Jacques Herbin Les Encres Essentielles Bleu Austral

[senzen]

I find this ink mesmerizing, even though my first thought with interior lighting was: oh no, another green! In sunlight it seems to sit precisely at the border between green and blue. It's expensive, luckily it was a gift, there are probably quite a few alternatives. If you need an excuse: sure, similar, but never quite the same...

 

http://i68.tinypic.com/ev99oi.jpg

 

I really appreciate thorough reviews but I think writing samples are more useful (to me!). Wetness? Well, it's an ink... Not as thick as say Rouge Hematite or Verde Muschiato, on par with everything else I have tried. Does it dry quickly? As slowly as other inks, particularly on better paper. Don't write with swabs either, sorry. Tissue paper splotches look cool but I use this for writing.

 

The bottle is quite elegant, but there is no indentation at the bottom like on Iroshizuku bottles to hold the nib in place (groans of exasperation allowed).

 

http://i68.tinypic.com/2gw8d4p.jpg

 

The pen does have the cellophane hack as described here, just because I'd had enough of my blue inks ending up way darker; Lamy Vista with an M nib.

 

The ink was originally for sale only at Le Bon Marché in Paris but might be available elsewhere now, at least in France. So for those of us not there, it's a bit of unobtanium, like those Japanese special editions.

 

What comes to mind when I look at it is: depth, elegance. It does what it says on the tin, in the sense that it looks like the label on the bottle (while say Ina Ho looks green, not brown like on its label).

 

 

 

 

[kfoss]

Wow, gorgeous ink, and your handwriting is great!

[Intensity]

Does it have any kind of water resistance?

[Newjelan]

That is a beautiful ink. Thanks

[Safari_Camo]

Hello,

Is there any chance to upload the pictures again to another service?  (imgur, postimage)

Thanks

[senzen]

Here's another picture since I have no idea where the original went. It comes out way darker with this particular pen that seems to evaporate a little, with its EF nib, to my eyes it's what I remember of pine forests, a greyish green with some blue... Not a blue; I need to keep it in a pouch otherwise it develops starting problems and eventually clogs up between feed and nib. I am particularly fond of the combination of the wood Ambition and this colour.

 

The samples that follow are Verdigris in an EF Studio, Verdigris in a F m605, and Hisoku in a F m205.

 

Oddly, I really dislike this ink in its lighter hue.

[Safari_Camo]

Many thanks for the upload.

[Uncial]

This is a very nice ink but I found it quite the gusher so I have to be careful what pen I put it in and what paper I use it on. I haven't had any experience of it drying out in pens, but perhaps that's more to do with that particular model of GVFC.

[rennfahrer]

I love the colour but I, too, found that maybe due to its high saturation, it is very wet and bleeds and feathers even on 90 gsm paper. 

[Intensity]

It's probably like Iroshizuku inks: rather large amount of surfactant to keep it flowing well.  Don't think it's a matter of saturation: I have some very saturated inks that make fine hairlines and don't feather (such as my Private Reserve or many Sailor inks).

[MHBru]

it's a great color and a near perfect match for my Pelikan Ocean Swirl with fine nib.  i must have tripped upon the right pen nib combination right out of the shoot..