A List Of Fpn's Member's Shading Inks

[Bo Bo Olson]

A month or so ago, I asked the members for a list of the inks that shaded for them. This is what they answered.

 

Shading inks to buy

 

I am a 10 ink noobie with two all around shading inks, MB Toffee, Waterman South Sea Blue, and Lamy Turquoise on better paper. Paper makes a big difference. I am slowly collecting German papers to survey.

 

 

Some “quotes” will be as is in two inks I have decided, in that they are so recommended, as one and two in a collection of inks.

 

What surprises me, is what I took for a saturated ink company Noodlers; has also good shading inks. ( I have no saturated inks...having a lot of old pens. Having been leery of a high maintenance ink in a high maintenance old pen, and they are not around the corner from me; living in Germany. The more cobwebs I have on my credit card, the more my bank likes me.)

 

This is good for those who live in the States and Canada, where imported European inks are expensive. In Germany, Noodle is the same price per bottle as the more expensive German inks. I have not checked ml to ml. Right now for me, I’m going local market; Germany and Europe. Later I will add US inks.

 

@ Alphabetical by company…..after that, I doubt it. Some comments I have left as is.

The German Blue Black inks are in one place.

 

 

“””I tend to use F/XF nibs, so inks that shade in an XF seem to really shade in broader or italic nibs from what I've experienced.””

 

Greetings Bo Bo,

 

I am a huge fan of shading. It is one of the reasons that I often use an italic or flexible nibbed pen. As for which inks do it best? For me so far, Noodler's Golden Brown or J. Herbin's Lie de Thé seem to both do it the most of all the inks I've tried so far. There are a lot of them out there that do it to some degree though, like Private Reserve's American Blue shades some as well as does Noodler's Marine Green. I have ordered some MB Toffee and have not received it yet, I hear that it is really great. I can't wait until it arrives to give it a try!

 

Generally, I think the italic nibs tend to bring out more of an inks shading ability or produce shading the best. I believe it is one of those things where the wider the nib, the better. Perhaps someone else with more knowledge about it can chime in here and say more...

 

Best Wishes & Kindest Regards,

 

Stephen

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I get some amazing shading from Rohrer and Klingner Alt-Goldgrun and Caran d'Ache Amazon.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

I'm using Diamine Damson today and it seems to shade well in a broad nib.

 

Diamene Umber.

Diamine Kelly Green

I use a Japanese fine nib, don't really have a regular paper yet. I've found that Diamine in general shades quite nicely; Burnt Sienna, Sunshine Yellow, and Blaze Orange probably being the nicest I've used. Shame I don't like orange or yellow much.

Diamine Claret

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Herbin Lie de The (most Herbin inks seem to shade well)

Almost all of the Herbin inks shade delightfully.

Herbin Violette Pensee

• J. Herbin Cafe Des Iles (some not all nibs)

 

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Iroshizuku Asa-Gao

Noodler's Ottoman Azure shades dramatically in my flexible nibs from a bright turquoise to dark navy blue. My next favorite it iroshizuku yu-yake for shading.

Iroshizuku Yu-yake

Iroshizuku Kiri-same

 

xxxxx

Lamy's and MB's blue-blacks, of course, as almost everybody here already knows (I think). With any pen on any paper. Oxidation of the iron (II) in the gall content and all that.

What still surprises me is the great -- and also more subtle -- shading of Pelikan's blue-black (no iron-gall content here). Starts off as a very dark blackish blue, then over minutes to hours (no sun necessary) gains one touch of green, two of brown, and three of grey. A real sort of maturation and oldliness!

 

xxxxx

MB

and the new MB Toffee.

MB Racing Green (now out of production)

MB Blue-Black (bottled) takes first place in my collection (Second is Waterman Havana Brown)

Montblanc Violet in certain nibs.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I notice that Namaki blue shades very nicely for me.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Noodler's Golden Brown (which is designed to shade)

Noodler's Widow Maker

& Habanero

 

Noodlers Aircorps Blue Black

& Red Black

Noodler's Green Marine

Noodler's Cayenne

Noodler's La Couleur Royale

Noodler's Texas Blue Bonnet

Noodler's Blue Eel

Noodler's Kiowa Pecan

 

 

Noodler's Ottoman Azure shades dramatically in my flexible nibs from a bright turquoise to dark navy blue. My next favorite it iroshizuku yu-yake for shading.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Parker Penman Sapphire …have a swatch book with that in it….a great looking color…too bad it is no longer made.

Penman Ruby. Discontinued.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

PR Sheerwood Forest

Private Reserve Shoreline Gold

 

PR Orange Crush shades nicely with all of my pens and papers and to the point of distraction given the right pen and paper.

PR Orange Crush shades so dramatically that it is sometimes distracting

 

 

PR Spearmint, looks good in F and even better in M.

 

 

Private Reserve's American Blue

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun (((ASAP on my ,Bo Bo’s list as it has been recommended to me often in other posts, and I live in Germany and should be able to get it, at no more expense than Noodlers is here.)

I get some amazing shading from Rohrer and Klingner Alt-Goldgrun and Caran d'Ache Amazon.

 

• Rohrer & Klingner Magenta (some not all nibs)

 

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Francesco Rubinato Turquoise

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Sailor Red-brown

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Visconti Blue & Green

visconti black...

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Waterman Havana Brown.

 

Waterman's Florida Blue,

 

 

 

I am leaving this as is because of the comment.

IME and with some pens ((nibs)) though not all...

• Noodler's Golden Brown

• Noodler's Red Black

• Diamine Kelly Green

• Diamine Mediterranean

• Diamine Sepia

• Noodler's Apache Sunset

• J. Herbin Cafe Des Iles

• Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku

• Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun

• Private Reserve Orange Crush

• Rohrer & Klingner Magenta

 

 

"Sorry - I know this is sort of off topic, but does the nib and ink flow determine the shading or is it actually the properties of the ink or a combination of both ?"

 

In my very limited experience, yes. Lamy Turquoise, as I mentioned shaded on slightly better paper, not on normal copy paper.

 

When first testing MB Toffee, the regular fine nib was light with dark trails, the Medium was 50-50, a broad nib was dark with light trails and my semi-flexible nibs are of course all wet writers, giving a darker tone.

 

 

As always, writing is 1/3 nib width, flex (+pen balance), 1/3 ink, and 1/3 paper.

 

I am still missing Semi-flex BB, B and EF. I do have Semi-flex OB* and KOB* and OF*. I don’t have any Stubs or Cursive Italic nibs, but out side of that, I am pretty much there with nibs and widths.

* German ‘50’s Oblique nibs ground for shading, (Not the worthless modern oblique, well I do have one, but like I said it is worthless, for shading. It is also a nail, so I'd not expect a nail to shade much. Later I will check that out with my three nails on better papers.)

 

Don’t forget normal flex widths can give great shading. In Toffee, my regular flex M, did such a good job, my prejudice against M nibs was destroyed.

I absorbed that prejudice from others, who were into broad or fine nibs. Perhaps they did not have shading inks.

 

M has a very important place in Shading inks. My M nib gave me a wonderful 50-50 shading.

May you be happy, when you pull out your neglected M nibs; when testing shading inks.

 

I am now ready to start the voyage, of ink and paper, to see nibs dance with fine inks on good papers at midnight.

 

Thanks to the help of the good members of the com, I have many choices, of inks.

With in the next month or two I will also have some more good German papers to decide which papers I can both like and afford.

 

Buy some better papers for fun, Alone At Home.

[watch_art]

wow what a great list!

[indigirl]

Wow, thank you for compiling all that info for us! This is really helpful

[Sandy1]

Hello,

 

I would like to add the R&K Salix to the list inks with nice shading. LINK

 

In my Review of the American Blue, which used 5 pens on 3 papers, there wasn't much, if any, shading produced - the ink is just too wet and saturated. Even when diluted to 80%, (4 ink + 1 water), the ink really didn't 'open up' to show more shading. A very similar ink, the DC Supershow Blue, was diluted to 50%, and just barely showed shading. (!) Link

 

Bye,

S1

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thanks Watch Art and Indigirl for your appreciation.

 

Thank you Sandy1, for your addition to the list and comments. You are one of the top inkmen on the com.

 

From the lack of answers, it appears the vast majority of posters have no interest in shading inks. It is not worth a poll to find out.

There are enough to have given me this valuable information, and saved me a fortune....or cost me one; they have at least saved me years of disappointment; pointing me out inks that do what I want inks to do; which is shade.

 

It is also quite possible many don't have any better paper to see shading; there for are unaware of it, in their regular lives. That or they use only super saturated inks, and don't get any shading.

 

As I mentioned, Lamy Turquoise, surprisingly shaded for me on a only slightly better paper.

 

Some one mentioned in another post, that Pelikan Royal Blue shaded for him.

It does not for me, but I am using only Xerox copy paper and not better papers; of which I have three, two of which I can ID. The other is a much better paper, that I wasted over the decades, to now where I have only some 15 sheets left. It is being saved for "The Test".

There is another, but it was "no name" cheap typewriter paper, that laid buried in the bottom of a drawer for 30 years, and I do not expect cheap paper from 30 years ago, to be more than still cheap paper.

Some one told me Xerox copy paper was better paper, it is not to me, even though I paid € 1.25/1.50 more for a ream of it, than the cheaper printer paper I normally used.

 

I am slowly gathering up German papers for a paper, ink and pen test, to find out the better papers, and will drag 15 pens (a mix of semi-flex and regular nibs and a couple of nails) with 12-15 inks over 6-8 manufacturer's papers. Two sent samples so they will have many papers tested.

 

I will attempt to lay hands on the better French papers too, along with that better 32 pound laser H&P paper.

 

Having thrown away two scanners over the decades; have no intention of buying a third. Perhaps I can scan a few of the test papers at a computer shop.

[jomielll]

I'm sure that a lot of people would be interested--there is such vocal love for shading and recommendation for new FP users to find a shading ink that I am sure this topic would be popular! Perhaps the trouble is with the layout of the list. I would suggest that instead of quoting directly from people's posts, that you organize it by maker and name of the ink with minimal information, like this:

 

Diamine

damson

hunter

kelly green

 

J. Herbin

most shade well

lie de the

 

Lamy

turquoise

 

Noodler's

golden brown

red black

 

Sailor

red-brown

 

Visconti

blue-green

black

 

 

This makes your OP list a lot easier and faster to read. People can always read the rest of the posts for the full details.

Edited July 7, 2010 by jomielll

[Bo Bo Olson]

No.

I'd thought of that, but decided that the comments of the users with collections of inks important.

 

 

These inks shade, some shade more or less than others...some shade less depending on the nib....read the bottom of the page to find out which?????????????

 

Such as....

Noodler's Ottoman Azure shades dramatically in my flexible nibs from a bright turquoise to dark navy blue. My next favorite it iroshizuku yu-yake for shading.

 

What still surprises me is the great -- and also more subtle -- shading of Pelikan's blue-black (no iron-gall content here). Starts off as a very dark blackish blue, then over minutes to hours (no sun necessary) gains one touch of green, two of brown, and three of grey. A real sort of maturation and oldliness!

 

MB Blue-Black (bottled) takes first place in my collection (Second is Waterman Havana Brown)

 

 

I should remove my comments.

Will do....to late.

 

The difference between bottom line and reality, is the ignored report it is attached too, written by small picture folks.

Edited July 7, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[tnmike1]

My faves were all Noodlers--plus they're either bulletproof or semiibulletproof

 

Noodler's Navy

Noodler's Red/Black

Noodler's Bad Blue Heron

 

Work well in my Pelikan with "M" nib or Pelikan Tortoise with Binder's Italifine nib. Also works in a Conway Stewart very flexi nib

[razr]

I think it's really odd that I get better shading with cheaper paper.

[Bo Bo Olson]

You are lucky.

Well, it has to do with the ink and the nib.

 

I however got Lamy Turquoise to shade by using a slightly better paper than the Xerox copy paper I normally use.

 

Pelikan Brown shades on better paper and not on Xerox, for me. Of course I've not run a full set of nibs through it yet.

 

MB Toffee shaded well on Xerox and any other paper I've put it too; with all my nibs I've tried it with.

For a bit I had it in six pens, now only two.

 

I emptied out some Lamy cartridges into ink wells, so I could get my better nibbed pens a chance to play with it.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[smk]

 

Pelikan Brown shades on better paper and not on Xerox, for me. Of course I've not run a full set of nibs through it yet.

 

 

Is Pelikan Brown the same as Pelikan Brilliant Brown?

 

I like the shading on Brilliant Brown but can't find it around these parts - Pelikan Brown is available but I'm not sure if its the same thing.

 

Salman K.

[kwpalzang]

Noodler's Sequoia is nicely saturated. In my Preppy, no shading but nice colour. In my Reform 1745, very nice shading and nice colour.

[777]

Thanks for this great list. It's very useful!

[jniforat]

what a great list for shading inks!

[lovemy51]

great stuff BBO! now if we can have scans of all of them in a nice wet flex or B nib...!!!

[Chrontius]

Sheaffer's modern slovenian Skrip in turquoise shades nicely in an XF, so when I tried it in a wetter, medium-er TWSBI, I was expecting it to look good. It looked great.

[Bo Bo Olson]

bumped, so a fella that has been talking to me BC, can find this.

[OCuain]

Got it! Many thanks Bo Bo. As a new member to the forum I'm discovering just how much there is to learn. I thought it was only about good quality ink in any given colour - true to name so to speak. and then there was "shading"? Can I be totally ignorant on the subject and say: Before now I would have thought that the "trial" for any good ink would be that it remain constant and true to colour without shading, And should it lack such constancy I would be taking a look at the nib or the ink cartridge. There is truth in the old saying: "You learn something new every day."

 

Thanks again Bo BO for a most interesting topic.

[DistinctionJewelry]

I'm new to fountain pens, and find the artistic effect of shading to be almost a "must" in a ink for me to truly love it. I hope some more suggestions can be added!

 

I get wonderful shading with the following inks:

 

Caran 'de Ache

Saffron

Caribbean sea

Amazon

 

Diamine

Sunshine yellow

[wildblueroan]

Private reserve Copper Burst.