Squid Ink ink?

[yu_bh]

Hello I just had one of squid ink

 

It says "Real Sepia Ink by HAKASE 50ml" on the bottle print and cost about $50 quite expensive

 

and here is example upper is squid ink and lower is sheaffer blue

 

[Craig]

I bought some squid ink yesterday from Kremer Pigments at 247 W. 29th Street in New York (1-800-995-5501). It cost $20 for a 20ml bottle, and they also have a larger size. It's a shellac-based ink for brush and dip pens. The pigment was caked on the bottom of the bottle when I opened it and took quite a bit of mixing with a coffee stick.

 

The ink has a very definite fish-market tang, so it's not something you'd want to write a Valentine in. Kremer's is an artist-supply company and they don't worry about what their stuff smells like, it is what it is. I also bought a bottle of bister ($12/20ml) , a brown ink made from beechwood ash. It smells of soot. Of the two I prefer the bister. The sepia is a greenish gray-brown and the bister is more intense, a true dark brown, like old manuscripts.

 

The store is worth a visit. Their window display is a rack of brilliant, powdered pigments in jars. You have to be buzzed in. Two very attractive young people run it. There are shelves of dry pigment in plastic bags, jars of solvents and shellac, inks of different colors, and a rack of books. The idea behind the store is that artists can create their own paints, just as the old masters did, using the same minerals.

 

Here's a blog showing pictures of the store and its products.

http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2006/09/pigment-101.html

Edited April 7, 2007 by Craig

[Kay]

This sounds very interesting. Any chance we can see samples of the inks, or ink reviews?

[Craig]

Kay, unfortunately my scanner is shot, so I can't submit pictures. But the above sample by yu_bh give a good idea of the sepia. You can see the green tint to it. The bister resembles scans I've seen of Noodler's Walnut ink--a dark brown, tending to black where the ink is laid on thick. The inks I've described above are for dip pens only, though--they'd ruin a fountain pen.

[coax]

yu_bh, where did you purchase this ink? And more specifically do they ship to the US?

 

Update: Just placed an order with Hakase for two bottles of the fountain pen Sepia, price was 16,500 Yen with shipping to the US (3900 postage, yeah that's a lot, but I have more dollars than sense), they take Visa and Amex.

 

My previous post about English fluency was wrong, must have confused them with some other company, they only have a minimal understanding. Found an old article that has a good company description: http://www.stutler.cc/pens/hakase_clinic/index.html

 

Their email is info@fp-hakase.com, write simply if making an English inquiry.

Edited April 13, 2007 by coax

[Eternally Noodling]

This is more durable and without the smell of traditional sepia! Singapore Sepia is available in Singapore.

Edited May 4, 2007 by Eternally Noodling

[Dan Carmell]

This is more durable and without the smell of traditional sepia! Singapore Sepia is available in Singapore.

 

Nathan-- Is it squid ink or just a traditional sepia color?

 

BTW, lordy, man, the sun may have set on Britian's empire, but it certainly isn't on yours! Singapore, India, Russia, England, if this was a game of Risk you'd have the board!

 

Dan

[Eternally Noodling]

This is more durable and without the smell of traditional sepia! Singapore Sepia is available in Singapore.

 

Nathan-- Is it squid ink or just a traditional sepia color?

 

BTW, lordy, man, the sun may have set on Britian's empire, but it certainly isn't on yours! Singapore, India, Russia, England, if this was a game of Risk you'd have the board!

 

Dan

 

Dear Dan,

 

"Cuttlefish canned in their own ink" was once source (too dead, too brown, too dilluted)...but I found that a live cuttlefish (apart from being an extremely intelligent cephalopod mollusk) had a deeper ink with a richer hue of purple/blue based brown. If one is aiming for true cuttlefish tints/tones and hues....one should observe ink from a live cuttlefish. I wish they lived longer than 2 to 3 years as it is a shame such incredibly intelligent animals - capable of learning as fast as any dog - die so soon after entering this world. The cuttlefish appears with the Merlion and of course...the Noodler's catfish - on all of the Singapore series of inks.

 

It is better than cuttlefish ink (which I find a little disturbing...once you get to know these animals you won't ever want to see one on your plate or in a can ever again - and real cuttlefish ink is the result of the slaughter of these highly intelligent animals - akin to writing with dolphin blood on a mamalian scale) in that it is far more durable and longer lasting upon the page...and protein fighting detergents will not remove the noodler's...whereas they remove cuttlefish ink in seconds. No fishy smell either...and no rot!

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

[Melnicki]

Nathan,

 

might I inquire if any of your inks are not vegan? (components derived from animals or animal products?)

[Eternally Noodling]

Nathan,

 

might I inquire if any of your inks are not vegan? (components derived from animals or animal products?)

 

 

Animal products are simply not good in ink. They promote vulnerabilities to bacteria and molds...and they are almost always NOT durable because they are proteins (and proteins can be removed by any competent forger!). So, because of practical considerations...there are no animal products in Noodler's Inks (or in the caps, boxes, packing, glass...etc...).

 

 

[Melnicki]

this is exciting (all Noodler's is vegan!).

 

by the way, biological chromophores aren't necessarily proteinaceous; it's often the cofactors (some inorganic [eg, unique metal clusters] and some organic [eg, chlorophyll, not counting the central Mg or Fe (or Zn!!) atoms]) that are bound by the proteins; many of these retain an absorbance spectrum (albeit shifted) when they are liberated from proteins.

[Eternally Noodling]

this is exciting (all Noodler's is vegan!).

 

by the way, biological chromophores aren't necessarily proteinaceous; it's often the cofactors (some inorganic [eg, unique metal clusters] and some organic [eg, chlorophyll, not counting the central Mg or Fe (or Zn!!) atoms]) that are bound by the proteins; many of these retain an absorbance spectrum (albeit shifted) when they are liberated from proteins.

 

 

ie: Animal products in ink are the friends of the evil forgers and check washers...as well as bacteria and molds.

 

I'm not much of a fan of plant material either. I want the best ink to OUTLAST the cellulose in the face of every solvent and aging process possible...to the extent that even though the plant matter of the paper has become mere pulp - the written word is still legible.

Edited May 5, 2007 by Eternally Noodling

[Eternally Noodling]

Not too long ago in a thread I can't find now, someone posted a picture of a bottle of ink made from real squid ink from a Japanese website. I don't think there was any English text on the website.

 

Now I've gotten very curious (obsessed?) with the idea of squid ink ink-- does anyone know more about it, and whether it's really available, or any more details? (Perhaps one of the Japanese readers on the forum can help).

 

I think, but I'm not sure, that the color of squid ink ink would be a true sepia, a grayish brown, does anyone know?

 

thanks,

Kay

 

 

A "true sepia" is cuttlefish ink...not squid ink. If you find a cuttlefish and he gets angry with you....you will see that it is not gray or grayish brown unless it is rotting. It is a blue/purple based brown when no decomposition has taken place. ;-)

[Dan Carmell]

Nathan--

 

Neat! I'll have to try to find some, as I like sepia tones and I have a squid themed pen (see photo). I had heard that cuttlefish were very smart. Too bad about the short lifetime, reminds me of the giant breeds of dogs--it makes me heartsick to see a dog old at 7.

 

I'll have to use that squid ink in the music nibbed Snork you traded me for the abalone shells a few years ago, still one of my most precious pens!

 

Dan

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/dcarmell/pens/jules3.jpg

[Eternally Noodling]

Nathan--

 

Neat! I'll have to try to find some, as I like sepia tones and I have a squid themed pen (see photo). I had heard that cuttlefish were very smart. Too bad about the short lifetime, reminds me of the giant breeds of dogs--it makes me heartsick to see a dog old at 7.

 

I'll have to use that squid ink in the music nibbed Snork you traded me for the abalone shells a few years ago, still one of my most precious pens!

 

Dan

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/dcarmell/pens/jules3.jpg

 

 

Dear Dan,

 

Still have a lot of abalone. Most of it that had been used is in Japan - there is a night and day window paneled tree trunk Pelikan with abalone crown/windows and section overlay facets floating about over there... I fear I'll never again have time to work with that beautiful material - but just looking at the giant shells provides many pleasant memories (and ideas at least as to what is possible if only time were not limited). When one hits the limits of time hard enough - one sees the end more clearly than at any other point in life: the inevitable end of the final schedule. Hopefully the ink people use will outlast us - and we can all be heard by the generations to follow. Immortality in a bottle - the closest one can get to eternal life through the filter of a reasoning mind.

 

Best wishes - and gorgeous pen!!!!!!!

Edited May 5, 2007 by Eternally Noodling

[Kay]

Nathan,

Thank you for the information on squid/ cuttlefish, I never knew they were so intelligent. I also like the idea of sepia being the color of live "ink" rather than dead... although my curiousity first began from the historical angle, when they didn't have a lot of technological options for inks like now. But now that we do, I'm all for the animal-friendly options!

 

Now to find a source for Singapore Sepia...

 

thanks,

Kay

[coax]

Don't really want to add to the moral debate, cephalopods may be fairly intelligent, doesn't mean I'm going to give up eating them.

 

Anyway, on the topic of ink... My first impression with using the Hakase sepia is that the color is a dark root beer brown with just a hint of yellowish-green. It has some very nice shading and the flow is surprisingly on the wet side. Works really well with a medium nib, though I'm a bit disappointed so far with my favorite XF Nakaya, comes out a little lighter than I'd like but does have some shading. A quick water soak shows a bit of lightening but good enough to be used for drink spill and rain resistant purposes.

 

I'll post a better review with pics once I've used it for a while.

[chibimie]

These days, as thinking about (non-human) animals has become more self-reflexive and more inclusive of other species, in addition to a criterion like how 'smart' an animal is, an important consideration has become whether or not any given species has the capacity to suffer along the path of being killed and used for human consumption in various ways.

[TDolce]

I bought some squid ink yesterday from Kremer Pigments at 247 W. 29th Street in New York (1-800-995-5501). It cost $20 for a 20ml bottle, and they also have a larger size. It's a shellac-based ink for brush and dip pens. The pigment was caked on the bottom of the bottle when I opened it and took quite a bit of mixing with a coffee stick.

 

The ink has a very definite fish-market tang, so it's not something you'd want to write a Valentine in. Kremer's is an artist-supply company and they don't worry about what their stuff smells like, it is what it is. I also bought a bottle of bister ($12/20ml) , a brown ink made from beechwood ash. It smells of soot. Of the two I prefer the bister. The sepia is a greenish gray-brown and the bister is more intense, a true dark brown, like old manuscripts.

 

The store is worth a visit. Their window display is a rack of brilliant, powdered pigments in jars. You have to be buzzed in. Two very attractive young people run it. There are shelves of dry pigment in plastic bags, jars of solvents and shellac, inks of different colors, and a rack of books. The idea behind the store is that artists can create their own paints, just as the old masters did, using the same minerals.

 

Here's a blog showing pictures of the store and its products.

http://parisbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2006/09/pigment-101.html

Funny,....this post is from 07. Here we are 7 years later and now a small 30ml bottle of the Squid ink (Sepia) is listed at $115 from the same store! Wish I had invested in Squid ink when I had the chance!

Edited October 12, 2014 by TDolce

[sidthecat]

I think I have some cuttlefish ink in the freezer - one uses it for tinting pasta. Otherwise, I think I'll stick with the R&K Sepia, but I'll observe that Iroshizuki Yama-Guri is a good match for squid ink.