Muted/dusty Vs. Vibrant Ink Colors

[RockingLR]

So I'm a pretty newbie fountain pen user. I have a few pilot metro's in fine (hopefully soon expanding that should I save enough money) and I'm beginning to expand my collection of ink colors and choices. I seem to mostly stick with Noodlers as I really like the permanent quality to some of the inks however I'm curious to your thoughts on the muted vs vibrant ink colors.

Since I'm limited in my ink colors at work most of the colored inks I use are for personal correspondence, journaling and notes for myself. I seem to favor the slightly vibrant colors however I rarely have to read what i write for a long time with these colors.

 

Are muted/dusty/chalky colors easier on the eyes to read a long time? For longer correspondence or pages I write intended for an audience rather then just myself, should I look into the more muted colors?

What are your thoughts on vibrant vs muted ink choices and when/why do you use the ones you use? They don't have to be permanent colors either I'm more curious on the shade.

My just for giggles current Favorites are:

Noodlers Red Black- My favorite I use for everything I can get away with
Noodlers Hunter Green-journaling

Noodlers Luxury Blue-journaling

Noodlers Bulletproof Black- work
J. Herbin Emerald of Chavor - letters/special occasions

 

I hope I'm not repeating a thread. I tried to search but the search function and my computer don't quite agree sometimes.

[Runnin_Ute]

I only have a few Noodler's inks. (Apache Sunset, 54th Massachusetts, Black and Blue Eel.) Apache Sunset gets the most use of the four followed by 54th Massachusetts.

 

Everyone will be a bit different in how easy it is to read. So will nib size. We are all an experiment of one.

[Jan2016]

RockingLR

 

Welcome! Don't worry about repeating questions, nothing new under the sun.

 

The inks you use now are all very easy to read.

I am not afraid to use vibrant colors also for more text. Contrast makes reading easier.

 

The thing to stay away from are the "eye searing" colors, you will immediately recognize them when you see them.

Look for example at this:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329745-j-herbin-bouton-dor-compact-review/?p=3952638

this will give you a headache...

 

But this yellow is in one of my daily writers:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329841-kyo-no-oto-yamabuki-iro-compact-review/?p=3954005

 

Just experiment! there is no wrong or right!

And the ink fora will give you a good idea of what is available!

[Ergative]

I find that vibrant colors--or at least, the ones I've used--tend to be a bit more smeary, while the muted/dusty ones stay put once they're dry. I don't know how accurate this generalization is, and paper certainly matters a great deal (Tomoe River encourages sheening and never feathers, but it does heighten any smearing tendencies), but I've been tending towards dusky inks a bit more recently for that reason.

[RockingLR]

oh wow. I see what you mean by eye searing! hahahaha. the kyo no oto was easy reading to my eyes but the other one...ouch! Thank you everyone for your insights. I'm thoroughly enjoying the foray into the fountain pen world. It's sooooooo easy to suddenly want 15 new types of ink just because lol.

I find that some colors seem to work better, or maybe are easier to find in a more muted/dusty color that are to my preferences for particular shades. But I won't lie i do like a bit of pop off the page...but I think thats why I enjoy FP's. It's not your average muted blue and black you get from ball point pens

Though I will admit the only ink i have that has a tendency to smear is the Bulletproof black. I actually prefer the heart of darkness but paper at work is very bad so the BPB is the only one that worked well. Other then that nothing i have smears much on Rhoda web notebooks or tomoe river paper as long as I give it ample time to dry or use blotter paper.

[JakobS]

I like using both muted and vibrant colors. I am able to use either at work so I never need to be to conscious of my choice of ink. Its fun to use something like Diamine Umber or KWZ IG Green Gold one day, or for one project, and then something like Diamine Orange, or KWZ Raspberry another day, or project!

Edited November 24, 2017 by JakobS

[welch]

I like an ink that does not scream "look at me!" Better: an ink that invites a reader into what I've written. Various shades of blue / blue-black / black. Right now, I write with

 

- very dark blue, Diamine Oxford Blue. A blue-black with a blue base, unlick those with a greenish or teal base.

 

- purplish blue, like Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-gao and Diamine Sapphire blue

 

- Parker Penman Sapphire, which is its own category. (Will try Monteverde Horizen Blue, which might look close to PPS)

 

Enjoy the inks!

[Torrilin]

In high school, my system was one pen had black ink (or a similar soothing shade) and one pen had a wild color. Two shaeffer no nonsense bodies, both with italic nibs. The fine/1.1mm was always on a pen, the other nib might be the m or b depending on my mood. Granted, Shaeffer skrip has pretty minimal color choices.

 

These days, the TWSBI eco has black and an ef nib, and chances are the other pen is my 580 with a wild color. A Sailor fude nib or a Lamy Safari with an italic nib are other probable options. More than two pens tho is too many choices and the extra pens wind up lost in my bag.

 

I get very odd if I don’t have a choice between a boring ink and a weird one.

[inkstainedruth]

I go back and forth on what I like. I started out with bright saturated blues and purples. And couldn't fathom why anyone would want to use a blue-black (which IMO was neither). But my tastes have radically changed over the past five plus years of hanging out reading the ink reviews. And while I'm still the blue/pink/purple/silver grey girl I've learned to like and appreciate more complex and subtle colors (including the varied nuances of blue-blacks). I think it was a review of Noodler's El Lawrence someone did -- I kept looking at the pictures muttering "That is one weird-@ss color...." but somehow I kept looking and looking. So I got it and it was a revelation! I'm not to the level of Cyber6 with her love of murky greens, but I don't want a bright grass green ink either.

I wouldn't use the retina-searing ones for a lot of things, but I do use them (although it took me a while to find reds that I like (I'm fussy about reds -- I wanted a true, smack in the middle of the spectrum, fire engine, "color of my first car 'Graphic Red'" red. Not reds that leaned orange, or overly pink, or Burgundy, or brownish -- and certainly not blood red. Or salmon pink calling itself red . And I don't tend to like greens that lean blue -- I prefer the ones that lean a little yellow but not to the point of being bilious. Or bright "grass" green.

What I don't like are the inks which are so light and pale on the page as to be illegible (some of the yellows and very light yellow greens). I have yet to find an orange ink I like (I'll claim that KWZI IG Mandarin is really a brown ink, after it oxidizes.... ). I don't like browns that lean red (any more than I like reds that lean brown). And I mostly don't like teals or green-leaning turquoises -- but the ones that lean blue/cyan/sky blue? Those I do like....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[minddance]

Overly pale looks can be as difficult on the eyes as overly vibrant retina-searing looks.

 

For muted colours, your Pilot Met might like Pilot Blue, surprisingly very water resistant, perfect for bedtime recreational writing and lulls you. And cheap. Herbin Vert Empire, Poissiere de Lune, Diamine Umber, Damson (possibly dry in a Pilot Met), Indigo (should be a healthy flow). Sailor Jentle Shigure, Chu Shu would flow beautifully out of the box in your Pilot Met.

 

I believe Pilot Met if unadjusted, un-primed, with fresh inks, presents the lower lighter values of many inks, i.e. for inks reviews that have swab tests, the 3rd pass might be generally irrelevant. I might get a more highly saturated or darker ink so that I can fall back on more legible shades of the ink instead of a light ink.

 

In a Pilot Met on Rhodia, I would not use Herbin: Bleu Azur, Rose Tend, Cacoa, Vert Pre, Rouille, Gris Nauges. Iroshizuku: Chiku Rin, Yu Yake, most of Sailor Jentle 2nd reissues: Sakura Mori, Yuki Akari, Waka Uguisu. Diamine: Sepia, Monaco Red, Meadow, Beau blue.

 

For vibrant colours in a Pilot Met, Rohrer and Klingner Blu Mare, Cassia, very good flow. Herbin Eclat, Lierre Sauvage, Rose Cyclamen. Just a few examples, considering flow and Rhodia. Moleskin is another world, of course.

 

How much ink one lays on different papers significantly alters the look, especially with certain inks.

 

My talk is cheap, please take a look at Sandy1's comprehensive ink reviews. And not some flex dip pen or glass dip pen as it would not be relevant to a Pilot Met.

Edited November 25, 2017 by minddance

[chromantic]

While I like both light (vibrant) and dark (not-quite-black), I consider "muted" a separate category residing half-way between those two - medium tonally, not eye-popping like a vibrant and not hard-edged like an almost-black; GvFC Deep Sea Green and Yama-dori are good examples of this.

 

I'm lucky enough to be able to use anything at work (and I do). As far as what's suitable for what task, I feel that lights and muted are best for short notes, maybe a paragraph or two, and dark colors are better for longer missives as they are easier on the eyes. Much as I love DSG, I don't think I'd want to read a 10-page letter written in it.

[amberleadavis]

I am in the "unsophisticated" group that likes colors such has poisonous pink, shockingly bright blue, eye searing red, OH MY orange, violeNt purple and gaudy greens. If a 12 year old would consider it outlandish, and too obnoxious for use by sparkly vampires, that ink is probably one of my daily writers.

 

That being said, I think I'd rather read a page of BSB than read for an hour on my computer, my eyes hurt less with the printed words and well, I write in HUGE letters think 26 point font so really, how much of a strain can it possibly be to read three pages of sharpie blue compared to 8 point contracts in black?

 

As for your inks, I love all of them that you listed, though I admit, I use Rouge Hematite more often than I use EOC and Luxury blue was my ink for important signatures. Currently I have four pens inked up with sparkly blurples.

[DasKaltblut]

Agree that an unadjusted Metro will give you the light end of an ink on FP friendly paper. Mine has Pilot Violet in it right now, and it is very pale unless I use very cheap paper, where it is considerably darker, but feathers a lot. Nothing other than flourescents and bright yellows are difficult or annoying for me to read personally, so I generally don't worry about color being too bright. As far as I am concerned, crazy ink colors are half the reason to have a FP!

[RockingLR]

It's funny my pilot metro actually write decently wet for what they are. I did do a tiny bit of unknowing adjustment when i got them and I seem to get some decent ink being laid down even in the fine.

I've had an absolute blast reading everyones reply. I was surpised by the amount of blue inks available on the market! I didn't think I liked blue ink until i saw just how many there are. I also didn't think i'd like purples but I've suddenly been drawn to them too. Though I seem to like middle of the road purple, leaning neither blue nor red. It's been really fun to experiment. Going back to read some in my journal I may have to change my Luxury blue. It is a bit hard on the eyes to read, but the others seem fine on the eyes regardless of the length i'm reading.

Why is ink so addicting? shades and colors I've never liked have suddenly grown a crazy appeal! I'm gonna become the crazy ink lady on the corner lol. I just got a sample of Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-Ro. Wow the color change/variation in that ink is just outstanding. very well named I think! I typically use non water resistant ink for hand written letters and such. I now want like 3 pen pals just to write with these inks! I may have to change my water resistant rule for my journal too! so many cool shades and colors in non water resistant inks!

[senzen]

I ended up with both muted and eye searing inks, but probably prefer something in the middle.

 

Muted:

Vert Empire.

Lie de thé.

Yama Guri.

Ina Ho.

Verde Muschiato.

Perle Noire.

Verdigris.

 

Eye searing:

Fuyu Gaki.

Mandarin.

Diamine Poppy Red.

Ama Iro.

Chiku Rin.

 

Somewhere in the middle:

Tsuyu Kusa.

Équinoxe 6.

Kon Peki.

Souten.

Ajisai.

Asa Gao.

Rouge Hematite.

Orange Indien.

Ancient Copper.

Edited November 25, 2017 by pseudo88

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I like rich colors, which I might have thought of as vibrant. But the word seems to be used here to mean bright colors, which now that I actually look it up, is closer to the dictionary definition. And no, except for occasional emphasis, I don't like bright colors such as red or orange. I don't even have any yellow and am not interested, except for highlighter pens than I seldom use. A lot of what I write is journaling and lengthy notes, and when I go over those, I want something easy on the eyes.

 

Some of my favorite inks are Namiki/Pilot Blue and Blue Black, Iroshizuku Asa-Gao (purplish blue) Sailor Jentle Shigure (dark purple) and Doyou (brown), Akkerman Shocking Blue, and, well, a lot of blues, actually, with some greens. Probably the brightest ink I use often is Iroshizuku Yama dori ,er, Kon-peki (brain freeze), a very bright blue.

 

But I look at forms at work where I have made my entries in whatever fountain pen ink I have with me, and other people have filled parts in with their ballpoints, and my dark colors seem very vivid and alive next to the "dusty" ballpoint inks used by almost everybody else. Vibrant appears to be a good description of a dark ink in that case. Some of my inks "pop" even when I'm using an extra fine nib.

Edited November 25, 2017 by ISW_Kaputnik

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi RockingLR,

 

I use 'em both... I need 'em all.

 

Be well and enjoy life.

 

 

- Anthony

[ENewton]

I tend to use inks with a floral quality in the spring, bright inks in summer, dusty inks in autumn, and dark or moody inks in winter. For example, for me:

 

• Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki Shikibu is a spring ink.
• Pelikan Violet is a summer ink.
• Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa is an autumn ink.
• Sailor Shigure is a winter ink.

[RockingLR]

 

I tend to use inks with a floral quality in the spring, bright inks in summer, dusty inks in autumn, and dark or moody inks in winter. For example, for me:

 

• Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki Shikibu is a spring ink.
• Pelikan Violet is a summer ink.
• Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa is an autumn ink.
• Sailor Shigure is a winter ink.

 

oh i like the idea of changing the shade according to the seasons! Another reason to love Fountain pens. Now which shades to go for! I think the biggest....over whelming kind of thing...is all the different companies and inks. I mostly shop and gouletpens.com just because their videos taught me so much but then I see videos for sailor inks and KWZ (I think thats the letters) and organic studios....then i sit for hours looking at all the colors debating which ones i should try, can I sample them? dive in and buy a bottle? so many options and shades. So many pro and con reviews depending on personal preference.

 

It can get my head spinning.

 

 

 

I like rich colors, which I might have thought of as vibrant. But the word seems to be used here to mean bright colors, which now that I actually look it up, is closer to the dictionary definition. And no, except for occasional emphasis, I don't like bright colors such as red or orange. I don't even have any yellow and am not interested, except for highlighter pens than I seldom use. A lot of what I write is journaling and lengthy notes, and when I go over those, I want something easy on the eyes.

 

 

That is true, I should probably have used the word bright instead of vibrant!

 

 

Hi RockingLR,

 

I use 'em both... I need 'em all.

 

Be well and enjoy life.

 

 

- Anthony

 

 

Hahaha Thats how I'm feeling...until I look at my bank account...then I just stare at them on the computer wishfully.

[Shannon]

I've gone back and forth with this. I started with the most vibrant, unique colors I could find. But now I'm tending toward the dark, dusky colors. I don't know the impetus for the change, but my ink colors now very clearly echo the business clothes in my closet.