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Diamine Prussian Blue


KCat

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Hi KCat,

 

Thanks again for showing an ink I haven't really seen before.

 

Very interesting blue indeed. Pale, but visible. Has a bit of a vintage feel to it, I think. Is the colour intensity difference from top to bottom a scanner artifact or real?

 

TIA,

Warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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honestly - i'm not seeing an intensity difference. But it a pic, not a scan so lighting can affect it.

 

That said - if you are seeing it being darker at the top - it's probably because i had the pen in hand uncapped for a short time before I started writing and it does, like most inks, concentrate slightly in the nib after a few days.

 

it's very readable to me - much more so than might be apparent on the screen. And doesn't seem to fade over time like Quink does. I've found writings with Quink that were almost painful to read they had faded so much. Washable is one thing - disappearing another. :)

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

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Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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  • 2 months later...

I got some Prussian Blue at the same time I picked up the Sepia and Steel Blue. It's a very nice blue, it's got some grey in it, but not as much as you'd get with a blue-black. I do like inks that are heading towards a blue-black, but have a bit more character to their colour. I've also found that the Diamine flows very freely in all the pens I've tried it in so far and it's quick to dry too. I'll definitely be trying out different colours from them.

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Thanks for showing us this ink.

 

Carrie, thanks for the comments on flow and drying time.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8, NKJV)
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Hey, I just got a sample of Prussian Blue yesterday (came in the mail all the way from Ireland, from our patron saint, Cam) and I really liked it.

 

I don't know how many people realize that many ink colors are traditional colors in the art world. Artists have several distinct families of blues to build their palette, like ultramarine, cerulean, Prussian, cobalt, pthalo. (A typical selection of paint colors -- Scroll down to see the blues.) Cerulean is cerulean, no matter who makes it. So artists have developed a much richer language to speak about color. It's like the old tale about the Inuit language having 400 words for snow. Artists have at least five words for "blue".

 

When I look at ink colors, especially blue inks, I find it very useful to identify the color family they belong to. Waterman Florida Blue, for instance, is an ultramarine. Diamine Tropical Blue is a cerulean. It's much easier to say that than to speak about "a bit of green" or "some purple in there" -- which is hard for many people to imagine.

 

Anyway, this was a very long detour to say that Diamine Prussian Blue is a true prussian, which has always been one of my watercolor paints. I don't often see prussian-based inks* so I was delighted to see it come out of my pen yesterday.

 

ElaineB

 

*To be absolutely accurate, inks and paints have completely different chemistries and there isn't a 1:1 relationship between paint colors and the dye colors used to build inks. But I can still see many correspondences between both color systems.

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Elaine, that was a fascinating explanation. I wish I knew my paint colours.

 

I like the look of Prussian Blue very much. I'd really like to try some Diamine colours but I'm having trouble finding a source that isn't sold out of Sepia and Prussian Blue.

Never lie to your dog.

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This ink actually looks like what I would expect Prussian Blue to look like. Almost, at least--guess I envision the color a tad darker, but making allowances for viewing it on a monitor, I'd say they named this ink right!

 

Thanks for the review.

Ann

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it's a fairly subtle ink.

 

of course, I can't tell what your monitor is seeing but the contrast on the image is not as accurate as it is IRL. Still, if you like only dark blues, this isn't the ink.

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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What's a good online source for Diamine inks?

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8, NKJV)
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Pendemonium has some, but are currently sold out of Prussian Blue and Sepia. I guess that's subject to change though.

Never lie to your dog.

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I noticed Pendemonium carried it, but listed the Prussian Blue as a limited production test color :o . Any hint of full production? Any idea where to buy a bottle before they're all gone?

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8, NKJV)
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I found Prussian Blue in stock at the Writing Desk in the U.K. I have no idea how much it would cost to ship overseas.

 

I noticed last night that it shares some undertones with Waterman Blue-Black, so I'm going to play around later today and see if I can reproduce the color through blending. I'll let you know the recipe if I come up with a decent match.

 

Btw, I used this ink in one of my vintage flex nibs and it did wonderful things with shaded handwriting. The thicker downstrokes were very dark indeed, and the hairlines were a nice contrast with the lighter tones of blue. This shading makes sense because this family of blues is naturally quite transparent, even when concentrated.

 

ElaineB

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I have emailed Pendemonium about the Prussian Blue (and Sepia) and will report here when I get a response. I asked about the status of the test market production inks. :)

Never lie to your dog.

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Here is the response from Pendemonium (thanks Sam!):

Hi Leslie,

 

> Hi there. Over on FPN (fountainpennetwork.com) there

> are several people looking for the Diamine Prussian

> Blue and Sepia Inks. Is there any news on when or if

> these inks will be available through Pendemonium?

>

> What is the status of Prussian Blue as a "test market"

> production ink? Will it eventually become available in

> the regular line, or was it a limited edition colour?

 

At this point in time, no decision has been made by the US importer and

wholesale distributor of Diamine (Baltimore Import) as to the test

market inks.  Prussian and Steel Blue were the two colors that sold out

first, so hopefully when they decide which ones to keep, those will be

in the mix.  It was not being sold as a Limited Edition Ink.

 

As for Sepia, it is a regular production color (not part of the test

market inks) and has been out of stock for some time.  The last ETA I

had from Baltimore Import was mid-May, which has passed and I have not

had an update.  Unfortunately, it's not just Sepia, several other

regular production inks that are quite popular are also on backorder

status:  Royal Blue and Emerald Green. 

 

Sorry I didn't have better news on the Diamine for you!

 

Best regards, sam 

 

--

Never lie to your dog.

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As for Sepia, it is a regular production color (not part of the test

market inks) and has been out of stock for some time.  The last ETA I

had from Baltimore Import was mid-May, which has passed and I have not

had an update.  Unfortunately, it's not just Sepia, several other

regular production inks that are quite popular are also on backorder

status:  Royal Blue and Emerald Green. 

 

Psssst - ink enabler here!

 

I love Pendemonium, but...

 

A Pen Lover's Paradise has Diamine in both Sepia and Emerald!

 

:ph34r:

Vanessa

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I emailed Bertram's Inkwell, U.S. distributor of Diamine ink, and Ken Jones said that it would be a regular color and should be released at the DC SuperShow. :) I only asked about Prussian Blue though.

"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." - Wayne LaPierre, NRA Executive Vice President

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cool! That would be great. i have plenty myself but I do think people will really like this color and the quality of the ink. It feathers slightly on cheap paper but is otherwise so nice...

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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