What's The Deal With Blue/black Ink?

[daTomoT]

I see a lot of references to Blue/Black ink on this forum, and I really am failing to understand it? Why Blue/Black? I know you can ask, say, why green? Fair point. I just don't see the attraction that so many other people see in this hybrid colour. Apparently it's not dark blue? I haven't really studied the ink range for blue black, so I don't know. What situations do you all use your Blue/Black in? Is it just a socially-acceptable-colour-that-is-less-formal-than-black sort of thing? Is it because you don't want to use blue nor black and work says they're the only colours around? Help me, because I'm really not getting in on the B/B ink fascination right now.

 

To me, there's just far more interesting 'full time writer' colours. For example, I am currently enjoying Diamine Merlot.

 

~daT.

 

PS: Feel free to post blue/black samples, or link to reviews of your favourite blue/blacks.. educate me! :hmm1:

[tommyss4l]

I don't understand it either, I think the dark navy blues look better than the blue black.

[lemanfan]

One part of the answer has to do that with many of the classic blue/black inks are or were Iron Gall inks, i.e. inks with waterproof properties.

[Titanic9990]

classic blue/black inks are or were Iron Gall inks, i.e. inks with waterproof properties.

I agree, the classic look has a lot to do with it.

 

Also, although I have yet to purchase a blue/black, I love inks that have just enough color that at first glance they are bland, subtle and unassuming, but upon further inspection have a deeper complexity, and I think blue black has that quality.

[daTomoT]

classic blue/black inks are or were Iron Gall inks, i.e. inks with waterproof properties.

I agree, the classic look has a lot to do with it.

 

Also, although I have yet to purchase a blue/black, I love inks that have just enough color that at first glance they are bland, subtle and unassuming, but upon further inspection have a deeper complexity, and I think blue black has that quality.

 

Okay, thanks for your input. That's one of the reasons I like my Merlot; it is clearly not black, but it is dark and unassuming enough that it does not become the focus of the page, the writing is still the focus.

[JefferyS]

It's a fair question. I like ESSI for the sophomoric reason that I enjoy watching it go from blue to blue-black while the iron gall is putting a death grip on my cellulose fibers.

 

From a more practical standpoint, I have had legal documents that needed to have an original signature on them, and blue-black is definitely not xeroxed looking. Some have required an original signature that could not be blue. I guess nobody rejects an iron gall registrar's ink.

[Laura N]

Why blue black? I like the color. I'm sure all of us have some colors we like more, and others we like less, and I'm not sure there's any deeper explanation than that.

[Mike Schutz]

I haven't used a blue-black ink in almost 50 years. I'm currently enjoying a Noodlers private lable black/green that gives me a very nice off black color that beats a bland streight black ink. Maybe it's time to try some blue-blacks for some variety.

From a practicle standpoint, I can see combining the blue with the black. Blue inks, with a few exceptions, tend not to have perminance. The black adds the perminance while the blue adds a touch of class.

[Lazarus Long]

I don't like blue-black much either. I have 2 - Noodler's Midnight Blue and Bad Belted Kingfisher. Neither look like a dark blue, but a drab bluish grey. I got them thinking they would be a dark blue.

 

Then I found Diamine Majestic Blue. It is a very dark true blue. It is a very rich intense blue, no black in it.

[glinn]

Why blue/black? For me the answer is simple. I work at the courthouse and when I sign documents I need to be able to tell them apart from photocopies (so I can't use black), but it also needs to copy dark enough to easily see (blue can be too light when copied). Yes, a nice deep burgundy or purple would accomplish the same goals but just wouldn't look as official. So, while it's definitely not my favourite colour, it is a necessary evil.

 

Gary

[JefferyS]

Black Swan in AustraIian Roses? I like it, but I smell ... an appeal.

[Daisy]

daT, I felt the exact same way you do - blue-black sounded to me like the ink equivalent of a rice diet - until someone sent me a snail that had a blue-black like the sky of an oncoming summer storm at twilight, all greys and blues. It was just lovely, all the shading and everything. I was smitten. The writer had used a vintage ink, so I couldn't just go and get the same one, but I found something close enough that I like. And for now, at least, most of my daily writing is happening in blue-black.

 

Heh, you'll get bit too one day.

[mark e]

hmmm---i actually DO like the color---plus, it's more formal and/or subtly authoritative than blue, while not as stark and in-your face as black-on-white

 

also, as mentioned previously, when signing legal documents, it passes where blue wont, and is distinguish-able from a photocopy

 

however, probably the main reason why i like my blue-black is because i have a buttload of vintage skrip blue-black,(no, not sharing, it's readily available if you search)and i've discovered that i prefer certain (most) old skrip and quink inks to the overly-saturated, vintage-pen-killing modern inks....i've never had any problems with ink-flow, clogging, leaking, pen-staining, bladder-melting, plastic-eating, etc w/ my vintage inks---and as i said, i like the look (and smell) of the old inks, esp bl-blk

[mhphoto]

I love saturated and interestingly colorful blue-blacks. Noodler's Navy would fit in the latter category.

[Daisy]

i have a buttload of vintage skrip blue-black,(no, not sharing, it's readily available if you search)and i've discovered that i prefer certain (most) old skrip and quink inks to the overly-saturated, vintage-pen-killing modern inks....

 

I've looked for vintage inks but not had the same luck as you. Do you have a specific reliable source (or sources) that you wouldn't mind sharing?

 

Here on the thread or by pm would be fine. I'd be most grateful!

[inkstainedruth]

I didn't think I would like blue-blacks/very dark blues either. I *never* would have considered a blue-black until just about a month ago, on the basis that IMO most didn't know what they wanted to be: are they a blue ink or a black ink or some strange hermaphrodite color (or an iron gall ink that you can watch as the color shifts while you wait)?

That is, until I saw the most *amazing* stuff coming out of the Esterbrook SJ I bought in an antiques mall last month when I went to test it in distilled water to see if the sac was in good shape.

So now I'm in the hunt for something equivalent in color and shading. I don't want a "true" (i.e., iron gall) blue-black -- I want something that will go down dark and rich and yet still have shading and stay the same color that went onto the page initially: not quite solid black but not really plain jane dark blue/navy either. Whatever was in that pen, it had this incredible subtlety to it; but as I refilled it more and more with the distilled water, I got less and less of that dark intensity -- more blue and less black.

I was given a sample of Diamine Denim and the color is almost exactly the same as the initial stuff as I wrote in my journal that next morning; but it has pretty much zero shading. So the search continues: dark enough, but with no overtones of either violet or teal; saturated, but still with shading -- the kind of shading to make your knees go weak.... (Wow, I'm starting to sound like I'm writing for a film noir screenplay!)

So in answer to the OP's question: THAT's the deal with blue-black inks. At least for me. YMMV

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mark e]

i have a buttload of vintage skrip blue-black,(no, not sharing, it's readily available if you search)and i've discovered that i prefer certain (most) old skrip and quink inks to the overly-saturated, vintage-pen-killing modern inks....

 

I've looked for vintage inks but not had the same luck as you. Do you have a specific reliable source (or sources) that you wouldn't mind sharing?

 

Here on the thread or by pm would be fine. I'd be most grateful!

 

dont mind at all---online auctions, antique shops, estate sales, and (occasionally) flea markets--i just got a vintage quink w/ solv-x at an antique store, it was full---royal blue---a weird royal blue, looks more like welch's grape juice going on the paper, but it's a great color

[Daisy]

Ahhh, that explains it -- I generally don't get to those places much. Maybe it's time to start...

 

Thanks!

[The Good Captain]

Blue-blacks and dark or mid blue inks are my staples. I love them. Can't abide black at all and the blues can be on the purple or green side - I don't mind. I like greens; preferably subtle and dark.

My favourites are Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black for a classic-looking and dry ink; Diamine Blue-Black R2 for the best colour and R&K Salix for the iron-gall blue-to-black effect. Not in any order whatsoever. And if I want something saturated with a bit of water-resistance then Noodler's Blue-Black or Air Corps Blue-Black.

[daTomoT]

daT, I felt the exact same way you do - blue-black sounded to me like the ink equivalent of a rice diet - until someone sent me a snail that had a blue-black like the sky of an oncoming summer storm at twilight, all greys and blues. It was just lovely, all the shading and everything. I was smitten. The writer had used a vintage ink, so I couldn't just go and get the same one, but I found something close enough that I like. And for now, at least, most of my daily writing is happening in blue-black.

 

Heh, you'll get bit too one day.

 

Wow Daisy, that sounds awesome! I think I'll look out for a good blue/black on the British Ink Exchange thread. Here in the UK, we lack Goulet Pens to supply us samples.

 

Indeed, a lot of people like B/B for signatures, and a good few for colour. If I was to buy a blue/black ink (again, it costse the same as a full bottle to ship a Goulet Pens sample in), what would you all suggest? Something with a good but of shading!