StandardGraph Cypress Green (Zypressengrün)

[Luci]

This is the fourth in my series of reviews of StandardGraph inks. StandardGraph is a manufacturer of inks and other office accessories in Germany. My collection was purchased at papier kramer in Frankfurt in 2005. 

I have previously reviewed Elder blue, Orange and Mallow Red.

This is the driest of the inks so far, and my least favourite. It has not gotten a lot of love in previous reviews by others, and I can see why. It doesn't have the same pleasant flow as, say, Elder Blue, and it is too bright to use for general business writing or correspondence. It is even more fluoro-looking in broader nibs, as the Q-tip test shows, but less offensive in finer nibs, such as in the Parker Vector I have inked with it. It also seems (to my eyes, anyway) a touch lighter fresh out of the bottle than it is after being in the pen for a few weeks. This is not something I've noticed with other colours in this range.

I tend to use this ink for marking up text I'm editing, when I need a contrasting colour for a particular purpose. 

The other inks in the StandardGraph range seem to be a bit more water resistant, or perhaps I was just a bit more heavy-handed with my dabbing drops on the paper this time. 

 

Scan of the reverse of the review form, to demonstrate show-through. It shows through more than the Elder Blue from the StandardGraph range. It bled through a bit in the Monteverde pen, but I should point out that that is just a tester pen that I'd dipped, rather than coming from the feed. It also doesn't show through on better quality paper such as Semikolon notebook paper. It is possible that the greater show-through was because the copy paper had been affected by all the moisture in the air following the massive rains in New South Wales over the past week. I have pre-printed some review forms and they have been sitting in a plastic sleeve for some weeks.

[lapis]

Thanks but no thanks, as they say... I was expecting (from SG's naming) something  more like a fern-green (which they do offer). But this one is a tick too blue and a half a tick too pastel. Sort of a menthol green, more like H's Diabolo Menthe or D's Soft Mint.

[chromantic]

No. Just no.

[yazeh]

Thanks fo the review Luci. 

As you said, this type of colour is perfect for editing/ correcting texts as opposed to the classic red. 

I like it. 

For writing that's a different story

 

 

[mizgeorge]

Thank you Luci - I think I can honestly say that's one of the least desirable inks I've seen in a long time - and your review makes it clear that it has no redeeming features to make up for the colour!

 

Does it look like mouthwash in the bottle as well as on paper?

[LizEF]

Thanks for the review and continuing the series.   Mark-up does seem like a good use for a bright ink, even though this wouldn't be my color otherwise.  Perhaps someone with a firehose to tame will like its dryness.

[Luci]

On 3/28/2021 at 12:47 AM, mizgeorge said:

Does it look like mouthwash in the bottle as well as on paper?

 

Mouthwash wasn't the first thought that springs to my mind looking at the colour in the bottle (this was remarkably hard to photograph!). But it is quite menthol-like. Quite a few shades darker than Herbin's Diablo de Menthe, one of the inks in the comparison above. It is fair to say that Diablo de Menthe looks like the paler/watered down version of this ink, and to be honest I like Diablo de Menthe even less than this ink. And I have two full bottles of Diablo de Menthe! Anyone in Sydney want to swap one?

[Aysedasi]

Thanks for the review.  I like green inks, but that one has to be the most unpleasant that I've seen for a long while!   

[vojtahlad]

Thank you for the review.

 

In which universe is this a colour of cypress?

[Luci]

On 3/30/2021 at 8:25 PM, vojtahlad said:

In which universe is this a colour of cypress?

In the same universe where really dark purple is (Montblamc) “lavender”? 😃

[Detman101]

Yikes...that hurts to look at.