Good/bad Inks For Art?

[lectraplayer]

I have been practicing on some simple art, mostly sketches, and have gotten to where I feel I am doing something recognizable as such, so I'm starting to think about permanence instead of just sketch and toss. What's some good series of inks that would be good for art, and what all can be done with them? I'm probably going to be doing most of my sketching with a fountain pen, sometimes a dip pen, and brush painting a lot of larger areas. Still, my stuff is fairly simple.

[AmandaW]

Pigmented inks are waterproof which allows for ink or watercolour washes over the top. More important for longevity is that they're lightfast. I use Platinum Carbon. I have heard the Sailor one is also very good, but I haven't tried it yet.

 

EDIT: cos I can't spell!

Edited November 22, 2017 by AmandaW

[lectraplayer]

True, but I am VERY leery about using a pigmented ink in a fountain pen. For a brush or dip pen, that would be my go to though.

[Studio97]

I use ordinary india ink with a dip pen. I use to use rapidograph ink and rapidograph pens of different sizes. Too much maintenance.

[AmandaW]

True, but I am VERY leery about using a pigmented ink in a fountain pen. For a brush or dip pen, that would be my go to though.

 

Maybe. My favourite fountain pen for Platinum Carbon is the Platinum Carbon Desk Pen - exquisitely fine, hasn't been cleaned out for years, I just top it up when it gets low, never had a hard start - but I guess it was designed for it. Cheap too.

[LizEF]

Sailor Sei Boku is pigmented and very popular with FP users. You could also look at the De Atramentis Document inks - lots of colors, made for mixing. And iron gall inks - you'd want to do more routine cleanings, especially with steel-nibbed pens.

[Sakura FP Gallery]

Rohrer and Klingner released new "Sketch Ink". It is pigmented ink which can be used in fountain pens but also in quills, brushes, ... It is extremely waterproof and lightfast.

 

Rohrer and Klingner : "Smallest pigments enable an optimal ink flow. SketchINK is perfect for drawing fine outlines. Shortly after, the lines are dry they can be painted over. The sketchINK can be painted with water to create briljant highlights.

You do need to take care of your pens and clean them afterwards.

 

I'll receive them by Friday in my store. Well test them on Sunday and see what comes out of it.

[SallyLyn]

I’m not an artist but follow some online. What I’ve learned is everything has 3 variables just like writing with pen and ink. The ink, the pen (fine, xfine, broad), the paper. Same with drawing. One ink or paint will will work great with xpen or xbrush on xpaper, terrible on something else.

You may find sometimes you want an ink to blend, now a different ink. Change can be fun.

 

Would suggest you check the blog of

http://tina-koyama.blogspot.com/

She writes well, started from zip a few years ago and now used pens with various inks, brushes, pencils. She explains well why ‘she’ has changed from something to something else. The explanation shows if it might work for you or is not something you want.

 

Also second the suggestion of Carbon Black in the inexpensive desk set for less than $15 at jetpens ($9 at Amazon) or the ink used exclusively in an inexpensive pen like a preppy or Pilot Metro.

 

There is a forum here for posting drawing. Usually not much discussion but sometimes they will discuss inks etc. they are using

[Jan2016]

See the post from Sakura FP Gallery. these are the colors:

 

[BillH]

+1 for Platinum Carbon in their EF desk pen! Nib lasts well and the line is wonderful. They have a Medium that is nice also, if you need a more obvious line.

 

I have also used Noodlers 41 Brown and Lexington Grey with great satisfaction, as both are waterproof and will take a good watercolor wash.

 

And if you are feeling experimental, take a look at de Atramentis document inks... waterproof, many colors, and with the diluting solution you have a zillion possibilities for mixing and making your own colors. I have one that is a ringer for Irosizuku Kiri-same (I call mine kimo-sabe).

 

Do I need to add the warning that finding the perfect art ink is just a variation of the "perfect color" slippery slide?

Edited November 22, 2017 by BillH

[Torrilin]

Platinum Carbon Black is definitely pigmented. It’s also always in at least one pen for me. It’s basically the most well behaved ink I’ve ever used. Easy to clean, even if I’m naughty and let it dry out in a safari. It takes weeks longer to dry out in a Safari than any other ink I’ve tried, and Safaris will dry out FAST. It’ll clean out easily if that happens.

 

Don’t stick it in a fancy, rare or vintage pen maybe. I don’t have any of those. But in a cartridge/converter pen or a piston filler you can clean easily, it’s fine.

 

I am not as fond of Sailor nano black. It doesn’t dry as fast, and I’m a lefty. So it’s never going to get a bottle. It might be ok in an xf nib, but Platinum is a better ink in a fude nib or an italic.

 

Pelikan’s Fount India is another archival ink. Dirt cheap, can be had for under $10 a bottle. It’s not water proof, but it may still be a good choice. I’m planning to try it as soon as I can get my hands on it. Doesn’t seem to be available in cartridges tho. Lamy and Kaweco don’t have an equivalent that I’ve seen. Faber Castell does, but it’s $30/bottle in the US, and I haven’t seen any art focused reviews yet.

 

Duke, Hero etc apparently make carbon inks. They’re not easy to get in the US, and while they are cheap they tend not to get good reviews. There may be carbon inks from India, but same problems.

 

Higgins claims to make fountain pen safe inks, but I haven’t seen many good reviews of them, and their bottles tend to be confusing. It’s easy to mistake a dip pen only ink for a fountain pen safe one. And they don’t make cartridges at all, so you can’t try a small amount. If the ink is fountain pen safe and it’s from Higgins, it definitely won’t be waterproof.

 

Noodler’s inks don’t ever claim to be light fast or archival in an art sense that I’ve seen. So you’d have to test the lightfastness yourself. I’ve tried a few and I’m not a fan of the poor dry times and variable paper handling. The color choices are nice, but the dry times outweigh that.

 

Basically no other American ink brands claim to have archival ink, or waterproof.

[DasKaltblut]

True, but I am VERY leery about using a pigmented ink in a fountain pen. For a brush or dip pen, that would be my go to though.

I have a plasir that has had Platinum Carbon ink in it for 5 years, dried out off and on and never had issues.

Edited November 25, 2017 by DasKaltblut

[amberleadavis]

Also check out some of our fade tests. You will be surprised how fast some inks fade. I've used BSB to hide messages to my kids. **** my kids know that I'm an ink nerd. I told my oldest that if she could figure out the message then I'd give her a gift. The message was in Noodler's Ghost Blue and then I wrote over top and on the reverse with BSB. Then I doodled flowers with Akkerman purple and did water wash. She figured out to put it in the window and use the UV light. She won. The flowers faded and were really pretty. The BSB fades in about a week in the sun. Ghost Blue does not fade but needs a UV light and the Akkerman ink took about a month to fade but the message appeared in about 2 weeks. The entire experience was performance art.

[amberleadavis]

BTW, Noodler's KTC is fade proof and water proof once dry.

[lectraplayer]

Also check out some of our fade tests. You will be surprised how fast some inks fade. I've used BSB to hide messages to my kids. **** my kids know that I'm an ink nerd. I told my oldest that if she could figure out the message then I'd give her a gift. The message was in Noodler's Ghost Blue and then I wrote over top and on the reverse with BSB. Then I doodled flowers with Akkerman purple and did water wash. She figured out to put it in the window and use the UV light. She won. The flowers faded and were really pretty. The BSB fades in about a week in the sun. Ghost Blue does not fade but needs a UV light and the Akkerman ink took about a month to fade but the message appeared in about 2 weeks. The entire experience was performance art.

That's interesting. I do my own fade tests like this from time to time.

[eyesa]

I'm a painter who also does watercolors and pen & ink.

Noodler's are my go-to inks for their waterproof/lightfast qualities.

I am willing to sacrifice a bit of both for hue and shading, but I stick with highly saturated colors.

The bulletproof (lightfast, waterproof) ones I have are:

BP Black, HOD & X-Feather

Lexington Grey (a very useful, saturated lead-pencil color, with great shading)

#41 Brown (dark brown)

Kung Te-Cheng (black/blue/purple)

La Reine (purple)

54th Massachusetts (teal/blue-black)

 

Partially Bulletproof (my must-have, Go-to inks):

Red Black (highly saturated brownish-red, great shading)

Navy (leans teal, great shading)

Kiowa Pecan (leans red, good shading)

Golden Brown (leans yellow, great shading)

Walnut (deep walnut brown)

 

 

Here's a link to the Noodler's ink properties list :

http://noodlersink.com/noodlers-ink-properties/

 

There's also an exclusive bulletproof brown offered here on FPN called Galileo Manuscript Brown, which is a beautiful reddish brown, with great reviews which I must add to my collection.

You may check out the iron gall inks from KWZ ink and a few from Rohrer & Klingner (salix a blue black and Scabiosa a dusty purple.) I don't care for the way the color often fades when dry to a grayish black, which is also what's left behind after water damage. But many people swear by them.

Edited November 26, 2017 by eyesa

[lectraplayer]

Does this community still have the ink exchange program going? I haven't seen anything on it in the last few visits but I remember it being there at one time. I'm starting to wonder if now would be a good time to check into it.

[AmandaW]

See the post from Sakura FP Gallery. these are the colors:

 

 

Thankyou for the heads-up on the R&K Sketch Inks - I ordered the Emma (olive green) and Lily (grey green) after seeing them in a LCdC email, with a Black Friday discount, but I wouldn't have known what they were without your post here. Much appreciated.

[Silmaeween]

I don't qualify myself as an artist, but I love drawing and doing art journaling. For me the best ink I love to use is de De Atramentis document black ink which is perfect to work with watercolors.

 

Although, you can use certain ink like watercolors... I think it really depends on the need of the artist and what work he wants to do.

 

Personnally, my go to for the moment is the De Atramentis document black.