :doh: :doh:

I have a pen that I loaded about 6 weeks ago with some Apache Sunset I got as a sample ... I like the color, but found it a bit lighter than I would normally write with...
The pen was put aside and today (about 4 weeks later) I decided to write with it a bit. First of all I noticed that the ink was a whole lot darker than when I first wrote with it.. more of a bright orange to bright burnt orange shading ... also I noticed that even after blotting the ink was not close to being dry and smeared a good 5 minutes later. The unsmeared in the picture were blotted and left to dry for 15 minutes... the smeared areas were blotted and smeared between 3-10 minutes.
I was writing on a Rhodia 5x5 graph pad and the pen was one of my customs with a medium Bock steel nib that puts down a nice damp line... in this case the line was much wetter than normal for these nibs on my pens.

Has anyone else noticed something like this with this ink.... I actually like the color, but the dry time and smearing will stop it's use.

You are not dreaming
This is caused by evaporation which effectively increases the consentration of the dyes and leaves a darker line on paper, affects the drying time and increases the smear tendency.
In general it is not a good practice to leave a pen filled for long time, although there are some pens that can handle this.

this kind of shift is especially noticeable in reds/oranges/browns. While blues and greens do get darker after sitting for a while in the pen, the nature of the dyes in them is that they just get darker. While anything with red tones seems to have a different light reflection/refraction property when more saturated.

i'm sure the dye experts can explain this (or even deny it) but that's what I've seen in many of these shades. Especially oranges which seem to battle between their red constituents and their brown. another example is PR Orange Crush which some people have complained turns brown after some evaporation.

i made a mix for my Piazza Navona because I felt that DIamine Sepia was just too light for my tastes. But I'm thinking of going back because my mix now seems to dark and red for such a softly-colored pen. may get complaints from snailees because it is about as light as Noodler's Apache Sunset (but it is not an orange.)

Hi Tom, KCat,

I found that Swisher Apricot Orange actually cristallizes! It dissolves readly, but I was a bit worried at first. I left it in a pen with a very fine nib, which is a nib type I don't use a lot, and as I found out, the cap isn't very airtight. There were actually bright orange and orangy red crystals sticking up from most places where ink collects on a nib and feed. Very funny sight indeed!

Warm regards, Wim

You did take pics of this wonderful sight, didn't you?

Hi Tom,

Antonios couldn't have said it better. I would have to disagree with part of what KCat said (if I understood her correctly), in that I've had the same experience with blue ink, too.

As a lefty, I have a problem with the "regular" line of Noodler's not drying quickly enough (but no problem w/the waterproof or Swisher's.) But in your case, if the ink dried quickly enough for you when it was fresh in the pen, don't give up on it.

It seems like Herbin inks are slower to get darker & smeary. It may be just the pens I've had it in, or it may have something to do with the natural dyes or its general composition. Come to think of it, I've had good luck with Nathan's quick-dry Swisher inks, too, when leaving them in a pen a long time.

Best, Ann