Saving Dostoevsky

[elippman]

So quite a while back, my mother bought me a bottle of Noodler's Dostoevsky because I study him. I've tried the ink several times and it's just plain too light for me. I don't mind Turquoise, but I need my ink to come across as less watery. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what might mix with it to give it a little more depth? In all honestly, I don't care how it improves, I just need it to go some direction from the very light blue that it currently is. I have even thought about leaving the bottle open for a while, but I know that's not a good way to do things. Open to suggestions!

[mivox]

Do you have small containers you can mix little test amounts in, with a syringe for measuring?

 

My automatic go-to is to add a little Platinum Carbon Black (because I have a bottle sitting around), which hasn't ruined anything yet... but probably safest to use an ink from the same maker/ink series if you're talking about doctoring the whole bottle.

[elippman]

I do have small "sample" vials and a syringe. I don't have any Carbon Black though, but I might just start dropping things in with it and see what happens on the small level. I have never mixed inks before, so don't really know what to expect. Actually I did mix Salix and Scabiosa, but that's only because several people online have advocated that combination.

[justaninker]

I don't have Dostoevsky and don'ts know how it behaves when mixed, but you can start by mixing it with Noodler's black (or any other black ink) to for a dark turquoise-black. It may even give you some shading.

[LizEF]

If you go to this page, you'll find a link to a PDF with info about Noodler's inks. The warnings I've heard so far include not mixing inks from different groups (e.g. don't mix a non "Bad.." ink with a "Bad.." ink; don't mix a non "Baystate.." ink with a "Baystate.." ink). And, I've heard warnings not to mix across brands... But I don't have nearly the ink supplies, time, or tools to test such warnings, just thought I'd pass it along.

 

If it were me, I'd try to find another Noodler's that had the same properties as displayed in the chart, and mix that way (but not a Baystate, Bad, Dragon, or Polar ink). One of the other Russian inks seems like the safest bet.

 

FWIW.

[elippman]

Ah, thanks for the advice. I do have some Noodler's blacks, but not from that series. I have heart of darkness and Bernanke. I assume the Bernanke would not be good to mix with anything other than something very similar. I might try the heart of darkness in a vial and see what happens. I don't know. It doesn't have the same qualities that Dostoevsky does.

[LizEF]

Ah, thanks for the advice. I do have some Noodler's blacks, but not from that series. I have heart of darkness and Bernanke. I assume the Bernanke would not be good to mix with anything other than something very similar. I might try the heart of darkness in a vial and see what happens. I don't know. It doesn't have the same qualities that Dostoevsky does.

 

Heart of Darkness has all the same properties except Flourescent - so I think I'd try it. Since it'll only be a sample vial, and you could leave it for a day or so to make sure it doesn't go all wiggy, I'd bet it's safe enough. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the color. Based on this ink review's chromotography, the black is just black; and in this review of Dostoyevsky, the blue is just blue, so it should just darken and maybe mute the light blue.

 

I once mixed Waterman black with Waterman Inspired Blue, and ended up with teal - when I did chromotography on the black, I discovered it had a yellow dye in it (the blue was just blue). Such are the surprises when you mix ink.

 

Would love to see your results.

 

Liz

[elippman]

Will do when I get back to the office. Would you start with a 1:1 mix?

[LizEF]

Will do when I get back to the office. Would you start with a 1:1 mix?

 

No, the black will be MUCH stronger, I think. I would put a couple drops of black in a sample vial, then a 1mL of blue and see how it looks. if it's still too light, keep adding one drop of black at a time until you get the desired blue; if it's too dark, add more blue... Count the drops so you get an idea of ratio. I'd think 1 part black to 10 parts blue ought to be plenty, if not too much black - but I'm totally guessing - the point is, start with too little black.

 

It'll be easier if you have two syringes or a syringe (for the blue) and an eyedropper (for the black).

 

Liz

[elippman]

Ah, I do have an eye dropper for the black and a syringe for the blue, so that should work well. Since I haven't done this before, I'm wondering about the logistics of testing it. Would you just use a glass dip pen? Or would you use a fountain pen to extract the Dostoevsky, then shoot it back out into the vial and extract it again with a drop of black, then repeat?

[LizEF]

Ah, I do have an eye dropper for the black and a syringe for the blue, so that should work well. Since I haven't done this before, I'm wondering about the logistics of testing it. Would you just use a glass dip pen? Or would you use a fountain pen to extract the Dostoevsky, then shoot it back out into the vial and extract it again with a drop of black, then repeat?

 

I would just mix it in the sample vial until it looked like a desirable color. If you have a glass dip pen, test with that, otherwise, use whatever you need to to get a bit on paper to check the color that way (I've used a toothpick). Then I'd let it sit for several hours to a day and come back and make sure it's still looking like ink (hasn't changed colors, foamed, thickened - like turned gel or goo-like, whatever). Assuming it looks normal, I'd put it in a pen (maybe not my most expensive pen ) and try it out.

[elippman]

Cool. Well, I have a glass dip pen, so I'll use that initially. After the day or two, I've already set aside a Kaweco Sport with a BB nib for the job of testing it in a pen. It ought to put out enough ink in a thick enough line to tell me all I need to know. But before that, I'll try to get it right with the dip pen. It just seems to me that a dip pen often doesn't tell you as much as you'd think regarding how an in performs in a fountain pen. Will see. I'll post pictures soon!

[LizEF]

Cool. Well, I have a glass dip pen, so I'll use that initially. After the day or two, I've already set aside a Kaweco Sport with a BB nib for the job of testing it in a pen. It ought to put out enough ink in a thick enough line to tell me all I need to know. But before that, I'll try to get it right with the dip pen. It just seems to me that a dip pen often doesn't tell you as much as you'd think regarding how an in performs in a fountain pen. Will see. I'll post pictures soon!

 

Yes, I've heard that about the dip pens (don't have one), but it should give you a general idea, especially as to whether it seems like normal ink (and therefore should be safe to put in a pen).

[mhguda]

You could also use the fountainpen you're planning to fill with the ink as a dip pen first.

[elippman]

OK, here's the initial test. Not sure what I think of the results. None of the colors are particularly appealing at first blush, perhaps. The first is Dostoevsky straight. The second is a 1:20 solution of Noodler's HOD and Dostoevsky. The third is a 2:20 (1:10) solution of the same.

[LizEF]

Hmm. It does have a bit of green in it, doesn't it? (At least, on my monitor.) If you just want it a darker blue, it may be necessary to add a blue rather than black since the black seems to strengthen the green... Do you have any other inks on hand you could mix into it? My only other thought is that a red/pink might turn it purple (my attempt at this gave me a rather dull purple - different brand of inks, though). I'd follow the same procedure - small amount of the stronger color.

 

While it's a completely different brand, and made to support mixing, the color theory ought not to be that far off, so these might be of some help: De Atramentis mixed with black, De Atramentis mixes.

[elippman]

Well, I have Noodler's Nikita, if the goal is to stay in the same brand. Unfortunately, according to the chart, it's attributes don't resemble Dostoevsky's at all. It has all "no" whereas Dostoevsky has mostly "yes", which makes me think they might not mix nicely. I suppose it doesn't hurt to throw it in a vial and see, though.

[LizEF]

Well, I have Noodler's Nikita, if the goal is to stay in the same brand. Unfortunately, according to the chart, it's attributes don't resemble Dostoevsky's at all. It has all "no" whereas Dostoevsky has mostly "yes", which makes me think they might not mix nicely. I suppose it doesn't hurt to throw it in a vial and see, though.

 

Exactly! :-)

[elippman]

OK, so I have tried that mix. Below are the results in the same ratio mixes as before. It seems that the middle one maybe approaches Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia in color.

[LizEF]

Fascinating. Hmm. On the other hand, if there's green in that blue, green + red = brown, so maybe that's not surprising. If you don't find a color you like soon, I'm gonna be so into this that I start mixing my own inks again! (And I don't have very many inks left, so I'll have to buy some.....)