An Ink Color For A New Cat

[Paddler]

One of my many journals contains accounts of the exploits of our cats. Each cat is represented by its own color of ink. At the present time, we have only two cats, but the journal book contains entries for four, two having died in the last couple of years. I can't reassign one of the used colors until I start a new book. Here are the assigned colors so far:

Furgason - Herbin's Perle Noire - matches his black coat.
Tig - vintage Emerald Green Skrip - matches the catnip patch where he liked to hang out
Sasha - Levenger's Cocoa - he is a streaky butterscotch color
Polly - to be assigned
Backstory or entries involving all current cats - Blue Black Quink

Here is an example. This is Sasha. He weighs 13 pounds. He likes lap sitting and holding down the blankets on our bed. He is our Great Shaggy Beast. Someone had abandoned him in a local state park. We pulled a rescue. I use Levenger's Cocoa ink when writing about him in the journal.



Here is one of his entries:



Polly is a calico kitten. She is the newest member of our family. She was kittled in a horse barn and we took her in before she got stepped on. She is polydactyl, having six toes on each front foot (instead of the usual four) and a dew claw on each back foot. She has short, bandy legs and her front paws look like little catcher's mitts. She likes to play "flies and grounders" with cat kibble treats. She can catch them in mid-air with those mitts of hers.

Please help me assign an ink color for this cat:

 

 

 

 

[saskia_madding]

I vote for Noodler's Habanero. It goes from darker orange to light orange, matching the stripes on your tabbico very well. It's also a sweet colour with a bit of sass/spice, which I think would work well.

[PAKMAN]

I'd have to go with an orange color myself!

[Rita_K]

Polly is absolutely adorable !

+1 for the Noodler's Habanero, a well behaved fun color.

You might also want to consider Diamine Ancient Copper.

[Runnin_Ute]

Apache Sunset maybe?

[Octo]

You need something like "Black Swan in...." something orange. Or else something with intense shading. Are you into ink mixing?

 

Amber-green for the eye color?

 

Team colors of your favorite baseball catcher?

Edited December 14, 2013 by Octo

[79spitfire]

I see that cat and the first ink that comes to mind

 

Diamine Pumpkin.

 

It will stand out like she does.

[kiavonne]

How beautiful your Polly is!

 

I like 79spitfire's idea for a Pumpkin color. However, I also like the idea of a shading ink and Apache Sunset. Her eyes are a beautiful gold.

[Paddler]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will have a look at the reviews for those inks and order out the best match. This will take a while as I must wait for the weather to moderate before trusting ink to the delivery folks. I have a new guitar hanging fire for the same reason.

 

Polly is a firecracker with a quarter-inch fuse. I have never seen a critter with this much energy. It is like she was kittled in a nuclear power plant. At 4:30 this morning, she learned how to cannonball the bed. And then she took some night flying lessons. She thought the whole excercise was a hoot and began perfecting her technique. It is a good thing she's cute.

 

Edited to add: The journal in the picture was made by Paperchase. The show-through was made worse by my scanner. It doesn't look quite that dark under normal light.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Paddler

[Paddler]

You need something like "Black Swan in...." something orange. Or else something with intense shading. Are you into ink mixing?

 

Amber-green for the eye color?

 

Team colors of your favorite baseball catcher?

I haven't tried ink mixing. I will have to check it out.

 

Ever since the baseball strike in the '80s, I have shunned the sport. I refuse to watch millionaires play ball.

[WirsPlm]

I haven't tried ink mixing. I will have to check it out.

 

Ever since the baseball strike in the '80s, I have shunned the sport. I refuse to watch millionaires play ball.

Ink mixing is fun and very useful (I try to stick within brands, but you can cross some brands if you're careful). Maybe Noodler's Black and Apache Sunset or Habanero to get a black-shading-to-orange effect?

 

Some basic starters supplies:

Get a good quality surfactant (Kodak PhotoFlo or Illford I-forget-the-name on Amazon, glycerine also works but is trickier) to keep your ink mix smooth and freely flowing.

Get a good biocide (Phenol from Natural Pigments at http://www.naturalpigments.com/phenol.html ) to keep from unexpected biological side effects. Phenol and other biocides are strong household chemicals (treat them like strong bleach and don't use it around reptiles) but definitely worth it.

You're going to want some marked syringes (for repeatable recipes, if you're cool with winging it these are nice but eyedroppers also work), I got a pack of 10 from Amazon for $5.

Also, vials are your friend (tall, thin ones that fit your pens). The ones from the Goulet's are good, I mostly order ink samples from them, use up the sample and recycle the vial.

 

Reading:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/171278-biocide-shootout-tests/ all about phenol and keeping your ink from growing mold

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/229403-surfactants-in-ink-for-improved-flow/ how to use surfactants in ink

[Paddler]

Ink mixing is fun and very useful (I try to stick within brands, but you can cross some brands if you're careful). Maybe Noodler's Black and Apache Sunset or Habanero to get a black-shading-to-orange effect?

 

Some basic starters supplies:

Get a good quality surfactant (Kodak PhotoFlo or Illford I-forget-the-name on Amazon, glycerine also works but is trickier) to keep your ink mix smooth and freely flowing.

Get a good biocide (Phenol from Natural Pigments at http://www.naturalpigments.com/phenol.html ) to keep from unexpected biological side effects. Phenol and other biocides are strong household chemicals (treat them like strong bleach and don't use it around reptiles) but definitely worth it.

You're going to want some marked syringes (for repeatable recipes, if you're cool with winging it these are nice but eyedroppers also work), I got a pack of 10 from Amazon for $5.

Also, vials are your friend (tall, thin ones that fit your pens). The ones from the Goulet's are good, I mostly order ink samples from them, use up the sample and recycle the vial.

 

Reading:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/171278-biocide-shootout-tests/ all about phenol and keeping your ink from growing mold

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/229403-surfactants-in-ink-for-improved-flow/ how to use surfactants in ink

Hmmm. I seem to have all the equipment and PhotoFlo already. The phenol is not part of my household chemical supply.

 

Question: Could I use water colors and dip pens? Do pigments make colors the same way dyes do? I would guess they do, but they

may not shade the same way.

 

This looks like an interesting winter project. Thanks for suggesting it!

[kiavonne]

Hmmm. I seem to have all the equipment and PhotoFlo already. The phenol is not part of my household chemical supply.

 

Question: Could I use water colors and dip pens? Do pigments make colors the same way dyes do? I would guess they do, but they

may not shade the same way.

 

This looks like an interesting winter project. Thanks for suggesting it!

 

 

jbb would be one to ask. She does a lot with dip pens.

[Horseknitter]

She is a delight! Were she my cat I would use Cafe Des Iles - a bronze toned ink.

[WirsPlm]

Hmmm. I seem to have all the equipment and PhotoFlo already. The phenol is not part of my household chemical supply.

 

Question: Could I use water colors and dip pens? Do pigments make colors the same way dyes do? I would guess they do, but they

may not shade the same way.

 

This looks like an interesting winter project. Thanks for suggesting it!

Sorry, I meant to say they should be treated like strong household chemicals.

 

About water colors, I think using those in dip pens should work (dip pens handle pigmented water-based inks fairly well), but I don't have any experience with that. Pigments don't necessarily work the same way that dyes do, though.

[inkstainedruth]

Awww. What a sweetie (I'm a sucker for torties, myself -- at the moment we have a dilute tortie and a grey tabby). Actually both of them look like sweeties.

For some reason, I think orange isn't *quite* the right color for Polly though -- I'm thinking something like Black Swan in English Roses for her (but I don't know exactly why -- especially since I haven't quite made up my mind whether I like it enough to get a full bottle).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Sailor Kenshin]

Montblanc Leonardo Red Chalk!