Cmyk Ink Options

[PabloAU]

Hi all,

 

I'm thinking seriously about buying a set of CMYK inks and trying my hand at mixing my own blends, but not sure which brand I should look to. As far as I know, there are three options:

• Noodler's (Navajo Turquoise, Shah's Rose, Yellow, Black)
• J. Herbin (Bleu Pervenche, Rose Cyclamen, Bouton D'or, Perle Noir)
• Platinum Mix Free (Aqua Blue, Cyclamen Pink, Sunny Yellow, Smoke Black)

I've seen a few posts showing off the range of colours that can be achieved within a brand, Noodler's in particular, but nothing that compares the offerings between these brands.

 

If anyone has experience with the above inks, in CMYK mixes or otherwise, could you offer your thoughts on their properties? e.g. flow, saturation, feathering, shading (particularly when mixed), dry time, mix stability etc?

 

Thanks in advance.

[vossad01]

According to your flag, you are in Australia. I would add for your consideration, the Toucan Inks from Just Write. I have not tried it, but I think Turquoise, Magenta, Primrose would be suitable primaries.

[amberleadavis]

If you were in Austria, then the Document Inks by De Atramentis. In Australia, def. the Toucan inks.

[vossad01]

If you were in Austria, then the Document Inks by De Atramentis. In Australia, def. the Toucan inks.

 

Hmm, do we see the start of a Local Ink movement ? For some reason this made me think of "Buy Fresh Buy Local" not sure how prevalent this is elsewhere....

 

 

I am thinking there could be a fun ink parody there by an artistically inclined person.

[Cyber6]

 

• Noodler's (Navajo Turquoise, Shah's Rose, Yellow, Black)
• J. Herbin (Bleu Pervenche, Rose Cyclamen, Bouton D'or, Perle Noir)
• Platinum Mix Free (Aqua Blue, Cyclamen Pink, Sunny Yellow, Smoke Black)

 

 

Since you are "experimenting"... I would keep my costs down as much as possible (a lot of colors won't come out as you would like... take it from an ink-mixer pro)

 

Noodlers is the most cost effective from your list.

 

 

I would certainly agree with Vosaad01 that in your case.. I would go for Toucan. They are wonderful inks, easy to mix and the BEST bang for your bucks.

[vossad01]

In general you can expect the following: the behavior of the mix will be largely reflective of the parent inks. If the parent inks are highly saturated so will the mix. Similarly with shading, flow, etc. Do not expect to be able to mix properties that are not present in the parents inks (there are different mix-ins that can be used to tweak some properties). With that in mind you can probably use reviews to answer some of your more specific questions.

 

My generalization:

 

Noodler's: Cheap, Highly Saturated, Shading (these inks anyway, not the whole line)

 

J. Herbin: Brand has a reputation of having inks that are less saturated.

 

Platinum Mix Free: As I recall these inks are on the more expensive end and I do not know much about the inks; however, I believe at least some of these sheen so that might mean your mixed could.

 

 

Regarding the gamut, I can only speak to the Noodler's mixes where I have invested a significant amount of time. It is largely the bright colors that you will not be able to achieve. Bright orange is one that really stands out. Bright Purple and Bright True Green (some of the yellow greens are decently bright) are also clipped. You can get some effect by diluting them to lighten them which can make them seem a little brighter. However, to avoid misunderstanding, know the the mixes are not dull at all and may be too bright for professional applications unless toned down with the complement or black and there is a vast spectrum of colors you can mix if you are willing to spend the time doing it.

 

I have not done much with shades (mixing with the black (K)). That is the only place I would have concerns of separation or inconsistency. From my experience of mixing Noodler's Yellow and Noodler's Black, I think the dyes have different weights. This can produce interesting effects but I am not sure that they are controllable. While they it will not separate into visible layers (I have a vial that has been at rest for months, I have notices inconsistency in how black or yellow it writes. This is likely because Black (there have been the same reports with HoD) is a bulletproof ink and could be avoided by using a more traditional black such as Borealis Black or Dark Matter.

[vossad01]

There is a conspicuous lack of detailed results outside of the Noodler's mixes; I have contributed to that myself though work was all all derivative of the previous posters. I imagine, as Cyber6 identifies, this is largely because Noodler's is cheaper to experiment with.

 

I will stand the following offer: If the mixing results are important enough to someone that they will send me 4ml of each ink in a CMY color set, I will commit to doing inky gradients between the primaries. Note that it will take some time to produce them.

 

Of course, I am just as happy is someone else does experiments and posts their results.

[PabloAU]

Thanks for the input guys. You know I never even considered Toucan as an option, and they are definitely the most affordable option for me. The pics I've seen of their inks seem to lack a bit of the "pop" of other makes, but for experimentation I'm willing to give them a go.

 

I've just placed an order, and would be happy to send some samples for others to play with. @vossad01, PM me your details and I'll send some your way!

 

@amberleadavis and @Cyber6, I'd need to get my hands on a few more vials, but the offer's open to you too if you're keen.

 

It'd be awesome to see a comparison of each of the brands together if others are willing to share some samples of the other makes with someone who has a little time and patience (@vossad01, would you be up for this?). Same method, same ratios, same paper, same swab/pen.

 

For science!

[Cyber6]

Thanks for the offer... I believe I was the first person that brought thew whole line of Toucan Ink to North America..

 

I have been called "Patient Zero" of Toucan Ink.... I shared samples of the whole line with Amber and Dale (dcroe05).. after, they both organized the Toucan North American Group Buy sponsored by JustWrite.au

 

So, thanks again.... but I am quite set with Toucan ink. I do enjoy them very much. Yes, they are less saturated than Nooodlers... but sometimes over-saturation is over-rated ... For my purposes, Toucan does quite well.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Cyber6

[amberleadavis]

Thanks for the input guys. You know I never even considered Toucan as an option, and they are definitely the most affordable option for me. The pics I've seen of their inks seem to lack a bit of the "pop" of other makes, but for experimentation I'm willing to give them a go.

 

I've just placed an order, and would be happy to send some samples for others to play with. @vossad01, PM me your details and I'll send some your way!

 

@amberleadavis and @Cyber6, I'd need to get my hands on a few more vials, but the offer's open to you too if you're keen.

 

It'd be awesome to see a comparison of each of the brands together if others are willing to share some samples of the other makes with someone who has a little time and patience (@vossad01, would you be up for this?). Same method, same ratios, same paper, same swab/pen.

 

For science!

 

Thank you! I tried out the samples from Cyber 6, made my own purchases and sent the remaining samples to AllanG for his art project. So, I don't need any samples, but I sure appreciate the offer.

 

Adam, I thought you had them already? Or maybe just bright blue?

[vossad01]

Yep, I have the Toucan Inks I have just been at work and unable to reply.

 

Thank you for the offer, but I got the full set when Sinistral1 organized a group by so will be able to provide those ones myself. I just have not had the chance to play with them beyond creating the basic color references I do for all inks and samples that come my way. I will put those gradient on my to do list.