Saving Dostoevsky

[elippman]

Yeah, I think part of the problem is that the sort of blue-green of Dostoevsky is so light and thin (watery), that it would take more of another ink to thicken it up and make a very vibrant color. The problem then is that every other color so quickly overpowers it that such an option is not workable. Not quite sure what to do about that, as it seems like it takes a couple drops of another color to "thicken" the Dostoevsky.

[LizEF]

Yeah, I think part of the problem is that the sort of blue-green of Dostoevsky is so light and thin (watery), that it would take more of another ink to thicken it up and make a very vibrant color. The problem then is that every other color so quickly overpowers it that such an option is not workable. Not quite sure what to do about that, as it seems like it takes a couple drops of another color to "thicken" the Dostoevsky.

 

I don't know either, except to experiment mixing with different inks - perhaps another blue-green - one that's too dark?

 

Alternately, if you let water evaporate out of the bottle, it should get darker, but it will also get thicker, and that may not work well with a fountain pen - depending on how much has to evaporate before the color is acceptable.

[justaninker]

Noodler's Blue Nose Bear most closely resemble the color of Dostoevsky on my screen. For a bluer, more vibrant blue green, try Noodler's Marine. For a darker, more subtle blue green black, try Noodler's Air force blue black.

[elippman]

That's part of my problem, I suppose. I don't love blue-greens. I have one because it was bought for me, so I'm trying to get it to something I can tolerate. I have tried both Marine and Air Corps in the past and wasn't really impressed. So I guess I'm trying to change the color enough to make it something acceptable. I liked the idea of purple, but the blue isn't strong enough. The red trumps it very quickly, and before it gets to that point, it's something akin to KWZ brown-pink.

[mivox]

You could always post over in the PIF forum, and see if anyone out there loves it enough to trade for a bottle of something you like better? But it is quite remarkable how quickly the color changes to something completely different, based on the experiments you've posted so far, so maybe there's hope you'll find the magic combo yet!

[elippman]

I am hopeful for a magic combo. I'll have to think more about where I'd want it to go, but I have some interesting ideas. What about, for instance, combining Dostoevsky with HOD and Nikita? Is it bad to combine more than two inks?

[mivox]

I can't imagine why it would be... especially in test vial quantities! Looking forward to seeing more experiments.

[LizEF]

Ditto - I'd love to see what the three together make.

[justaninker]

I routinely combine 4 or 5 or more inks, no problem so far. You have to tell us more about what you want to achieve for us to offer useful tips. I would have suggested something entirely different had you told us you don't like blue-greens.

[elippman]

OK, so I got a little overwhelmed with work for a bit, but here's a picture of a combination that's the same amount of Dostoevsky, but 2 parts HOD and one part Nikita.

[mivox]

I have to say, it's fascinating how quickly and dramatically the Dostoevsky changes color... It's almost like it has no color "backbone" of its own.

[elippman]

Tis amazing how much that is the case. Despite being the largest part of the ink combination in volume, it seems to have very little impact on the color changes once the other inks are present.