Ink

[chickenfeet]

So I was in this client meeting today and as it was breaking up one of the client folks got very enthusiastic about the colour of the ink I was taking notes in. For the record, Private Reserve Avocado.

Comments

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

Sounds wonderful! Much nicer than Pelikan blue or waterman blue-black!

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I'm very fond of Waterman Blue-Black. It does much less damage to my older pens than the PR inks.

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a nice alternative to blue or black! But it's not particularly pretty. Just efficient :-)

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I think it's better than that. It tends to dry to a quite interesting range of blue/grey tones.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

So what does it look like? Greenish?

(I use Waterman blue-black meself...)

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

It's a fairly dark, saturated green. I use Waterman BB too, especially in older pens. It's kinder to the pen than the fancy new saturated inks.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

How is the drying time for you? I love PR Sherwood Green, but it never dries. In my experience, the Avacado dries slowly, but will eventually dry completely.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Used on the Cambridge notepads I usually use it dries pretty quickly. Certainly fast enough not to be an issue.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

So the first thing I did was googled Private Reserve Avocado - and I found this http://www.pendemonium.com/images/inks/ink_color_charts.pdf

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Pendemonium is where I bought it.

[linzq.livejournal.com]

You should go to Laywine's in Yorkville - on Belair.
They've got all the great inks... and their own new blends. Gorgeous colours... if you like the avo, you'll like their stuff.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

PS: AZre you familiar with Herbin Inks (http://www.skripta-paris.com/fr/rech_result_117.html,Cad=7f2d00b14972b7b5e709fcbb5e84de94#)? Exist also in bottles (http://www.skripta-paris.com/fr/rech_result_118.html,Cad=7f2d00b14972b7b5e709fcbb5e84de94). Available colours here (http://www.skripta-paris.com/img/articles/herbin/herbflac.jpg). I'm partial to Lierre, myself.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I am. I haven't used any but I have a colour chart for them.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

They had three differet light (sky) blues - and they all looked the same to me!

[linzq.livejournal.com]

No! They're all different! I promise!!!

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

I wish I could use fountain pens. *sigh*

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Why can't you?

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

RSI.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Does that apply to all pens or just fountain pens?

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

This (http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=13823277&size=m) is the only pen I have found comfortable to write with for quite some time. Several years ago, I used a Waterman fountain pen for a year, but it just hurt too much to write with it. I assume there are lighter ones, but that doesn't resolve the other problems with fountain pens (like being an absent-minded prof, or like having it leak on some gorgeous linen trousers which suddenly discovered a new use as shorts...).

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I used that pen for a while; it worked pretty well, rather similar to a fountain pen, without the scratchy feel of a ballpoint.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I've used those quite a bit too. Much better than ballpoints.

[lemur-man.livejournal.com]

I use the V7 a lot. I haven't used fountain pens for years, for practical reasons, and I really don't like the feel of ballpoints, so this is about as close as I get.

[linzq.livejournal.com]

Oh no!
We're talking ink!
You do know that I'm an ink specialist, don't you?

And for the record, you might not want to run Private Reserve through vintage pens... just so you know.

I personally stick to Pelikan Brilliant Brown. Yum. Although, my all-time favourite is the ueber-girly Yard-o-led Claret.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I tend not to use PR inks in older pens. The Avocado is an a Lamy Al-Star.

[linzq.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's a great combo - enjoy it!

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

I had a discussion with Richard Binder about inks at the Long Island Pen Show, and he agrees with you about not using Noodler's, Private Reserve, or any of the new "boutique" inks in vintage pens. (I'm using the new formulation of Omas Grey in a resacced Sheaffer Balance 875, but flushing it every two weeks or so.) As a result, I'm rethinking my use of PR and Noodler's.

Richard recommended Waterman and Diamine (the latter for the vivid colors), and gave me a formula (50-50 Waterman Florida Blue and Violet, I think) that will recreate Private Reserve Tanzanite, which is one of my favorite colors. I may switch to that soon.

[linzq.livejournal.com]

Ah, Tanzanite. That was one of my favourites for a while too!

Where are you finding Omas ink right now?

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

You mean they do colours? Other than blue or black?

And I always imagined green avocado was only used by people writing poison pen letters...

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time it was a rule at the War Office that only the CIGS use green ink so that minutes by him would stand out. I always have at least one pen filled with green and one with red for annotating printed documents.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I've realised of course that I have missed the main point - that you actually write with ink. People are often surprised how attached I am to my fountain pen; I use it the whole time. Well, not when I'm on the PC, obviously...