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Is J Herbin Cacao Du Bresil Ink Still Grey?


Tanzanite

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A couple of years ago I bought a bottle of J Herbin Cacao du Bresil ink because a wanted a greyish brown ink. It turned out to be bluish grey. Have any of you bought this ink recently? What colour did it have? I am thinking of ordering another bottle but want the brown version.

Edited by Tanzanite
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This is mine, bought a few months ago. I definitely keep it with the browns in my swatch book. :-)

 

post-132839-0-65606000-1497442745_thumb.jpg

Will work for pens... :unsure:

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Hi Tanzanite,

 

I just bought a bottle from JetPens in the past 2-3 weeks and it is definitely a gray-tinged brown. :)

 

- Anthony

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Hmmm... I got recently a sample from the writing desk UK and a botttle from LCdC in NL, and both are definitively gray, though on some papers I notice a slightly lavender undertone, and on some papers a hint of brown... that's why it's so special :).

LETTER EXCHANGE PARTICIPANT

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Hmm.... mine is definitely a cocoa brown, but then it's about 9-10 years old. (No SITB or any other jazz.)

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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Amanda's sample color above is correct....

 

Frank

J. Herbin Dealer

 

 

"Celebrating Eight Years of Retail Writing Excellence"

"When, in the course of writing events, in becomes self-evident that not all pens are created equal"

 

Federalist Pens and Paper (Online Pen Store)

 

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Use Forum Code "FPN" at Checkout to Receive an Additional 5% Discount!

 
 
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Thank you for your answers. I wonder how come in som cases it it grey. It seems like I can not know what to expect if I buy it.

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Thank you for your answers. I wonder how come in som cases it it grey. It seems like I can not know what to expect if I buy it.

Hi Tanzanite,

 

There are always some variances with inks. Some with J. Herbin themselves, because they use only natural dyes which are difficult to replicate perfectly, batch after batch.

 

But even with the more evenly consistent synthetic dyes, (and that's pretty debatable, considering how Noodlers inks are always shifting colors); you have the near infinite variances of a particular pens flow rate, (which vary wildly), and it's interaction with the paper, (which I believe is the most consistent part of the equation).

 

I believe it was BoBo or Lapis who said, its .333 the pen; .333 the ink and .333 the paper... and I believe that to be true.

 

I've seen the very same bottle of ink, appear nine different ways from Sunday... depending on the pen and paper I used. :huh: I'm afraid if you want perfect consistency, you'd be better off switching to roller balls; which use a pigmented, oil-based ink that's easier to perfectly replicate time after time.

 

I'm afraid with fp's; a lot of it is trial and error until you find the ideal combination for your specific tastes.

 

In sum, it's a process, (and thanks to the people here, not as expensive and time consuming of a process as it would be, otherwise). :)

 

- Anthony

 

PS: If I misinterpreted your comment; please lmk and I'll take another stab at it. :D

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Thank you for your answers. I wonder how come in som cases it it grey. It seems like I can not know what to expect if I buy it.

 

The colour of the paper or the light the ink is seen in will affect the perceived colour. It's called relative colour or 'never believe what you see'! (That's why it's so difficult to learn to paint.)

 

This video offers a good intro:

 

It also helps to gently agitate the ink before opening the bottle if it's been sitting for a while. An ink that had me guessing was Super 5 Frankfurt - I couldn't figure out whether it would be blue-grey or brown-grey from online swatches. When I got mine I realised it's brown-grey if mixed or blue-grey if left to sit. In that case, I think the ink is made from a bluish dye and a brownish one to get the desaturated brown-grey and the brown component has settled.

Will work for pens... :unsure:

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The question of the colour of inks is indeed very complex! (And besides, AmandaW, thank you for this nice and instructive video!) Herbin Cacao du Brésil is different in my perception and ink tests. It appears in my unsophisticated and dilettante ink tests with blue notes but without grey. And it is like cocoa beans. I should repeat my test to verify this because I have made the experience that even a test with the ink of the same bottle can vary. This sometimes easily explained (paper, weather, nib, personal mood etc.) but anyhow interesting for me. And the communication about the whole issue is fascinating and exciting for me.

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I know about the differences with ink paper and pen. I have probably around 100 bottles of ink and even more pens. This is something different though. When searching the internet I have also seen people doing swatches on the same paper with the bluish and the brownish version side by side. They have different colours. I am trying to find out if it is back to "normal" again or if it was a permanent change. At this point I consider it inconclusive. It is not always easy to know how long time the bottle have been with the dealer hence how old it is or what batch it is from. I will just have to take the chance :)

Edited by Tanzanite
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This sounds even more interesting, Tanzanite, and I will search for these comparisons. This whole issue is becoming more and more interesting for me.

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I know about the differences with ink paper and pen. I have probably around 100 bottles of ink and even more pens. This is something different though. When searching the internet I have also seen people doing swatches on the same paper with the bluish and the brownish version side by side. They have different colours. I am trying to find out if it is back to "normal" again or if it was a permanent change. At this point I consider it inconclusive. It is not always easy to know how long time the bottle have been with the dealer hence how old it is or what batch it is from. I will just have to take the chance :)

Yeah, if that's the case, it looks like you just have to roll the dice and hope. If its any help, I got my 10ml bottle from JetPens about 2-3 weeks ago and I wouldn't say mine had any lavender or blue to it.

 

But here's a sample of it I did for another post, (sorry, my photography and posting skills suck):

 

http://i.imgur.com/OoPYUjV.jpg

 

 

- Anthony

Edited by ParkerDuofold
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I bought a bottle from a local store a year ago as I've always loved the swatches that I saw online. I see it as a taupe-leaning cocoa brown. Taupe is gray brown, however.

 

Browns can have red, organge, yellow undertones and I think that completely neutral browns, which I consider this ink to be, can look a little grayish depending on the various factors. If you get a new bottle and don't like the color, try it in a different and opposite nib, i.e. if you try it in a steel nib and don't like it, try it in a similar gold nib as the extra wet line that gold lays down can change the look of the ink, keeping all other variables the same.

 

One thing to test is the dryness of the ink. The bottle that I have is the absolutely dryest ink that I have ever used, period. I tried in both steel and gold nibs of varying line widths and grinds and it ran dry in all of the nibs that I tried it in, even my firehose Pelikan nibs. I really hate this as I absolutely love the color. But this ink sits on the shelf all alone for this one reason. I've been meaning to contact the Exaclair about this issue but haven't done so yet. –So I think I'll email them right now . . .

 

I recently bought Diamine Saddle Brown as a replacement for CdB. It's a similar but darker neutral brown.

 

Good luck with your new bottle.

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Hi,

 

It seems to me that this ink is elusive, and avoids being pigeon-holed. (I think Scabiosa is one of its buddies.)

 

It is a low saturation dye ink, greatly influenced by the Value (light-dark), paper base-tint, OBAs etc. It is most certainly not a runs on rails pigment 'paint chip.' So attempts to depict some sort of standard seems a fool's errand - I too have a dunce cap. We can only depict a range of Looks. (wink wink)

 

Some time ago I had an experienced professional photo person use high-end gear to generate scans of this ink. As good as they were, the bottom line is that one needs to use this ink to really see what's going on.(As one does with tsuki-yo.)

 

It is an adventure, though not so spine tingling as heli-skiing the Andes.

 

Bye,

S1

 

__ __

 

Influence of paper, hence simultaneous contrast https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/195559-paper-review-g-lalo-velin-de-france/

Edited by Sandy1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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The content has been changed and therefor the colour. Read this:

 

https://inkophile.wordpress.com/?s=Cacao&submit=Search

 

Maybe it has been changed more times.

 

 

Hi,

 

Interesting as ever!

 

Kindly note that the info in the link is dated 2009, so may be superseded.

 

Inks as elusive as JHCdB are tricky to track: Is there wobble, or does my pen+paper combo change the Look to a great extent?

 

IMHO the ink has wandered after coming into compliance with the REACH standards.

> Wiki REACH https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registration,_Evaluation,_Authorisation_and_Restriction_of_Chemicals

 

As ever, some sort of continuous tracking of this ink might help. (New bottles over time.) I doubt it is slippery as the Loch Ness Monster!

 

Or maybe we should just ask J Herbin what's going on...

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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