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Help! Newbie Lost In The Art Of Mixing A Color


William0906

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Dear Network members,

I have only in the last 2 years begun to develop a love of fountain pens and one thing that draws me to them is the variety of ink colors as well as mixing my own. This got me started thinking about a personalized fathers day gift for my aging father. I would like to mix the ink color for one of his college colors, specifically the crimson red from the University of Alabama. My father is very proud of his alma mater and would simply love this as a gift. I have the RGB code for the color and have purchased the recommended Noodlers colors for the RGB as well as the recommended white for the base. I have read that the RGB code can be used as parts for the recipe such as drops but I have found no reference to how much white base I should use. It seems the more I read the more lost I become and in case I'm way off base, time is growing short for me. I do fully intend to learn my way around mixing colors as this very humbling beginning has really captured my interest but I'm afraid I may not come to that understanding in time. Can anyone provide me with a "drops per color" recipe including the white and help me put together my inks into the desired outcome? I do truly hate to ask so much and for an answer that doesn't include the whys but I'm afraid I'm so confused at this point it will take me longer than I have to wrap my head around this exciting hobby. Thank you for your time and consideration and for any assistance that anyone can offer. This project is very, very important to me and I can't express how much your help in getting it done will mean to me. I am including a link to the various codes for the color in question.

 

https://teamcolorcodes.com/alabama-crimson-tide-color-codes/

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This webpage will help to visualise the effect of mixing colours: https://trycolors.com/

 

Mixing inks (or paints) is tricky because adding one colour to another has the effect of diluting both. For example mixing a pure red with a pure blue will give a less vivid purple than you might have expected. Another example: printers layer yellow and cyan to make green, but mixing yellow and cyan inks can give a more washed-out green.

 

Your best bet to avoid making a mud-colour is to find a base colour close to the one you want and make small changes.

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Mixing colors is a dark art so the very best of luck with that. My ink mixtures almost always end up as a muddy shade of grey.

 

Must admit that if I needed a very precise shade that I would go for a Diamine ink, they have a huge range.

 

https://www.diamineinks.co.uk/listings.aspx?brandid=3

That's the issue I have each time I have tried. The result it a nearly black shade of grey that is indeed muddy now that you mention it. Thanks for the suggestion, a change in ink might help.

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This webpage will help to visualise the effect of mixing colours: https://trycolors.com/

 

Mixing inks (or paints) is tricky because adding one colour to another has the effect of diluting both. For example mixing a pure red with a pure blue will give a less vivid purple than you might have expected. Another example: printers layer yellow and cyan to make green, but mixing yellow and cyan inks can give a more washed-out green.

 

Your best bet to avoid making a mud-colour is to find a base colour close to the one you want and make small changes.

 

Thank you for the insights, they do infact describe the exact problem I seem to be having. I found it interesting that when I tried the online tool you suggested and input the RGB as drops I got a color that matches the color on the source page without adding any white. Unfortunately this is not the case in real life.

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That's the issue I have each time I have tried. The result it a nearly black shade of grey that is indeed muddy now that you mention it. Thanks for the suggestion, a change in ink might help.

 

Try to locate a good color wheel ( https://www.michaels.com/crystal-production-large-student-color-wheel/D083020S.html IS NOT ONE... The PIGMENT/DYE primaries are Yellow/Magenta/Cyan, LIGHT primaries are Red/Green/Blue!) [ https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/studio-color-wheel-joen-wolfrom/1113451290?ean=9781607053507 is better -- it has a magenta and a cyan shade at the correct locations ]

 

Still misses the shading toward the center (the center should be black, the outer rim the fully saturated color).

 

When mixing two colors, draw a straight line between the two on the color wheel. That line represents the effect of mixes -- and the mid-point will naturally be closer to the center and hence closer to black.

 

Though https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_wheel#Color_wheels_and_paint_color_mixing does indicate that due to the differences in media, mixing is not as predictive (whereas mixing light beams can be well predicted).

 

The long discontinued rOtring "Artist Color" set included a chart showing what shades would result from mixing M drops of A with N drops of B (though the set of twelve are pigmented india-type inks, not fountain pen inks).

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Unless you are determined to mix it yourself, you could look for the shade you want at one of the sites that review large numbers of inks:

https://www.mountainofink.com/blog/red-ink

Mountain of ink shows you a page of many many reds; some may be discontinued.

https://www.gouletpens.com/pages/swab-shop

Parkette's suggestion of looking at Diamine inks is good; they have lots of colors.

FPN has a huge number of ink reviews: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/160612-index-of-ink-reviews/

 

If you want to mix it yourself, it would probably work best if you start from a color that is close to what you want. Some inks chemically react in a bad way, so if you mix inks you probably want to let a sample sit for a few days to see if it becomes nasty.

 

You are not the first to ask about this sort of thing. Some of the links on this thread are broken: https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/4dgtwk/does_anyone_sell_inks_by_pantone_color_im_trying/

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I also believe you should look at Diamine before embarking on your ink mixing adventure. They do have a lot of colors.

 

However if you want to mix inks be advised that RGB is not the way to go but CMYK. For a discussion of this issue check out this page:

https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/28205-De-Atramentis-CMYK-document-ink-mixing

 

It would be wise to use inks that were specially made for mixing:

https://janeblundellart.blogspot.com/2014/11/mixing-document-inks.html?m=1

 

Platinum also has an ink mixing kit:

https://www.platinum-pen.co.jp/emixfree_top.html

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Wow, such greaat help! I have already reached out to a few companies requesting their assistance in locating the ink they produce that must closely matches the color I need. I am also reading through the suggested materials hoping for a bit of clarification in my mind although it seems the answers I seek really just don't exist and if mixing for myself I should just expect a large amount of hit or miss / trial and error to the process as I attempt to stumble onto the right match. Certainly it starts with educated guesses and a large amount of knowledge that I am currently missing so thanks so much to each of you that have offered so much assistance, it is appriciated! It's beginning to look like if I am to mix this myself I'm looking at a Christmas gift rather than fathers day. :)

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