Favorite Professional Inks (Black, Blue, And Red)

[CPB]

What are your favorite inks that are simple and straightforward colors? Nothing fun and crazy, just classic colors for everyday use. Specifically inks in black, blue, and red.

 

(I used the word professional to imply an office setting or somewhere that traditional classic colors are usually needed.)

[silverlifter]

Black: Aurora Black. Iroshizuku Take-Sumi

 

Blue Black: KWZ IG Blue # 3. Edelstein Tanzanite

 

Blue: Serenity Blue. Iroshizuku Asa-Gao

 

Red: Robert Oster Fire Engine Red

 

Other: Iroshizuku Yama-Guri. Jentle DoYou

[pmitc34947]

Of the thirteen inks in my growing collection, I am using the following the most...

 

-Montblanc JFK Blue Black

-Diamine Blue Black

-Diamine Dragon Blood

-Akkerman's SBRE Brown

Edited August 7, 2019 by pmitc34947

[chromantic]

Black - Take-sumi

 

Blu-black - Stipula Dark Blue

 

Blue - Monteverde GC Sapphire

 

Red - don't really use red

 

Other - Yama-guri, Stipula Musk Green (my EDC)

[Erik Dalton]

Heres a shot of my current faves.

[DonM]

Pilot/Namiki Standard Blue

Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue

Diamine Blue Velvet

[twin63]

Black: J. Herbin Perle Noire and Iroshizuku Take-sumi

 

Blue Black: Diamine Blue Black and J. Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs

 

Blue: Monteverde Horizon Blue

 

Red: Diamine Red Dragon

[MHBru]

Black/grey...dont really use them but do own Papier Plume Oyster Grey

Red - Iroshizuku Fuyu gaki (although I dont use it for correspondence

Blue(s) - Iroshizuku Kon Peki, Ama Iro, Asa Gao; Diamine Blue Pearl

Blue/Black(s) - Herbin Bleu Nuit and Kyo no to Aonobi

 

Other inks I use at work include

Teal - Iroshizuku Ku Jaku

Green(s) - Franklin Christoph Midnight Emerald and GvFC Viper Green

[Arkanabar]

Black: Take your pick, either Noodler's Heart of Darkness or Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black. My concerns are feathering, adequate flow, and saturation better than the cheap stick ballpoints in the supply closet. Given its reputation, I could see using J. Herbin Perle Noire.

Blue: I prefer Noodler's Blue. I just like it.

Blue-Black: I'm just using flush from various blues, greens, browns, and blacks (excluding Bad Black Moccasin). Or rather, I'm building up a reserve of such mixture. I could easily go for Pilot Blue-Black. I haven't really made up my mind. I rarely find myself wanting a blue-black.

Red: I'm going to use Noodler's Rattler Red Eel, because it's really bright for markup and I have a bottle on hand, instead of Noodler's Widow Maker, which is also on hand, and a darker, more subdued red. Should I ever find myself in need of another bottle of red, I'd most likely go for modern Sheaffer, in the "Slovenia" bottles.

[JakobS]

My office setting has no limits on color so I tend to use whatever, whenever and hope to put a smile on someone's face down the line of bureaucracy.

 

But if I were limited to black, blue, and red they would be:

 

Black: Pelikan Black 4001, or Waterman Black.....I haven't used black in ten years, so really have no need for anything special, but these are as straightforward as you can get. The Pelikan is somewhat dry, and will work on a variety of paper. The waterman flows great, and has a bit of shading.

 

Blue: Diamine Oxford Blue, or KWZ Baltic Memories. Oxford is a straight solid somewhat medium blue, and Baltic Memories is a Dark teal with a bit of shading that flows well and give a little punch to what is written.

 

Red: Diamine Monaco Red, or Diamine Wild Strawberry: If you want a subdued murky red go with Monaco, if you need a bright, to the point red, Wild Strawberry.

 

I will add Green, Brown, and Grey to the list, because many businesses do, and all should have these as "professional " colors

 

Green: Diamine Umber, Diamine Woodland Green, KWZ IG Green Gold. Diamine Umber has an unique, yet understated tone to it that is absolutely professional, yet personal as well. Diamine Woodland Green is a classic forest green, great for notations, and edits, and general writing as well. KWZ IG Green Gold is a perfect murky green, it goes on grass green, than oxidizes to a murky green, pretty water proof if you let it oxidize for a week plus as well using a wet writing pen.

 

Brown: Diamine Macassar, Diamine Chocolate, KWZ IG Gold. Diamine Macassar and Chocolate are dark brown inks that are great for general writing, or quick notes, or signatures. Chocolate is a bit redder than Macassar. KWZ IG Gold is a medium brown ink that is also great for all of the previous mentioned writing and flow quite well.

 

Grey: Diamine Grey. Comparable to a HB pencil, a quality no fuss grey ink....

[ShortRound131]

Blue: Iroshizuku Asa-Gao, Pilot Blue Black, Montblanc Permanent Blue, Diamine Denim & Oxford Blue

 

Black: Aurora Black

 

Red: Noodlers Red, Montblanc Corn Poppy Red, Diamine Oxblood

[saikrishna]

Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black

[Noihvo]

[Trekker]

Black: Aurora Black and Platinum Carbon Black

 

Blue: Sailor Souboku and Pilot Blue Black

 

Red: Diamine Oxblood

Edited August 9, 2019 by Trekker

[A Smug Dill]

Favourite 'professional' or plain-coloured inks

Black	Platinum Carbon Black (waterproof, but can feather and bleed on some papers) Sailor kiwaguro (better-behaved, but not waterproof; exhibits some sheen)
Blue	Sailor seiboku (waterproof and well-behaved; exhibits some sheen) Sailor souboku (waterproof and well-behaved; exhibits some sheen) Sailor Shikiori yonaga (not waterproof; deep, dark, and does not sheen red/pink/magenta but green)
Red	Diamine Oxblood Diamine Red Dragon
Green	Noodler's Green Marine (not waterproof but will remain legible after a long soak) KWZ Ink Verdura

[MuddyWaters]

Thanks for the chart. I like oxblood too (my fav red) but I would probably not want to use it at work unless I was ok with Dracula associations.

[Arkanabar]

If we're going to expand the colors to include brown, green, and grey, then here goes:

 

Grey: Sorry, I regard grey as a betrayal of black, and don't use it.

Brown: Diamine Chocolate Brown. Yum! This is NOT a milk chocolate brown.

Green: Diamine Sherwood. Very legible, and tolerably good fade resistance.

[inkstainedruth]

Black/black family: Noodler's Heart of Darkness and Noodler's El Lawrence (which isn't black but is dark enough that my old bank -- who insisted that checks had to be written in blue or black -- didn't bat an eye).

Blue/Blue black family: Noodler's 54th Massachusetts; Noodler's Kung Te Cheng (in spite of its bad behavior sometimes because, like El Lawrence, it could pass for blue as far as the bank was concerned and is pretty much EVERYTHING proof); and a recent discovery for me. Sailor Souboku.

Red: Noodler's Park Red (not quite my favorite, smack in the middle of the spectrum red -- which would be Diamine Classic Red -- but definitely more waterproof than the Diamine).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[katerchen]

Black: Sailor Kiwa-Guro. Rich smooth black and totally waterproof. Used with medium nib.

Red: Pilot Red in Japanese F or EF pens. Used for annotations, so a very narrow nib is a must for me.

 

Blue ... I actually don't really use blue at work, but Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue would be my choice.

[A Smug Dill]

Black: Sailor Kiwa-Guro. Rich smooth black and totally waterproof.

 

I wish your statement, which was no doubt made in good faith, was factually true. Alas, Sailor kiwaguro is not totally waterproof:

 

Page scan after soaking in the sink and drying:

 

 

Writing done with it looks not nearly as black when viewed at an angle, especially when compared to Platinum Carbon Black and Pelikan Fount India inks:

 

 

Full set of waterproofness testing results here:

Nine Pigment Inks Tested For Waterproofness

Edited August 12, 2019 by A Smug Dill