Jump to content

Birmingham – Waterfront Dusk


crahptacular

Recommended Posts

Birmingham – Waterfront Dusk

 

The Birmingham Pen Co.’s line of inks (30 colors at the time of writing) feature various colors based on or inspired by notable locations or people associated with its home city of Pittsburgh, PA. I bought their sampler pack, and plan on slowly going through the whole line of inks, though I expect it will take me quite a while. For those interested, I posted some color swatches in a different topic (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/328952-birmingham-pen-co-ink-swatches/) where you can get a quick idea of what the whole line looks like together.

 

Waterfront Dusk is a moody, somber purple with a fair amount of grey in it. It has a medium-purple hue, with more blue than red. Compared to other dark purples I have, it is significantly more blue than Poussiere De Lune, slightly more red and darker than Soft Snow of Ohara, and less saturated (more grey) than Shigure (comparisons 1, 4, and 5, respectively). I personally enjoy this color a lot, being a fan of what might be considered moody or gloomy colors. It’s attractive, unique (in my collection), and well-named—the color evokes the sense of “dusk” very well. I think anyone who likes Soft Snow of Ohara would definitely enjoy this ink; they have a similar mood, but the colors are different enough for me that I don’t consider them redundant. Performance has been good as well. It has pleasant flow and lubrication, even in a needlepoint nib, and even offers some degree of water resistance. Its dyes (two main components, from what I can tell) separate when washed, making it a fun ink to paint with as well. I’ll be said when this sample runs out, and am considering buying a full bottle.

 

Flow/Lubrication: Moderate-High

Shading: Low

Sheen: There is the tiniest hint of something in the most extreme cases, but effectively none

Water Resistance: Moderate

 

The following sample was done with a Franklin Christoph 27 (Needlepoint) and a Namisu Nova (Medium) on Tomoe River (52gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with a size 3/0 mop. Flex writing was done with a Trionfo 900 dip nib.

 

Bad Scanner Disclaimer: The photo is better than the scan here, pretty much across the board. The scan was adjusted so that the writing and the big smear are relatively accurate, but the doodle and the comparisons are off.

 

 

Scan:

fpn_1510176223__birmingham_waterfront_du

 

Photo:

fpn_1510176245__birmingham_waterfront_du

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

J Herbin Poussiere De Lune, L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Violet, Nemosine Alpha Centauri, Kyo-Iro Soft Snow of Ohara, Sailor Shigure

 

Writing Samples (scans; some color correction), from Ray Bradbury’s “The Long Rain”

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

fpn_1510176263__waterfront_dusk_mnemosyn

 

Tsubame Fool’s University:

fpn_1510176285__waterfront_dusk_tsubame.

Franklin-Christoph: fpn_1510176302__waterfront_dusk_fc.jpg

Edited by crahptacular
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 9
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Tas

    1

  • inkstainedruth

    1

  • fountainpagan

    1

  • farazqamar

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Thanks for the review. I have this but haven't tried it yet, other than dip-testing it in the store. On the Franklin-Christoph paper it looks -- dare I say it? :o -- maybe a little bit like Noodler's Kung Te Cheng (which is of course why I bought it in the first place... :rolleyes:).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's very interesting to see these beautiful reviews, not just for the viewing pleasure but also because they are very informative in highlighting the uses where the ink shines. In this case, I think it looks wonderful used as a watercolor, with all those shades coming through, but is rather unremarkable for regular writing, unless an "off-black" is the goal.

 

Thank you.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your reviews are so superb it almost doesn't matter what the ink is.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...