Help Me Pick A Red Ink...but Not For Writing With...

[Morphling27]

 

I want red edges on the pages of one of my homemade journals. This is a bit of an experiment to be honest. I have an idea for dipping an entire signature edge into a "trough" of red ink and then letting it dry. If it works, this will be incorporated into a theme I want on one of my next journals. Its hard to explain, but how I want it to look is crystal clear in my mind's eye. I have a feeling I can make it work with minimal experimentation, but I need the right color. Without that perfect red, the idea is moot...

Red construction paper???

[sirgilbert357]

Red construction paper???

 

Not exactly...These are the pages of a journal...so, similar to the gilding on Bible pages, I want the edges of the pages to be red. I'd even be OK with it if the color seeped into the page a bit, like by 1/8 of an inch or something...

[Arkanabar]

Perhaps you could use some Rotring technical pen red ink; they pigment that stuff highly. Another possibility is to use Dr. P. H. Martin's liquid watercolors -- there are TONS of colors. Both ought to be available at Dick Blick.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Arkanabar

[vossad01]

Antietam is bulletproof? I was not aware of that. Looking at my sample, that might be your ink then. I have seen different representations of the flags and some are brighter than others, this is one of the deeper reds, dilution might bring it closer not sure though. It is not as orange as it appears in GPC's swatch. Fox has a reputation for running orange and Empire Red is not very vibrant.

 

Antietam aside, I was going to suggest looking at De Atramentis Document Inks. They have the properties you need and they have a red ink. Have not sampled it myself though.

 

Based on what you are looking for, you might find better results looking outside of FP friendly inks though...

[janeblundellart]

Here are a few different coloured inks, including some reds. You can see that the Art Spectrum inks are completely waterproof. They are also lightfast and pigmented. Hope it helps. More on the Blog post here http://janeblundellart.blogspot.com.au/http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i2MJFIGCE4Y/VFyAuAymrnI/AAAAAAAAB0k/SqiwynuO7KA/s1600/%2340%2BP%2Bsketches_0003.jpg

[gwyneddd]

I wouldn't use ink for that purpose. If it's just the outside edges (like gilding) I'd have a piece of window screening, a toothbrush and some diluted acrylic red paint (from the hobby store.) I'd stack the paper on edge and then brush the paint over and spatter it to coat the edges. The acrylic would dry as a polymer and be resistant to bleeding. And might be more stabile as a color; reds are notoriously fugitive.

[stonezebra]

This won't answer your question about which red to use but you might enjoy watching it just the same. It shows how they hand-border paper at Cranes. I thought it was fascinating....

[amberleadavis]

The video was very helpful for me!

 

I would suggest not using FP ink but using paint. You are not needing the ink to run through the feed the same way it does in fountain pen. If you look at the Crane video, that is not FP ink.

[Fox Point]

Antietam is not waterproof at all. A little brush scrubbing can make the lines disappear entirely. My Fox red is a lighter, bright red, but I would not describe it as heading orange at all. But my red acrylic ink is the thing I use for brush or large projects, and it is exit sign red, true as can be.