Diamine Earl Grey

[yazeh]

Diamine Earl Grey

 

Ink Review # 218

 

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🧾 Description

 

I never thought I would appreciate grey inks. But since I’ve taken up drawing, I can’t get enough of different variations of grey inks. 

 

Diamine Earl Grey is lovely warm grey. The ink is wet, with slightly below average lubrication. Best with wet pens and soft nibs. The Ink has no water-resistance and ghosted and bled through copy paper. The ink couldn’t handle the flex nib’s ink demands, despite the ebonite feed. 

 

For writing, it’s a neutral grey with a hint of purple and lovely shading, best on Japanese paper and M nibs and above. 

 

For drawing and washes, it’s a gorgeous ink with a complex colour. If you're looking for a water proof grey with a purple tinge, Tintenlabor Basalt ( iron gall) and Octopus W&D Fox Grey (pigment ink) are better candidates.

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🧪 Chroma

 

 

 

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✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

Quotes:

“An Earl is but a man who had good fortune in his ancestors.” — Samuel Johnson

“Titles do not make men noble; deeds do.” — Ovid

“The color of truth is gray.” — André Gide

“In the grey light of dawn, truth often looks less heroic.” — John le Carré

“Grey has the greatest value—it makes all colors beautiful.” — Giorgio Morandi

 

Rhodia / Iroful

 

 

 

Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm

Note: Tomoe River used here is 68 gsm. Many older reviews refer to a thinner 52 gsm version, which behaves differently.

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb  

 

 

 

 📸 Photos

Rhodia/ Iroful

 

 

 

Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20 lb copy paper

 

 

 

 

Closeup

 

 

 

 🔍 Comparison

Col-O-ring. Scans are approximative. 

 

 

 

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 💧 Water Test

 

 

 

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 🎨 Artwork

 

Inktober Monthly Challenge -Scorpio

I appropriated and combined the ancient Egyptian goddesses of Bastet (the feline goddess of home, fertility, music, and joyful protection) and Selket (goddess of protection, healing, and the breath of life in death.). 

 

With apologies to the long-gone hardworking Egyptian scribes, the hieroglyphs, created by ChatGPT, read: “Protects the mouse the cat from evil scorpion.”

 

Diamine Earl Grey, Karas Customs Vertex with an FPnibs full flex nib, Talens Mixed Media Notebook.

 

 

 

 

A Rose for You

Inspired by a photo I took of my cat. 

 

Diamine Earl Grey (purple-grey ink), Tintenlabor Encre Royal (purple), Jacques Herbin Vert Cactus, Uniball Signo White Gel, Talens Mixed Media Notebook.

 

 

Me and my Gang

A manga-like take on the artist and his muses.

Diamine Earl Grey ink on Talens Mixed Media.

 

 

 

Villain

 

Who was the villain : the off-key singer or the one with the perfect pitch?

 

Diamine Earl Grey, Jacques Herbin Rouge Amarante, Vert Cactus, Van Dieman's Here Kitty Kitty, Tintenlabor Basalt, Uniball Signo white gel, Talens Mixed Media Notebook.

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Grinchmas!

Inspired by a photo of my cat and a handwoven Santa made by my wife. 

 

Diamine Earl Grey, Noodler's Eel Red Rattler's Red, Jacques Herbin 1798 Bleu Diamant, Uniball Signo white gel, Talens Mixed Media Notebook.

 

 

 

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- Pens Used: Pilot F3A EF,  Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Karas Customs with FPnibs full flex and ebonite feed. 

- What I Liked: Drawing, Ink washes. The purple coming out with wider nibs on Japanese paper. 

- What I Did Not Like: Lack of water resistance. Nothing special with finer nibs. 

- Writing Experience: Good.  

- Pros: Excellent for drawing, washes, price, availability. 

- Cons: Lack of water resistance.  

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading: Gorgeous.

- Ghosting: Yes, on copy paper. 

- Bleed Through: Yes 

- Flow Rate: Wet. 

- Lubrication: Slightly below average, improve with time. 

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice.

- Start-up: Good.

- Saturation: Yes. 

- Sheen: Did not notice.

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

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen): No. 

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: Easy. 

- Water Resistance: Nope.  

 

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 🛒 Availability

 

- Available in 30/ 80 ml bottles worldwide. 

 

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 💬 Closing

 

I have enjoyed sketching and drawing with this ink. As a writing ink, I have other preferences, but still this one has a lovely, elegant colour and feel. 

 

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.  

 

 

 

 

[Lithium466]

Thank you for your review. That Villain drawing 🤩

[yazeh]

28 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

Thank you for your review.

🙏

28 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

That Villain drawing 🤩

😸

[lapis]

Thanks as always for an always excellent review. I, too, see it like you do (and/or vice-versa). What I like most about greys is that there's no end in variation. Raises up the age-old question: "What's in it that's not grey?"

[yazeh]

7 minutes ago, lapis said:

Thanks as always for an always excellent review.

🙏

7 minutes ago, lapis said:

I, too, see it like you do (and/or vice-versa). What I like most about greys is that there's no end in variation.

I'm glad I'm not alone.

7 minutes ago, lapis said:

Raises up the age-old question: "What's in it that's not grey?"

Colour.  

[lapis]

And/or... Tea! 🫖

[yazeh]

Just now, lapis said:

And/or... Tea! 🫖

Clever. 👍

[LizEF]

Glad you're enjoying the greys, @yazeh!   This is one of the more interesting ones, with a noticeable undertone of color.  The chroma is quite interesting.  It looks good on all paper types, though the yellower ones warm the color (comparatively).

 

So much for tea time!

 

Apparently you were downright inspired! So many wonderful drawings!  Great job on all of them.  The ones inspired by your kitty are fantastic - very realistic kitty!  And I confess, I really like that Santa one.

 

Thanks for using a grey ink to brighten our day!

[Sailor Kenshin]

A colorful, leaping jaguar!

 

Gris Nuage:  Have, but can't recall its properties (which should reveal how often it's used).  I do have a few other grays, such as Momtblanc Oyster, and including my Greystoke ink dump.  

 

This review's artwork is spectacular!  
 

Thanks, @yazeh, for another fun read and thoroughly entertaining review.

[lamarax]

I mean I like it better on the Midori, because of the warmer hue. But this goes to show that Midori, an excellent fountain pen-friendly paper otherwise, kills alters (and to my finding lightens) ink colors significantly 😐

 

THE definitive review, as always! 👍

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Glad you're enjoying the greys, @yazeh!  

Thank God there are no white inks, otherwise I would be obsessing about whites.  

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

This is one of the more interesting ones, with a noticeable undertone of color. 

Yes, that's the beauty of it.  

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

The chroma is quite interesting.  It looks good on all paper types, though the yellower ones warm the color (comparatively).

So true. 

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

So much for tea time!

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

Apparently you were downright inspired! So many wonderful drawings!  Great job on all of them. 

Well, this is one of those long reviews. I've been using this ink since November.

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

The ones inspired by your kitty are fantastic - very realistic kitty!  And I confess, I really like that Santa one.

Thanks. I like that too.  

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

Thanks for using a grey ink to brighten our day!

Most welcome.  

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

A colorful, leaping jaguar!

 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Gris Nuage:  Have, but can't recall its properties (which should reveal how often it's used).  I do have a few other grays, such as Momtblanc Oyster, and including my Greystoke ink dump.  

Gris Nuage is paler. I'm looking forward to test another new Herbin ink, Gris Galet.  

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

This review's artwork is spectacular!  

Thanks! 

1 hour ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks, @yazeh, for another fun read and thoroughly entertaining review.

Most welcome! 

[yazeh]

54 minutes ago, lamarax said:

I mean I like it better on the Midori, because of the warmer hue. But this goes to show that Midori, an excellent fountain pen-friendly paper otherwise, kills alters (and to my finding lightens) ink colors significantly 😐

Then you have to try Iroful. It enhances many colours.

 

54 minutes ago, lamarax said:

THE definitive review, as always! 👍

Thank you so much. 😊🙏

[inkstainedruth]

This is one of my favorite grey inks.  So thanks for the review (and -- as usual -- the fun artwork)!

I really should pull it out and ink some pen up with it -- I haven't used it in a while.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[yazeh]

3 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

This is one of my favorite grey inks.  So thanks for the review (and -- as usual -- the fun artwork)!

Glad your wallet is safe this time.

3 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

I really should pull it out and ink some pen up with it -- I haven't used it in a while.... 

 

 

[lamarax]

17 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Then you have to try Iroful. It enhances many colours.

 

Oh, I do use Iroful and have stashed tons of it in fear of it going the TR - Cosmo Air way! 😄

 

My favorite though for showing/enhancing ink properties is Graphilo. Don't know if you're familiar with it (?)

[lamarax]

 

^*I've also failed to praise your fantastic expressionist sketches, but that's because I'm a professional artist and thus refrain from commenting on fellow artists' works in public (unless they're my students)  

[USG]

Very nice, tremendous effort, as usual Yazzy  😁👍

 

You mentioned that: Tomoe River used here is 68 gsm. Many older reviews refer to a thinner 52 gsm version, which behaves differently.

 

I would be interested to read your description of the differences between 52 and 68, and if you're are referring to the original or the Sanzen versions.

[yazeh]

14 hours ago, lamarax said:

 

Oh, I do use Iroful and have stashed tons of it in fear of it going the TR - Cosmo Air way! 😄

 

14 hours ago, lamarax said:

My favorite though for showing/enhancing ink properties is Graphilo. Don't know if you're familiar with it (?)

No. I was not. I've added to my rabbit hole list.  

[yazeh]

12 hours ago, lamarax said:

 

^*I've also failed to praise your fantastic expressionist sketches, but that's because I'm a professional artist and thus refrain from commenting on fellow artists' works in public (unless they're my students)  

Thanks! It means a lot for an autodidact like me. 🙏🙏🙏☺️