Jacques Herbin 1798 Diamant Bleu

[yazeh]

 

 

Jacques Herbin 1798  Diamant Bleu

 

Ink Review # 213

 

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🧾 Description

 

This is gorgeous, well-lubricated, wet navy ink with silver shimmer. Dry times are quite short on Rhodia. It’s excellent on copy paper with most nibs, but there’ll be some bleed-through with wet pens. 

 

The 1798 series celebrates the date Herbin started making inks. 

 

The shading is most striking on all the Japanese papers shown below. 

 

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🧪 Chroma

 

 

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✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

Rhodia  / Iroful

The quotes are:

“The blue of the sky is wider than our dreams.” — Victor Hugo

 

“Beauty is a promise of happiness.” — Stendhal

 

“Blue has no dimensions.” — Yves Klein

 

“The real voyage is to see with new eyes.” — Marcel Proust

 

“The heart has its reasons which reason does not know.” — Blaise Pascal

 

 

 

Midori  /Tomoe River 68gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb  

 

 

 

 📸 Photo (artificial light)

Rhodia/ Iroful

 

 

 

Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20 lb copy paper

 

 

 

 

Close-up

 

 

 

 🔍 Comparison

Col-o-Ring paper. Scans are approximate. 

 

 

 

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 💧 Water Test

 

 

 

 

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 🎨 Artwork

The curse of the blue diamond

Mouse's ancestors lived in the Louvre Palace when it was just a castle. Over the centuries, they amassed many shiny objects during the intrigues, duels, and the Liaisons dangereuses.  On one of his explorations, Mouse came upon a unique diamond, the Diamant Bleu. Some say it was a gift brought by Louis IX during the Crusades, that it was cursed, as attested by Nostradamus, Catherine de Medici’s secret soothsayer: when the brilliant blue leaves the darkness, red will follow after. Was it the end of the Valois dynasty under her regency or was it the red of St. Bartholomew’s massacre? Some point to the recent heist of the Crown Jewels of France from the Louvre.  Mouse thought that by bringing it to the cat jeweler, he might change the course of history; after all blue is the colour of calm. 

Jacques Herbin 1798 - Diamant Bleu, 1670 - Opal Nocturne, Tintenlabor Basalt Irongall ink, Talens Mixed Media Notebook. 

 

 

 

 

 

INKTOBER52 PROMPT NO.46 - Sneaker

It has been said that when the Portuguese court absconded to Brazil during the Napoleonic Wars, there was no one to care for the many orphans. So when an orphaned Kitty (assuming a Scottish sailor as a father) cried itself out at the shores of Belém Tower in Lisbon and lamented its fate, one of the monks sneaked out a Pastéis de Nata, reserved only for monks and kings. The sweetness of the pastry forged a friendship and changed their fate (fado).

 

Inspired by @catbert's João V! drawings. 🙏

 

Jacques Herbin 1798 - Bleu Diamant  Shimmer ink, J Herbin Bouton d'or, Tintenlabor Basalt iron gall ink. Talens Mixed media notebook.

 

 

 

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- Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF,  Kaweco Sprt (EF/F/M/B/BB/Stub 1.9) ,  Noodler’s Nibcreaper fited with a Waterman M2 flex nib. 

- What I Liked: Wetness, lubrication, colour on most papers, price. 

- What I Did Not Like: Shimmer, colour on other papers. 

- What Some Might Not Like: Price, shimmer. 

- Writing Experience: Excellent. 

- Pros: Wetness, lubrication, colour. 

- Cons: Not waterproof, shimmer, price, 

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading: Good on most papers. 

- Ghosting: With wet/ wide nibs. 

- Bleed Through: With wet/ wide nibs. 

- Flow Rate: Wet

- Lubrication: Excellent.

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

- Start-up: Excellent

- Saturation: Saturated. 

- Sheen: Very faint red sheen where ink puddles. 

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice.

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen):

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: I used a pen jacuzzi to clean my pens. But I’m guessing it should be easy to clean.

- Water Resistance: None. 

 

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 🛒 Availability

 

- Available in 50 ml bottles worldwide. 

 

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 💬 Closing

 

I’m not a fan of shimmer inks. However, I enjoyed writing with this one, there’s something subtle about silver and navy. And writing with it on Iroful was like a dream in heaven. 

 

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review.

 

Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier.  

 

 

 

[LizEF]

Love the review, @yazeh!   Mixed feelings on the ink - might be too blue.

 

But the chroma is interesting, the quotes are great - Pascal and Proust, and the swatch cards are fun!

 

Love the diamond kitty and mouse for the water test.

 

"The curse of the blue diamond" sounds like a Cary Grant movie.   And "Sneaker" number two is sad, and sweet.  

 

Thanks for sharing you hard work with us!

[USG]

👍👍.... Impressive! Nice !    Interesting color.  I went through a shimmer phase but the shimmer didn't stay in the ink after it dried.  Did this shimmer stay put or migrate?

 

What does @LizEF mean by too blue?

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, USG said:

What does @LizEF mean by too blue?

I don't like blue-blue - like ballpoint or rollerball ink.  I hate blurple.  Some very dark blues (like Bleu des Profondeurs, which is not purple-leaning to my eyes, unlike the swatch image in this review) are OK.  I like blue-black, some blue-greys, and some green-leaning blues.  Essentially, for me to like it, a blue needs some other color added in (but not red).  

[Sailor Kenshin]

The chroma has a kitteh face!  
 

Not a fan of shimmer inks whatsoever, though they look pretty when written by someone else.  This one has little (or no?) water resistance.  But the story/artwork is admirable.  👏🏻

 

(I had a sample of Baystate Blue, which acted as indelible dye on everything.) 

 

@yazeh, thanks for another fun review.  📓 🖋

[USG]

13 minutes ago, LizEF said:

I don't like blue-blue - like ballpoint or rollerball ink.  I hate blurple.  Some very dark blues (like Bleu des Profondeurs, which is not purple-leaning to my eyes, unlike the swatch image in this review) are OK.  I like blue-black, some blue-greys, and some green-leaning blues.  Essentially, for me to like it, a blue needs some other color added in (but not red).  

 

IC...  I'm not so picky.  😀

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Love the review, @yazeh!   

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Mixedfeelings on the ink - might be too blue.

 I get what you say. I would say that the writing experience was excellent. I have realized that I prefer these inks for drawings and washes. It's such a good feeling to get lost in a sea of blue.  

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

But the chroma is interesting, the quotes are great - Pascal and Proust, and the swatch cards are fun!

 

Thanks!

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Love the diamond kitty and mouse for the water test.

That was fun to do.

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

"The curse of the blue diamond" sounds like a Cary Grant movie.   

I was subconsciously inspired by To Catch a Thief. A lot of these drawings happen in a few stages. Here I just drew the cat, mouse, diamond for fun. The a few days later, I was inspired to draw the Louvre in the background. The original title and blurb was The Cat Burglar, but I came up with the story in a dream. Ah, too many ideas.

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

And"Sneaker" number two is sad, and sweet.  

Thanks. 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Thanks for sharing you hard work with us!

A pleasure. And thanks for taking the time commenting. 🙏🙏🙏

[yazeh]

48 minutes ago, USG said:

👍👍.... Impressive! Nice !    Interesting color.  

Thanks!

48 minutes ago, USG said:

I went through a shimmer phase but the shimmer didn't stay in the ink after it dried.  Did this shimmer stay put or migrate?

I don't know. I didn't have enough of a sample to be sure. But it's less shimmer heavy than some of the Van Furman's and some Asian brands 

48 minutes ago, USG said:

 

What does @LizEF mean by too blue?

Ah, she likes them murky.

 

[yazeh]

28 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

The chroma has a kitteh face!  
 

So it does.

 

28 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Not a fan of shimmer inks whatsoever, though they look pretty when written by someone else.  This one has little (or no?) water resistance. 

Same here, but it's Christmas time soon, I though I'd bring a bit of sparkle.

28 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

But the story/artwork is admirable.  👏🏻

Thanks! 

28 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

(I had a sample of Baystate Blue, which acted as indelible dye on everything.) 

It does. Kung Te Cheng  is the same.

 

28 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

@yazeh, thanks for another fun review.  📓 🖋

A pleasure!

[LizEF]

52 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Ah, too many ideas.

Perish the thought!  No such thing as too many ideas!  

[inkstainedruth]

Not a fan of shimmer inks at this point, but this one is very tempting.  It's an interesting color, and just enough different from Bleu de Profondeurs.  Of course I already have way too many inks already....   Including a bunch I haven't even tried yet....

So thanks for the review as usual (including the fun artwork).  And, well, not....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

Perish the thought!  No such thing as too many ideas!  

 

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Not a fan of shimmer inks at this point, but this one is very tempting.  

It's tempting but not the price.  

 

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

 

It's an interesting color, and just enough different from Bleu de Profondeurs.  Of course I already have way too many inks already....   Including a bunch I haven't even tried yet....

I would forgo it. Unless you want a sample and love blue inks. Or want to partake in the inktober thread. But then there are so many cheaper blues in the colour range.

4 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

So thanks for the review as usual (including the fun artwork).  And, well, not....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Glad it was useful.

 

[knarflj]

Thanks for another great review!  The colour looks lovely.  Good thing I don't do shimmer.

[yazeh]

50 minutes ago, knarflj said:

Thanks for another great review!   

Most welcome.

 

50 minutes ago, knarflj said:

The colour looks lovely.  Good thing I don't do shimmer.

It's good when we can avoid an extra bottle of ink.

 

[Baggins]

Oh the shimmer. Shine on You Crazy Diamond.💎 

It looks so nice on Iroful.

 

 

 

 

[yazeh]

34 minutes ago, Baggins said:

Oh the shimmer. Shine on You Crazy Diamond.💎 

It looks so nice on Iroful.

 

 

 

 

Yes, love the Pink Floyd allusion. Many inks as @LizEFis my witness ( )  become exceptional on Iroful. They develop qualities even the ink maker wouldn't suspect. 

  

[USG]

4 hours ago, Baggins said:

Oh the shimmer. Shine on You Crazy Diamond.💎 

 

Check your shoes  

[Lithium466]

Loved the story, the art, the ink! Thank you for your review, @yazeh 😊

[yazeh]

Just now, Lithium466 said:

Loved the story, the art, the ink! Thank you for your review, @yazeh 😊

Most welcome!