EFNIR: Parker Quink Permanent Blue-Black (vintage)

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Parker Quink Permanent Blue-Black (vintage)

This is review #365 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: This ink was gifted to me by a generous FPNer. While it is a vintage ink (possibly from the 1940s), it is apparently not difficult to find, nor excessively expensive.

The ink on the slide made the same sorts of shapes and patterns as vintage Royal Blue (previous review), so I didn't bother to capture any images.

Cleaning was super quick and easy with plain water.

Zoomed in photo (Color is off a little and I'm not sure how to describe the difference.)

Screenshot (Text is too dark and too blue - needs more grey.)

Scan of Completed Review (This is the closest to what my eyes see.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Color's not too far off, but the top image is closer.)

Line width (Roughly 309µm. The "I" in "Ink:". Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. With 365 inks measured, the average line width is 298µm.)

Swatch card comparison (Color is a little too saturated (inks should look a little greyer).)

Water Test Results (The camera seems to have lost all the blue. Reality is much bluer / more saturated.)

Previous Review: Parker Quink Permanent Royal Blue (vintage).

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

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. Or read Part 8: The Ice Fields Adventure.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[yazeh]

Another great review @LizEF.  In the swatches one can distinguish the difference between the two Parker inks. It seems that the royal blue has more red in it. 

The storyline captures the heaviness on Essri's innocent heart. He seems to be facing some sort of Corneillean dilemma. I hope not for his sake, but then that's the burden of being a hero, the loss of innocence. 

 

The colour seems nice, but then there seem to be so many similar inks available.

 

Thanks for exploring these vintage inks. It makes me feel part of history, connected to all who wrote and communicated by ink.  🙏🙏🙏

[LizEF]

52 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Another great review @LizEF.

Thanks, @yazeh!

 

52 minutes ago, yazeh said:

In the swatches one can distinguish the difference between the two Parker inks. It seems that the royal blue has more red in it. 

Yes.  In the vials it's easy.  In large swatches it's a little harder, but you can see it.  In writing with my EF nib, it's really hard to tell the difference once dry.

 

53 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The storyline captures the heaviness on Essri's innocent heart. He seems to be facing some sort of Corneillean dilemma. I hope not for his sake, but then that's the burden of being a hero, the loss of innocence. 

 The uncertainty is getting to everyone.  Will they find Eenness?  Will the ice keep moving them until they too are forever lost?  Will it separate them from each other?  Tune in next time....  

 

57 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The colour seems nice, but then there seem to be so many similar inks available.

Agreed.  I'd say the value in this review is to remove any fear or hesitation folks may have regarding vintage inks.  Yes, you need to make sure of what you're buying, and check it for evaporation or contamination, but in a way, you should do that with any ink.  And if you're dead set on some specific color, then vintage may not be for you, since age can change dyes and some pigments.  But otherwise, if you're itching to try vintage inks, go right ahead!  

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for exploring these vintage inks. It makes me feel part of history, connected to all who wrote and communicated by ink.  🙏🙏🙏

 You're most welcome!

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks as usual for the comprehensive review.  
I do have one question though -- WHICH version of the vintage Quink Permanent Blue Black is this?  I have bottles from the 1940s, but also recently picked up what was obviously a "newer" bottle (not the style with the curved sides but squared off base -- the newly acquired bottle looks more like it was from the 1950s or 1960s in shape) -- although both are listed on the label as having solv-X in them) and I don't know if it's just re-packaged or a slightly different formula.  

I keep meaning to ink up something with the "newer" version but have too many pens inked up at the moment already....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Thanks as usual for the comprehensive review.  

You're most welcome!

 

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

I do have one question though -- WHICH version of the vintage Quink Permanent Blue Black is this?  I have bottles from the 1940s, but also recently picked up what was obviously a "newer" bottle (not the style with the curved sides but squared off base -- the newly acquired bottle looks more like it was from the 1950s or 1960s in shape) -- although both are listed on the label as having solv-X in them) and I don't know if it's just re-packaged or a slightly different formula.

Paging @kestrel!  I have no idea of the details, @inkstainedruth.  This was a gifted sample.  But I'm sure Kestrel can give us the deets.

 

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

I keep meaning to ink up something with the "newer" version but have too many pens inked up at the moment already....

The ink-lover's eternal dilemma!   May one of your pens run dry soon, but not that one, the one with your (currently) favorite ink.  No, one of the others...  

[Mercian]

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

The ink on the slide made the same sorts of shapes and patterns as vintage Royal Blue (previous review), so I didn't bother to capture any images.

 

Ah, so, like the vintage Royal Blue, this ink is another artefact of the Great Old Ones, and therefore presumably derives its water-resistance from the strange geometries and eldritch magicks that were used in its concoction?

 

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

The uncertainty is getting to everyone.  Will they find Eenness?  Will the ice keep moving them until they too are forever lost?  Will it separate them from each other?  Tune in next time....

I (for one) am starting to suspect that the Ice Fields may in fact be 'fields' of Ice Floes.
And that the reason that crevasses keep opening in them, and the locations of people and places are apparently swirling around, is that the 'fields' of ice floes are swirling around in a gyre on the Sea. Which would also explain/fuel the sudden fogs and blizzards.

 

And, as any fule kno, the Sea is where Worse Things happen! 😱

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Mercian said:

Ah, so, like the vintage Royal Blue, this ink is another artefact of the Great Old Ones, and therefore presumably derives its water-resistance from the strange geometries and eldritch magicks that were used in its concoction?

 Said magicks may have involved iron and gall...

 

1 hour ago, Mercian said:

I (for one) am starting to suspect that the Ice Fields may in fact be 'fields' of Ice Floes.
And that the reason that crevasses keep opening in them, and the locations of people and places are apparently swirling around, is that the 'fields' of ice floes are swirling around in a gyre on the Sea. Which would also explain/fuel the sudden fogs and blizzards.

 

1 hour ago, Mercian said:

And, as any fule kno, the Sea is where Worse Things happen! 😱

[kestrel]

9 hours ago, LizEF said:

Paging @kestrel!  I have no idea of the details, @inkstainedruth.  This was a gifted sample.  But I'm sure Kestrel can give us the deets.

 

Another great review, Liz.

 

Thank you for the plug for vintage inks.  I have had a few duds but most have held up rather well if the bottle hasn't been exposed to too much light and there is no corrosion on the cap and/or crud in the ink itself.  There is NOS out there at good prices to get people off to a good and safe start.  Waterman's, Skrip, and Parker are all easy to find.

 

I am still trying to work up the nerve to rehydrate my century plus old bottle of Paul Wirt Blue-Black.

 

I will upload a photo of the box and bottle tomorrow.  It has been a long and not terribly pleasant day trying to coordinate heart medications for three of my kitties with a very uncooperative pharmacy.

[LizEF]

37 minutes ago, kestrel said:

Another great review, Liz.

 Thanks!

 

37 minutes ago, kestrel said:

Thank you for the plug for vintage inks.

Happy to do it!  I was pleasantly surprised by how well they worked and hope my reviews will help anyone interested but hesitant to "take the plunge".

 

38 minutes ago, kestrel said:

I will upload a photo of the box and bottle tomorrow. 

 

38 minutes ago, kestrel said:

It has been a long and not terribly pleasant day trying to coordinate heart medications for three of my kitties with a very uncooperative pharmacy.

  Sorry to hear it!  Best wishes to you and your kitties.  Hope the pharmacy issues get resolved.  So frustrating dealing with such things.

[USG]

Ticking all the boxes 👍😀

I used a lot of teal leaning Parker BB years ago but I never came across Permanent.

[kestrel]

As promised.  I have another bottle of the Permanent Blue-Black in an identical box with an identical bottle that has a 2 mm layer of sludge on the bottom and a badly corroded inner cap.  This box/bottle is pristine except for a little shelf wear on the bottle label.

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, kestrel said:

As promised.

Thank you!  Great photos.  Very informative to see the box, and fun to see their text.

 

My favorite parts: "available in...pints, quarts, gallons."  and "Blue Black" on the front of the box, but "Blue-Black" on the top - see, even in the same packaging, no one knows if it's "Blue Black", "Blue-Black", "Blue/Black" or some other variation! 

[kestrel]

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

Thank you!  Great photos.  Very informative to see the box, and fun to see their text.

 

My favorite parts: "available in...pints, quarts, gallons."  and "Blue Black" on the front of the box, but "Blue-Black" on the top - see, even in the same packaging, no one knows if it's "Blue Black", "Blue-Black", "Blue/Black" or some other variation! 

Maybe we should just call it Bluck. 

 

I like the "magic ingredient" reference.  Everybody should get a chance to use an ink with a magic ingredient.  People who have seen my attempts at drawing know why I am a photographer but, if I could draw like @yazeh, I would probably use this ink to draw a rabbit levitating out of a top hat.

 

I also like the "dries 31 per cent quicker."  Not 32.  Not 30.  Precisely 31.  This here scientist would like to see the standard deviation for the data and the error bars.

[LizEF]

13 minutes ago, kestrel said:

Maybe we should just call it Bluck. 

 

13 minutes ago, kestrel said:

I like the "magic ingredient" reference.  Everybody should get a chance to use an ink with a magic ingredient.

I refer you to Part 2: The Oily Adventure, starting with review #110 Diamine Tobacco Sunburst through 115 Diamine Denim, where Makhabesh uses magic ink.  

 

14 minutes ago, kestrel said:

People who have seen my attempts at drawing know why I am a photographer but, if I could draw like @yazeh, I would probably use this ink to draw a rabbit levitating out of a top hat.

 There's a reason I stick to abstract doodles and leave the drawings to @yazeh and others.

 

15 minutes ago, kestrel said:

I also like the "dries 31 per cent quicker."  Not 32.  Not 30.  Precisely 31.  This here scientist would like to see the standard deviation for the data and the error bars.

 And a list of the "average inks".  Good stuff!

[yazeh]

8 hours ago, kestrel said:

I like the "magic ingredient" reference.  Everybody should get a chance to use an ink with a magic ingredient.  People who have seen my attempts at drawing know why I am a photographer but, if I could draw like @yazeh, I would probably use this ink to draw a rabbit levitating out of a top hat.

I wish you had "floated" your idea, before my "Bunny Orange" review.  

I'm sure you can do it. Just sketch a few rabbits/ yogis and soon you'll get it right.

In my case, cat & mouse will push the top hat away to tease the wabbit, when it comes out of its trance.  

[inkstainedruth]

@kestrel -- I have several bottles (and the boxes they came in) of that style, in various colors (mostly blue black or black, but I think I might have a couple of other Quink colors as well).  

The most recent acquisition I have, though, is clearly newer, in that it has the different shape bottle (closer in shape to what Pelikan inks come in, but with flatter shoulders).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[yazeh]

8 hours ago, LizEF said:

 There's a reason I stick to abstract doodles and leave the drawings to @yazeh and others.

In the book, Drawing with the right side of the brain, there are few exercises to prove that everyone can draw, as everyone can read or write. So everyone can learn to draw. Happy thanksgiving to  our American friends. 🙏🦃

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

In the book, Drawing with the right side of the brain, there are few exercises to prove that everyone can draw, as everyone can read or write. So everyone can learn to draw. Happy thanksgiving to  our American friends. 🙏🦃

[Mercian]

13 hours ago, yazeh said:

In the book, Drawing with the right side of the brain, there are few exercises to prove that everyone can draw

 

I have bought Betty Edwards' book - but I decided that it looks as though it is pitched at a level that is a bit too 'advanced' for my own degree of Gross Incompetence for me to be able to use only it to help me

So I have also bought Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days - because it includes 'baby-steps' advice on the most basic of representational techniques 

 

Sadly though, what I have found that I need to do is actually do the exercises that are explained within them! 😱

Apparently, just the act of having these books sitting on a shelf or table in my house doesn't magically improve my drawing ability 🤯

[yazeh]

12 hours ago, Mercian said:

 

I have bought Betty Edwards' book - but I decided that it looks as though it is pitched at a level that is a bit too 'advanced' for my own degree of Gross Incompetence for me to be able to use only it to help me

I tried it twice and it helped immensely. Though, I stopped at midpoint.  Her courses are available online, but they are pricey and very intense.  

12 hours ago, Mercian said:

So I have also bought Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days - because it includes 'baby-steps' advice on the most basic of representational techniques 

 

Sadly though, what I have found that I need to do is actually do the exercises that are explained within them! 😱

Apparently, just the act of having these books sitting on a shelf or table in my house doesn't magically improve my drawing ability 🤯

That's the truth about it. The book won't read itself.