How To Make The Hideous Edelstein Mandarin Into A Useable Ink

[Uncial]

You may have gathered from the title that I am not that fussed on Edelstein's Mandarin. When I first saw it I thought, 'Oh, a truly popping orange', but that thought was rapidly replaced with a retina burning headache. I tend to like reds and oranges, but I like them to have a little subtlety about them and not quite 'true' in their colour spectrum (if that makes sense). Iro's Yu-yake, the Fuyu-gaki, Noodler's Apache Sunset, couple of the Diamine oranges, Herbin's Orange Indien; you get the idea, I like reds and oranges. Mandarin seemed like a great choice, but in a very short time I grew to truly loathe it. I even contemplated throwing it down the sink just so I could use the bottle for something else. Then I had a brain wave. Why don't I add a few drops of Edelstein's Onyx Black? So, three small drops later and with dip pen in hand I tested it.

 

It's a little similar to Apache Sunset. Now bear in mind I tested this with a dip pen on highly absorbent paper. At first it was extremely similar to the Noodler's, but as it dried the shading disappeared (not unexpected with this ink). Dried and unshaded you are left with a rich orange saffron with a noticeable red aspect. It still 'pops', but it isn't headache inducing and it has left me with an ink that I can now happily use. I will try and get a pick uploaded later. Just thought I would let you all know in case, like me, you had contemplated ditching the ink, or wondered how on earth you might ever use it.

[Icywolfe]

I made that good but putting it in a pen I haven't fully washed out Platinum Black out of. It made it to a odd shade of Orange.

 

Black + Eye Sore Inks = Eye sore part is gone.

 

Peacock Blue is still a eye Sore.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Icywolfe

[amberleadavis]

Oh dear, I love retinal searing inks.

[Uncial]

 

So here it is, a lovely bit of spidery writing on a cheap index card. Still, it gives you an idea of the colour.

[amberleadavis]

Oh, well, that's still a very lovely color.

[Uncial]

Oh, well, that's still a very lovely color.

It is! It's not quite as red as it appears in that photograph though. It's still retina searing too, but in a good way.

[amberleadavis]

I agree. I thought Mandarin was a little too light for daily use.

[stevesurf]

It's a wonderful ink for tasks and follow up items, like a little flashlight in a sea of blues and greens

 

[amberleadavis]

How come yours came out so much brighter? I may have to rethink this.

[Tanzanite]

It is a light ink but wonderful for highlighting.

[Tanzanite]

I tried to take a photo of it with some other Edelstein inks, but Mandarin becomes more intense in a photo for some reason.

[Uncial]

Reviving this to include something more. I got a little bored of the toned down version I made and decided to do something a little more radical to see what would happen. I added 2 ml's of Onyx and tried it out. What I got was something really, really similar to Apache Sunset. I pondered for a moment and thought about it. I have a little stockpile of Apache Sunset, I really don't need any more of it. So I added another 2 mls - risky, I know. What I have ended up with is a really great ink,

 

A little while ago I tried out KWZI's Iron Gall Mandarin from a sample and loved it. It wasn't at all what I expected, but as it dried and aged it lost all of it's lovely qualities and became a rather dull and boring medium brown. When wet it is really interesting, with red, brown and orange tones shading to a deep gold and light yellow. That is now what I have in this frankenink and it's lovely. The problem is that it is really difficult to photograph. It has amazing shading, but a photo just doesn't bring out the subtlety; I will keep trying though!

Edited May 22, 2015 by Uncial

[Uncial]

Finally, I think I have managed to capture it in the right light (more or less)

[Chrissy]

I wonder how it compares with Cult Pens Deep Dark Orange?

[Uncial]

I don't have that I'm afraid. I can tell you that it looks remarkably close to KWZI Iron Gall Mandarin (before it dries). I don't have any other ink that approaches this shade and colour. The shading is amazing.

[amberleadavis]

It sort of looks like Edelstein Amber if amber shaded better.

[senzen]

Warning, old threat revival! As you can see there have been at least two formulations of Mandarin, I loved my old one and couldn't see why people didn't like it, until I bought a replacement... Instead of black, would some red ink revive it? Would the safe choice be Pelikan Edelstein Ruby? All I have for eye searing red is Diamine poppy red...

 

 

The old one looks something like this:

 

Edited November 30, 2016 by pseudo88

[EdeIstein88]

DSC_0233.JPG

 

So here it is, a lovely bit of spidery writing on a cheap index card. Still, it gives you an idea of the colour.

 

3 drops onyx direct to mandarin bottle?

[senzen]

 

3 drops onyx direct to mandarin bottle?

 

The first scan looks very close to what I was getting with the first bottle, the second one less so...

[Uncial]

If I remember correctly I took two converter fills out of the bottle before I began to play around with it by adding Onyx directly to the bottle of Mandarin. I'm now wishing I picked up the old formulation of Mandarin. I clearly bought the reformulated ink.