In Praise Of Brown Inks

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi all,

 

Pretty much all of my life, I favored blue ink...in one shade or another. However, I've come to really appreciate brown inks. I love the warmth, depth and approachability of brown inks.

 

I've been using Diamine Chocolate Brown for a while, (about 5-6 mos.); which I think is also dark enough to project sincerity and professionalism in a business setting; yet still retaining the qualities of warmth and approachability.

 

Any other fans of brown ink(s); which one(s)?

 

 

- Anthony

Edited July 23, 2017 by ParkerDuofold

[BobR]

Every time I ink up a pen with brown ink (not very often), I say to myself that I will always have a pen with brown ink available and use it routinely---but then I don't. Maybe your post will give me incentive. The other day I inked my Pilot Custom 74 with Diamine Chocolate and it's stunning.

[JefferyS]

I'm sort of an odd man out because I like reddish-brown inks over greenish-brown inks. Two of my favorites are Noodler's Beaver and Diamine Rustic Brown. If you want a nearly black-brown, Diamine Macassar is just that.

[Barkingpig]

I like most all of them, from the cools (no red, almost gray in appearance, but "not quite,") and the warms, those containing their fair share of red. I am partial to those that are called Sepia & find their often vintage quality appealing. I am not sure I may not have more of the "Brown Family," of inks than any others. I consider the "murky" Greens to be equally @ home with the Browns as they are with their Greens. I find Browns to be warmer than the more often seen Blues, Blacks & combination of the two & many of them evoke a feeling of mystery. Among any ink order, there is usually a brown on the list for me.

[antidote3]

Here are a few of my fav browns:

 

Sailor Rikyu-Cha

Sailor Doyou

Iroshizuku Yama guri

Noodler Walnut

[GardenWeasel]

A bottle of Sailor Jentle Doyou arrived yesterday. Certainly takes some good lighting to see the hint of brown - I like it!

[Octo]

I don't much care for brown in anything else, but I like Noodler's Walnut, Dromgoole's Texas Pecan, and Private Reserve Chocolate inks.

[Runnin_Ute]

My only brown that gets any use is Diamine Saddle Brown. I got it because it was similar to Parker Penman Mocha. I also have some dark reds that sometimes look brownish. (Levenger Pomegranate comes to mind)

[Ada]

I dislike reddish browns, so my favorite is R & K Sepia. A distant second is Waterman Brown. There is no third.

[Pensei]

I like Rikyu-cha and Doyou, as were noted above, although they are brown in the most subtle sense, I would say. I like R&K Sepia, if that's brown. Piano Mahogany is the only Bungubox ink I've ever bought that I didn't like, but apparently others do like it. That's about my full experience of brown ink, except that I used Montblanc Brown (I think that was its full name) back in school days. It was in that funny-shaped plastic bottle.

[dms525]

I like both Sepias - grayish browns - and reddish browns. Also brownish reds. Yellowish browns not so much.

 

Some of my favorites:

 

OMAS Sepia

Stipula Sepia

Visconti Sepia

Irosh Yama-guri

Several of the Sailor Bung Box browns and sepias

J. Herbin Lie de Thé

 

Black Swan in English Roses

Franklin-Christoph Urushi Red

Diamine Oxblood

 

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting at the moment.

 

David

[praxim]

As spoken before, I routinely used Waterman's Brown, then called Havana, at work to provide a little distinctiveness while still having a colour inoffensive to random clients.

 

I still have the Waterman under its new name and have added to it J Herbin's Lie de Thé, and Graf von Faber Castell's Hazelnut which is a little more red in tone. I have tried the J Herbin only once. It feathered badly in an Aurora Optima with F nib so a little more testing is needed there.

[Chrissy]

I like Diamine Chocolate Brown and Espresso, but I also have Monteverde Brown. For a reddish brown my usual go to brown is Diamine Rustic Brown

[Almu]

Brown (or brownish) inks are my favorite, I always have at least one pen inked with one.

 

Currently I have these:

 

Diamine Chocolate Brown

Diamine Macassar

Diamine Rustic Brown (have a hard time understanding why it's called brown, but I do love the ink!)

Diamine Ancient Copper (brown, red, orange... I don't know what it is )

[bongo47]

I'm similarly new to trying brown, having previously stuck to blues and dark purples. I've only yet tried Noodlers Walnut and like it a lot. I find it's a great ink for work given how close to black its shade. Seems to behave very well too on various papers.

 

It's funny though, I've never really spent much thought on matching ink color to pen color, but I've felt weird about putting it into my blue pens. I've go it in my black Ondoro right now. We'll see if I get over it and still have a pen inked with it when it's time to rotate that pen out for a while

[Chrissy]

Brown (or brownish) inks are my favorite, I always have at least one pen inked with one.

 

Currently I have these:

 

Diamine Chocolate Brown

Diamine Macassar

Diamine Rustic Brown (have a hard time understanding why it's called brown, but I do love the ink!)

Diamine Ancient Copper (brown, red, orange... I don't know what it is )

 

Diamine Ancient Copper = Rust coloured? Red Brown? Burnt Earth (for artists)? Terracotta (for green fingered pen users?)

[carlos.q]

I am currently using Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz...

[Chrissy]

I am currently using Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz...

 

Nice.

[KellyMcJ]

I'm using Sailor DoYou today, although it's more on the black side of brown. Brown isn't a color I really paid much attention too...but neither is bright orange and I'm loving the heck out of Solar Storm, it's such a fun color!

 

I shall pick up a few brown ink samples.

[Chrissy]

I'm using Sailor DoYou today, although it's more on the black side of brown. Brown isn't a color I really paid much attention too...but neither is bright orange and I'm loving the heck out of Solar Storm, it's such a fun color!

 

I shall pick up a few brown ink samples.

 

My Sailor Do-you is definitely grey-black. Not brown but not quite black until after it's remained in the pen for a couple of days. Then it's black