Ink Mixing With Toucan (Australian) Inks - Crimson And Black

[Jamerelbe]

In a recent thread on the Toucan ink range, someone asked a question about mixing the inks - specifically red (Crimson) with black. Somewhere or other I indicated I'd check it out if I found the time - but can't remember which thread, so thought I would post this here.

 

A general comment, first of all: the designers of this ink specialise in paints and dyes of all kinds, and manufacture most of their products to allow mixing of colours. This extends to their inks - they've been intentionally designed to allow mixing. With my older daughter, I've created a 'peach' colour by mixing orange with magenta (which should be called pink) - she likes to use it in one of her cheap pens. I've also tried mixing crimson with violet (I think it was) to create a maroon or burgundy - though it's not as vibrant as the Platinum purple (Preppy) colour I was trying to mimic. I hadn't tried mixing with black before - so this is my first try.

 

The picture first, then the explanation:

 

http://i.imgur.com/Z0Bn0HF.jpg[Photographed with my Sony, at my desk, using 'Fill Flash' on my Sony xPeria Z1 phone - excuse the 'ghosting' from the other side of the page!]

 

(1) I started with one of the pens I'd inked with Crimson on Friday (a 'Classic 626', as per previous post) - sample top-left.

 

(2) I dumped the ink back into my sample vial of crimson ink, then drew out 2ml of Crimson (roughly) with a syringe - deposited into a fresh, clean vial.

 

(3) I added roughly 0.2ml of Toucan Black ink with a 3ml syringe, agitated the mixture vigorously, then flushed the new ink colour in and out of the pen by turning the cartridge converter piston back and forth several times - then wrote the sample, top right.

 

(4) I dumped the contents of the cartridge converter BACK into the vial, and added ANOTHER 0.2ml of ink (roughly), then flushed the ink back in and out repeatedly as per step (3), before writing the sample, bottom right.

 

(5) Dumped ink back into vial, added another 1ml of Crimson, agitated, flushed repeatedly through nib, then wrote bottom left sample - unfortunately I omitted to wipe excess ink off the nib tip, so the top line was excessively saturated.

 

All of the above was pretty unscientific (I should know, I used to BE a Research scientist ) - but hopefully this gives you some idea of how easy it is to mix these inks - and how effectively you can darken a base colour with small quantities of the black...

 

Standard disclaimer: I have no affiliation with, and no financial interest in the JustWrite company (though I HAVE been given some pens by the proprietor, free in return for an impartial review); and I have no vested interest in this group buy, other than promoting some inks I enjoy using and maybe generating some business for an Australian company I enjoy dealing with!

[ac12]

Thanks much.

I think just a little lighter than your 2ml crimson : 0.4ml black will be what I am shooting for.

This is a good start for me.

 

THANK YOU.

 

Looks like I will be making a 3rd order.

Edited May 19, 2014 by ac12

[Jamerelbe]

Nor worries - that's the beauty of the Toucan inks:if you have the time and patience (both of which are usually in short supply for me, though I'm on holiday right now!), you can mix and match almost endlessly to get the colours you want.

[amberleadavis]

Thanks much.

I think just a little lighter than your 2ml crimson : 0.4ml black will be what I am shooting for.

This is a good start for me.

 

THANK YOU.

 

Looks like I will be making a 3rd order.

 

I know what you mean.

[JustWrite Pen Company]

Here are some recipes from Year 8 at Yarra Hills Secondary College in Victoria. We challenged them to come up with some original Ink Recipes for Toucan Ink and JustWrite will be awarding Gift Vouchers and Certificates for the Winners. They've also come up with some very 'original' names for their colours.

 

[amberleadavis]

I really like them all...but I'm considering trying out Cyanide.

[mhguda]

Tight jeans on a Funky Gibbon for me!

[ac12]

Wow, such neat mixes...and names

[Buttersoft1]

That's brilliant even made me laugh a little

[Buttersoft1]

Has anyone made a dark green please let me know thanks

[ac12]

Dark green is next on my list, but based on making a DARK red, it is tricky.

In my case using Sheaffer ink (the Toucan mixing is next), the red started to look brownish rather than DARK red, kinda like Diamine Oxblood.

I'm trying to push it over that hump, to black with a tinge of red.

I'm found out that the pen itself makes a BIG difference in the color of the ink line. Out of my Lamy Joy with a wet 1.1 nib, I have to use a LOT more black ink than with my test dip pen.

 

I would start with Jamerelbe's mix ratio and go from there.

[Buttersoft1]

I'll give that a try in the next few days and let you know how it works out thanks

[Buttersoft1]

Ok so I tried the mix and here is what I came up with

[Jamerelbe]

Sorry I haven't been able to contribute much to this thread - too little time to mix inks! My one piece of advice - the previous comment seems to bear this out - is that a small amount of black goes a long way. Just add a little bit (a drop? or 0.1ml if you can find a small enough syringe) at a time, until you're happy with the result. Thanks for posting - look forward to seeing other people's experiences!

[Buttersoft1]

I used an insulin syringe that I got from the chemist100 units or 1ml/cc.

I was also a little impatient

[ac12]

My method, which may change later, is to put 1ml of my base color (red), then add black 1 or 2 drops at a time until your test pen gives you the shade you want. If you want a REAL DARK color, this method may end up taking a LOT of time.

 

For a REAL DARK color, like red-black, I would use a different approach.

My 2nd method that I may try next time is to put 1ml of BLACK, then add the base color 1 drop at a time, until I start to see the tinge of the base color.

 

WARNING, you need to be careful when using your test pen. Mine will only match a few of my pens.

Example, when I was mixing ink for my Lamy joy with the 1.1 nib, my test pen (a #6 F nib in a dip pen holder) gave me an almost black color LONG before I got a dark not even close to black ink out of the joy. I had to look at the ink color as the test pen nib started to write dry to get an idea of the color out of the Lamy. It was rather difficult.

This problem is bad when you have many pens that write different (darker/lighter) with the same ink, which pen do you try to target the mix to?