Old Manuscript Looking Sepia Ink Suggestions

[jmccarty3]

Might look at Bankers Tan. May be to light though.

 

 

Way too light. Looks like something your cat threw up. (Sorry, Nathan!)

 

(If you compare the LE Noodler's inks that were available at the New England show to the Banker's Tan that was available at the Dallas show, it will give you a pretty good idea what Yankees think of Texans.)

[ArchiMark]

Yes, that Prout's brown looks great and seems to fit the bill. I don't think it's agreeable to fountain pens though.

 

Best wishes and good luck on your quest. Finding THE sepia (bistre, actually) is a near impossible quest, especially one suitable for fountain pens. I've been searching for years. I've come close a few times but I'm still searching.

 

Thanks for your input.....agree that this seems like a tricky mission....but will see what I can come up with that's close....

 

This is a color I want, too.

 

Noodler's 41 Brown, De Atramentis Black-Brown, Iroshizuku Yama-Guri?

 

Possibly also J Herbin Cafe des Isles.

 

Thanks for your suggestions..... was looking at sample pics of DA Black-Brown and JHerbin Cafe des Isles earlier today....think the Black-Brown is probably a contender....might order a sample....and of some of the other suggested inks....

 

Hakase makes two Authentick sepias, a light and a dark. Very expensive, and the wait is long:

 

http://fp-hakase.com/sepia-ink.html

 

R&K Sepia and J. Herbin Cacao de Brésil are favorites of mine among the readily available inks.

 

I'd like to try mixing Cacao de Brésil and Lie de Thé to strike a balance between a gray brown and a red brown.

 

The dark Hakase might be a contender, except for the expensive and long wait part.....

 

Have Cacao du Brésil and I like it too, but it's a bit light compared to the old time color....

 

Might get a R&K Sepia sample.....

 

Appreciate all your input...

 

Might look at Bankers Tan. May be to light though.

 

Thanks.....

 

Who makes Bankers Tan?....not familiar with it.....but tan sounds like it will be too light as you say....

[Fuzzy_Bear]

 

 

Way too light. Looks like something your cat threw up. (Sorry, Nathan!)

 

(If you compare the LE Noodler's inks that were available at the New England show to the Banker's Tan that was available at the Dallas show, it will give you a pretty good idea what Yankees think of Texans.)

The LE inks are available from only one vendor at the Dallas show. Same place I got my King Philip.

 

Bankers Tan is available from Dromgoole's in Houston.

 

So, leave the discussion to ink. Please.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Fuzzy_Bear

[Fabienne]

First stop: Goulet Pens and their swab shop. You will be sore tempted and you can get samples.

[MKB]

Here's something that's easy to do.

[ArchiMark]

First stop: Goulet Pens and their swab shop. You will be sore tempted and you can get samples.

 

Great minds think alike, as they say Fabienne......thanks.

 

Have ordered samples from them before....very helpful to have them....and yes, it's very tempting getting samples....

 

 

Here's something that's easy to do.

scan0001.jpg

 

Thanks for the suggestion and scan, MKB!

 

Like the gradation in your pic.....

[AndyYNWA]

<snip>

 

And if AndyYNWA can post a pic of a De Atramentis Sepia Brown writing sample that would be great too!

 

 

Mark

 

Here is a first test writing with De Atramentis Sepia Brown (new version) and my new TWSBI Eco 1.1 stub.

The scan maybe isn't the best, but the colour is quite accurate.

 

http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv27/AndyYNWA/Misc/a5c009d3-b9b7-4de9-984f-8290a1ce7c13_zpsk1egyvkd.jpg

 

Nice flow and nice shading, imho.

 

Sorry I don't have any sample with a finer nib.

[white_lotus]

Here is a link to my review of deA Sepia (to be renamed Auburn). The current formula doesn't really produce a sepia color.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/301669-deatramentis-sepia-brown/?p=3524192

 

Here is my review of Noodler's Old Dutch Colony Sepia (an FPH exclusive). To my eye this was a much better sepia compared to the Hakase inks. And vastly cheaper, readily available.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/299530-noodlers-fph-old-dutch-colony-sepia/?p=3492655

[ArchiMark]

 

Here is a first test writing with De Atramentis Sepia Brown (new version) and my new TWSBI Eco 1.1 stub.

The scan maybe isn't the best, but the colour is quite accurate.

 

 

 

Nice flow and nice shading, imho.

 

Sorry I don't have any sample with a finer nib.

 

Thanks for following up with sample and scan!

 

Looks very nice, quite reddish brown to my ol' eyes....

 

Here is a link to my review of deA Sepia (to be renamed Auburn). The current formula doesn't really produce a sepia color.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/301669-deatramentis-sepia-brown/?p=3524192

 

Here is my review of Noodler's Old Dutch Colony Sepia (an FPH exclusive). To my eye this was a much better sepia compared to the Hakase inks. And vastly cheaper, readily available.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/299530-noodlers-fph-old-dutch-colony-sepia/?p=3492655

Thanks for the links and comments....appreciate it!

[Biber]

Here's something that's easy to do.

scan0001.jpg

 

That looks great. I like it a lot. I trust the scan is accurate to what it actually looks like in hand? Would that it weren't Noodlers though, but that's another story.

 

The problem with simply adding black to brown is that the component colors can easily take the resulting color in an entirely different direction. So often the black has a strong blue component to it which reacts with the yellow component in the brown, which of course takes you in the direction of a greenish hue. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The trick is to get as neutral of a black as possible. Clearly the above scan is an instance of where it worked. I also got lucky with my Diamine Golden Brown/Lamy black mix, but that was more a matter of stopping before it got away.

 

One of the problems with using Noodlers for mixing is that the formulations differ over time and vary from batch to batch (there was a tread about this a while back) so a certain mix will never be repeatable. As I like to say, mixing ink is all voodoo anyway! Again, Kudos to MKB.

[AndyYNWA]

 

Thanks for following up with sample and scan!

 

Looks very nice, quite reddish brown to my ol' eyes....

 

 

Yes, it has slight rusty reddish hue.

Edited February 2, 2016 by AndyYNWA

[MKB]

 

That looks great. I like it a lot. I trust the scan is accurate to what it actually looks like in hand? Would that it weren't Noodlers though, but that's another story.

 

The problem with simply adding black to brown is that the component colors can easily take the resulting color in an entirely different direction. So often the black has a strong blue component to it which reacts with the yellow component in the brown, which of course takes you in the direction of a greenish hue. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The trick is to get as neutral of a black as possible. Clearly the above scan is an instance of where it worked. I also got lucky with my Diamine Golden Brown/Lamy black mix, but that was more a matter of stopping before it got away.

 

One of the problems with using Noodlers for mixing is that the formulations differ over time and vary from batch to batch (there was a tread about this a while back) so a certain mix will never be repeatable. As I like to say, mixing ink is all voodoo anyway! Again, Kudos to MKB.

 

Yes, the scan looks like the sample in hand (at least on my screen). Bottles can vary, so I recommend mixing a very small sample to see if you are in the neighborhood. I find syringe drops are fairly similar in size, so as a rough starting point I mixed drops on a sandwich baggie with a paper clip. The clip is great for smearing on paper to see if the underlying color is where you want to be. It's usually enough volume to dip a pen in to test dilution strength as well. Once you are in the neighborhood, then you can move up to a vial-sized mix (5-6 ml) and do any fine tuning before committing to anything larger.

[Biber]

 

Yes, it has slight rusty reddish hue.

 

That's the problem with Sepia. It seems that the term sepia is applied indiscriminately to any lighter brownish ink. Track down DCPritch's Sepia comparison thread and you'll see. The trick is to decide on what it is you're actually looking for, because real sepia (cuttlefish/squid ink) can be very different (ranging from black to grey to brown to mauve - ish tints) from the "sepia" associated with old photos, which is a range of tints in itself (grey to green to yellow to red).

 

I dare say that what many are actually looking for is "bistre" - an ink made from lamp soot or other such flame produced residue. Then again there are also the gall inks which seem to share color aspects with bistre and sepia. Complicated indeed.

 

Suggest you find an image of your ideal and search for an ink to match. Be wary of ink scans. Photos tend to give a better representation of what the color actually is.

[Biber]

[edit - mis posted]

Edited February 2, 2016 by Biber

[sidthecat]

webgeckos and I have conversed about the all-but-unavailable Bungbox Eel, which is very much what you're looking for. You can't get it, of course, but you can get Octopus Pinie, which makes my shopping lists look like undiscovered Shakespeare sonnets, except they don't rhyme.

[ArchiMark]

Lots more great posts and info......

 

For a variety of reasons, don't think I'll go down the mix-your-own-ink-color rabbithole....but others might want to do it...

 

Appreciate all the 'ready-mix' ink suggestions....

 

Need to order some samples soon and test them out....

 

Thank you all.....

 

[rudyhou]

go here...

http://www.gouletpens.com/swab-shop

for getting color samples of various brown inks online, to see if any of them might be close to what you're looking for.

it may not include ALL ink brands, but it has many choices. so it might help.