How to darken Birmingham Pen Co. Southern Portal...

[Percy]

1 hour ago, rkesey said:

Yes, I think it's a fair question to ask, certainly. As you might see from my samples of Southern Portal plus + Violet Starling below, my photos, too, came out quite a bit darker than my eye reads them - but at least they show the difference with and without Violet Starling added. 

 

As long as I'm here, here are two pics of the 5 ml Canterbury Raisin sample you sent me, with 12 drops of Violet Starling (why not) added. Thanks again for all these samples to play with. I found the original to look a bit like a pleasant, sort of slightly washed-out Iroshizuku yama-budo, and it darkened nicely, I think. (Yet again the pics read darker than real life, though I used a whiter, more direct light source this time.) The final result is closer to grape than I usually use, but I quite like it. The samples are on HP Premium Choice 32 lb Laserjet (the old formula--I've got a quarter of a ream left...), out of a new pen that just got here today, an Italix Churchman's Prescriptor with, allegedly, a Broad Cursive Stub, but it's so wide I think it's more likely to be the Extra Broad--it's almost 1.7mm to my eye, or even a little wider.

 

Oh ohhhh. This is a gorgeous combo! I love VS and use it daily as a warmer, more "friendly" alternative to black. I'd never thought to mix it in with Canterbury Raisin - but I'm certainly going to try it now! 

 

So glad to hear you are having fun experimenting with the samples I sent~ 

[rkesey]

1 hour ago, Percy said:

 

Oh ohhhh. This is a gorgeous combo! I love VS and use it daily as a warmer, more "friendly" alternative to black. I'd never thought to mix it in with Canterbury Raisin - but I'm certainly going to try it now! 

 

So glad to hear you are having fun experimenting with the samples I sent~ 

Thanks, and let us know how it goes!

[Carrau]

Following your lead, I mixed Southern Portal with another Birmingham Pens ink, Chimney Soot (a dark grey/black pigmented ink), in a 1 ml : 6 drops ratio. Like yours, it seems closer to the website swatch.https://www.birminghampens.com/products/southern-portal

[Carrau]

An error on the written sample-1 oz. should be 1 ml.

[rkesey]

4 hours ago, Carrau said:

Following your lead, I mixed Southern Portal with another Birmingham Pens ink, Chimney Soot (a dark grey/black pigmented ink), in a 1 ml : 6 drops ratio. Like yours, it seems closer to the website swatch.https://www.birminghampens.com/products/southern-portal

I like that! The gray handles the pink nicely. Reminds me of Diamine Oxblood, almost--one of my favorites.

[Carrau]

3 hours ago, rkesey said:

I like that! The gray handles the pink nicely. Reminds me of Diamine Oxblood, almost--one of my favorites.

To my eye, it’s lighter than Oxblood.  It’s a bit like RO Astorquiza Rot, but thankfully not as dry as that ink.

[rkesey]

17 hours ago, Carrau said:

To my eye, it’s lighter than Oxblood.  It’s a bit like RO Astorquiza Rot, but thankfully not as dry as that ink.

Good to know! I'm getting the sense that the BPC inks play well with each other in general, though Nick did tell me that mixing them might interfere with the flow (and other) qualities he'd designed for any given ink. 

 

I don't have any RO inks, but will track a few down. Which is your favorite?

[Carrau]

I’ve tried samples of perhaps a dozen, and enjoy the colors RO has on offer, but most are too dry for my taste in ink performance.  Of those I’ve tried, I do like Midnight Sapphire, which for me works as a slate blue-grey, and not dry.  Verde de Rio I’ve also enjoyed as a jade-green, and also not too dry.  
 

I don’t mix many inks, and try to be on the lookout for indicators of problems for a few weeks before trusting any home mixtures.  Birmingham’s inks don’t get much discussion, and seem to fly under the radar.  They have much to offer in terms of unusual shades, good performance, a fair amount of water resistance in many of their non-Everlasting inks, and attractive prices (their Everlasting inks cost considerably more, but so far have been great performers for me).  

[rkesey]

8 hours ago, Carrau said:

I’ve tried samples of perhaps a dozen, and enjoy the colors RO has on offer, but most are too dry for my taste in ink performance.  Of those I’ve tried, I do like Midnight Sapphire, which for me works as a slate blue-grey, and not dry.  Verde de Rio I’ve also enjoyed as a jade-green, and also not too dry.  
 

I don’t mix many inks, and try to be on the lookout for indicators of problems for a few weeks before trusting any home mixtures.  Birmingham’s inks don’t get much discussion, and seem to fly under the radar.  They have much to offer in terms of unusual shades, good performance, a fair amount of water resistance in many of their non-Everlasting inks, and attractive prices (their Everlasting inks cost considerably more, but so far have been great performers for me).  

Good to know--I'll keep my eyes out for them.