Tuesday, June 7, 2016

New Ink Colors: Is That Possible?

After being in fountain pens for a while now, I have amassed a very large collection of ink which pales in comparison to some. I have many different blues and a few reds. Blacks, greys, browns, greens and an orange even. I have finally gotten to the point where I'm wondering where this can go from here.

Here is what I mean, Diamine has over 100 colors available and Noodler's also has over 100 colors. DeAtramentis has a ton of colors while Pilot Iroshizuku has around 24. Visconti, Omas, Monteverde, Lamy, Faber Castell and on and on. All of these inks but yet what really sets them apart for the future?

I was browsing inks recently online and that is when I realized that I have all of the colors I would use and what could possibly happen to make an ink unique anymore? I think that is truly the key now, what will make an ink unique and different than say every other purple on the market. 

J. Herbin started the shimmering ink phenomenon with their 1670 line of inks with a new color coming out this year which is a coffee/chocolate type color. What makes it unique is the gold glitter specks in the ink itself and can be seen at the bottom of the bottle after it sits for a few minutes. Glittery ink and it has been a huge success especially with Emerald of Chivor last year. 

Diamine followed suit but instead of 5 glittery inks, there is 12 or so. They are called shimmertastic inks. I have not used any of these glittery, sparkle inks as I don't see the purpose other than making it a pain to clean the feed afterwards. That is why there are so many inks, there is something for everyone.

I recently purchased some of the KWZ inks from Poland and the ones I ended up getting I really like. Three of them are unique and I like them tremendously as I have not seen them before. Rotten Green, Grey Lux and Grey Plum are the ones I am referencing. Why? Well, they are doing something slightly new. A greyish green, purple and brownish color. They look nice and a touch intriguing. 

But now what? What could possibly happen ink-wise that would be different or unique? How many blues are too many? Noodler's has 13 blacks and I have 4 of them. Are glitter stripper inks the future? Fountain pens are wonderful and the myriad of inks are fun until you have all of the colors and are wanting something new but honestly, where can it possibly go from here? Anyone? 

I may be going a bit crazy here and please let me know if I am off base please. What colors have we not seen from a myriad of manufacturers and what could really set them apart from the herd? Is the ink landscape bleak on the horizon? I sure hope not. 

5 comments:

  1. Rotten Green. Ha ha! I like that name.

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  2. It is a very interesting color, like a grayish green. I have a bottle and really like it.

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  3. So what kind of pen, paper, tutorials, books, lessons do you suggest for a beginner?

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  4. I have posts on here that cover all of that. My favorite paper is Fabriano but Rhodia seems to be the go to in the community. For a beginner pen, either a Pilot Metropolitan, Lamy Safari or a Jinhao x450/x750. Goulet Pen Co has a great YouTube playlist for fountain pen 101 where you learn how to fill and clean and use fountains.

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