EFNIR: Jacques Herbin Gris de Houle

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Jacques Herbin Gris de Houle

This is review #208 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was quick and easy. Can't explain the dry-time. In testing, the ink dried in 3 seconds. For my spreadsheet, I decided to split the testing and the review and say it's about 20 seconds. Perhaps this ink's dry time changes drastically depending on the wetness of the nib...  Attempts to correct or remove color just made things worse, so I'm describing as best I can the difference between what I see in the images and on paper.

The microscope slide was duller than dull.

Zoomed in photo (The ink looks too blue to me. It's a cool grey, but not *that* blue.)

Screenshot (I think this is closest. About right color-wise, close for darkness and shading.)

Scan of Completed Review (Text is too pale and too blue. :))

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Absorbent Paper: Pretty close; Copy Paper: Too blue.)

Line width (The "h" in "Rhodia". Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 310µm. With 208 inks measured, the average line width is 294µm.)

Previous Review: Van Dieman's Ink Pepperberry.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

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View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Sailor Kenshin]

AWESOME story update, @LizEF!  And thanks for the review, though I have sworn off glitter inks.  I love grays.  

[LizEF]

22 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

AWESOME story update, @LizEF!

Thanks!

 

22 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And thanks for the review, though I have sworn off glitter inks.  I love grays.  

This is not a glitter ink - that's Gris Orage (which I have yet to review; Herbin sure have a lot of gris inks...).

[yazeh]

Great job @LizEF 

Gris de Houle, (Or sea swell grey ), grew on me. It's the type of ink that was meh to me, but yet, I enjoyed using it, especially for sketching. It has also quite a bit of water resistance....

Finally a female talking staff

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

48 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thanks!

 

This is not a glitter ink - that's Gris Orage (which I have yet to review; Herbin sure have a lot of gris inks...).

Wait, wut?  
 

Then how am I seeing glitter?  😱

[yazeh]

5 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Wait, wut?  
 

Then how am I seeing glitter?  😱

Maybe you were dreaming of diamonds

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

1 minute ago, yazeh said:

Maybe you were dreaming of diamonds

 

That must be it!  

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Great job @LizEF 

Thanks!

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Gris de Houle, (Or sea swell grey ), grew on me. It's the type of ink that was meh to me, but yet, I enjoyed using it, especially for sketching. It has also quite a bit of water resistance....

Greys are like that.  Eventually, one exactly the right shade just sort of works its way into your heart.

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Finally a female talking staff

  Not my fault!  I'm only the observer.  (Seriously, not a conscious decision.  Really, if I didn't enjoy it so much, I would be disturbed that my brain, or something, seems to be doing all this without me...)

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Wait, wut?  
 

Then how am I seeing glitter?  😱

  I think you're seeing that the ink leaves a bit of a rough edge, and doesn't always cover the paper enough to keep the paper from showing through, and that looks like glitter in the zoom?  You can see a few such gaps in the microscope image, like holes in the ink.

[mizgeorge]

Well that was a suprise! I loved this little twist!

 

I also love this ink - it's one I use a lot - I enjoy grey inks all the year round, and this is one that is always a pleasure to use - I like it's 'grey'-ness and lack of undertone, and it shades beautifully in wider nibs. It's a pleasure to sketch with as well.

 

Thank you @LizEF for a lovely review and of course the latest instalment.

[LizEF]

19 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Well that was a suprise! I loved this little twist!

Thanks!

 

20 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

I also love this ink - it's one I use a lot - I enjoy grey inks all the year round, and this is one that is always a pleasure to use - I like it's 'grey'-ness and lack of undertone, and it shades beautifully in wider nibs. It's a pleasure to sketch with as well.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the ink.  Always nice to get a broader perspective.

 

20 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Thank you @LizEF for a lovely review and of course the latest instalment.

You're very welcome!

[namrehsnoom]

Thanks for reviewing this really nice grey! I like this ink a lot, and had hoped it would be an ink I could use at work. Unfortunately it feathers quite a bit on the crappy copy paper (even with the EF nib in my Kaweco Lilliput). I haven’t used it for quite some time, and this review made me ink up a pen with it … a perfect grey for my Pelikan M405 Stresemann.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

Thanks for reviewing this really nice grey!

You're very welcome!

 

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

I like this ink a lot, and had hoped it would be an ink I could use at work. Unfortunately it feathers quite a bit on the crappy copy paper (even with the EF nib in my Kaweco Lilliput).

Just goes to show, there's a wide degree of crappiness in crappy papers.   And in my experience, workplaces try hard to find the worst paper on the planet.

 

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

I haven’t used it for quite some time, and this review made me ink up a pen with it … a perfect grey for my Pelikan M405 Stresemann.

🥰  I'm sure this will look wonderful from your Pelikan - a perfect match.  Hope you enjoy!

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF for introducing the speaking staff and for presenting the writing sample of the grey Herbin ink.

 

To be honest, this grey doesn't speak to me, not even close to the happening between Essri and the staff ... 😇

 

PS: during the start of the monster fight, when Essri was thrown towards some enemies, the images from the first Conan movie (with our Arnold) re-appeared from memory, when Thulsa Doom shot a snake at Conans companion. 🎯 I'm unable to un-see now. 😎

[LizEF]

50 minutes ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for introducing the speaking staff and for presenting the writing sample of the grey Herbin ink.

You're very welcome!

 

50 minutes ago, InesF said:

To be honest, this grey doesn't speak to me, not even close to the happening between Essri and the staff ... 😇

  Greys are funny that way.

 

51 minutes ago, InesF said:

PS: during the start of the monster fight, when Essri was thrown towards some enemies, the images from the first Conan movie (with our Arnold) re-appeared from memory, when Thulsa Doom shot a snake at Conans companion. 🎯 I'm unable to un-see now. 😎

  I had no idea - I've never been able to stand more than about 10 seconds of a Conan movie tripped over while flipping channels.  Sorry to have recalled an un-see-able memory.  I'm guessing Essri looked cuter, and the monster never guessed he should worry.

[InesF]

18 hours ago, LizEF said:

  I had no idea - I've never been able to stand more than about 10 seconds of a Conan movie tripped over while flipping channels.  Sorry to have recalled an un-see-able memory.  I'm guessing Essri looked cuter, and the monster never guessed he should worry.

Don't worry, @LizEF. Such flashback images are subjective, in this case subjectively mine.

 

A bit unnecessary trivia you didn't ask for: The original Conan stories date back to the early 1950s and are surprisingly often reviewed positively because of their sophisticated character profiles and even some degree of philosophy in their stories. The much later produced movies (such as those with our Arnold  ) lost much of the deepness and focussed more on the fantasy aspects.

 

Indeed, @LizEF, Essri is cute ... as long as he is not dangerous. 😊

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

A bit unnecessary trivia you didn't ask for: The original Conan stories date back to the early 1950s and are surprisingly often reviewed positively because of their sophisticated character profiles and even some degree of philosophy in their stories. The much later produced movies (such as those with our Arnold  ) lost much of the deepness and focussed more on the fantasy aspects.

Huh.  I didn't realize there were pre-Arnold versions.  I'm betting the books are better (assuming there were books before movies - after-movie books tend to be written by hacks).

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

Indeed, @LizEF, Essri is cute ... as long as he is not dangerous. 😊

[Anne-Sophie]

it is a much cooler shade than Herbin Gris Nuage and might find its way to the collection.

 

Thank you for the comprehensive review!

[LizEF]

44 minutes ago, Anne-Sophie said:

it is a much cooler shade than Herbin Gris Nuage and might find its way to the collection.

 

Thank you for the comprehensive review!

You're very welcome!