Legal Lapis + Reine Mauve = Regal Lapis

[wij]

Regal Lapis = 3 parts Legal Lapis + 1 part La Reine Mauve

 

I've been wanting a waterproof blue ink and have found that many I've looked at are too black or too teal, or they change color or yield up too much ink wash when they get wet. I know that some people have mixed a "Lapindigo" using Legal Lapis and Iraqi Indigo (now Violet Vote). Inspired by that mix, I decided to experiment with two inks I have on hand.

 

I mixed Legal Lapis and Reine Mauve in various proportions to get a waterproof dark blue. You can see the various ratios I experimented with below. I decided that 3 parts Legal Lapis and 1 part Reine Mauve create an appealing dark blue that is neither too teal nor too purple. I'd call it a dark slate blue.

 

A hassle-free way to mix this would be to combine a bottle of Legal Lapis (3 oz) and a bottle of Reine Mauve (1 oz).

 

The principal advantages of this mix are that it dries extremely fast, has good flow, and has extremely good water resistance because of the components. There is no color change when it gets wet, no loss of saturation, no ghosting of color around letterforms, no separation of dyes, unlike many other inks I've looked at for water-fastness.

 

Below is a handwritten review. The bottom of the page was completely rinsed and dried and yet you cannot even tell that it got wet. No smearing, feathering, lifting, or haloing at all. (You can see that a little of the ephemeral Levenger Cobalt ink got hit by the water.)

 

I've color adjusted these scans so they look right on my Mac monitor; the comparison inks may help you interpet the color. Paper is Neenah Classic Crest, Natural White, 28 lb. [update: Don't know why the first image shows strange orange rings across the page. I'll rescan and update the photo to improve it later.]

 

http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/inks/regal-lapis-400.jpg

 

Here are the ratios I experimented with. I also experimented with some mixes where Reine Mauve was the majority ink, but found them not blue enough. Paper is Morning Glory spiral notepad from Korea, an ivory color. On each sheet, the part on the right was completely saturated with water by rinsing both sides under the tap, then air-dried.

 

http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/inks/legal-reine-mixes.jpg

 

Finally, here's a demonstration of how this mix works doing the New York Times crossword with my Pelikan 200 demonstrator and a 0.6 stub from John Mottishaw.

 

http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/inks/regal-lapis-xword.jpg

 

Will J.

Edited November 13, 2012 by wij

[wij]

Here's a scan of the "Regal Lapis" mix on Hammermill white laserprinter paper. I can't edit the original post.

 

http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/inks/regal-lapis-on-hammermill.jpg

[wij]

I did some further comparisons of this mix with other dark blue inks I have. Here is one of the pages, showing how Regal Lapis performs in comprison to Rohrer & Klingner's Salix and Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng. Paper is Fabriano EcoQua A5 spiral notebook, 5mm gridded, 85 gsm.

 

http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/inks/blues-5.jpg

 

To see the full showing of 15 blue inks and their water resistance, refer to this post:

 

Blue Inks -- Water Resistance Tests -- 15 inks

 

Will J.

[i.like.whiskey]

Amazing... I think you just came up with what I've been looking for all this time. You wouldn't have any Bad Belted Kingfisher to compare the color with, would you? (BBK has the color I like, but not the waterproofness. Disappointing really, considering that it is billed as bulletproof.) If not, that's okay. I'm just really happy to have learned of this combination. Seems like a real winner.

Edited November 29, 2012 by i.like.whiskey

[jacksterp]

That's a very good looking color ink.

 

Thanks for the recipe.

[amberleadavis]

Wow, thank you! Your mix is the color I thought Legal Lapis would be.