Discovering the joy of writing with different shades of ink, I’m surprised I did not discover fountain pen inks earlier. I love shades, blending, chemistry, drawing. You’d think an interest in inks would come naturally. Alas, after getting my first fountain pens I got a bunch of Diamine inks in small bottles from Nordic Pen Imports. Then I discovered Noodler’s. Now I’ve got more than 50 different inks from various makers (I know that this isn’t much compared to some, but mom, if you read this, I got most of them on sale).
At Fountain Pen Network there is an excellent Index of Ink Reviews section, a great resource. I also have to commend Goulet Pens Ink Drop, where you get several small ink samples in the mail regularly. I’m not a member myself, but I have bought small sample-bottles of ink from there. The Noodler’s Red Black below is from such a bottle.
So, on to the comparison. These are all the reds I have. Written with different pens, this is not a review per se as the ink behave different with different pens. I do not aspire to be a clean cut reviewer, I make up things as I go along. The paper is Clairefountaine Graf It Sketch pad. I plan to post this comparison in the appropriate forum at FPN so if you have come here from that post, welcome to the blog!
Detailed description and more pictures:
If you click on the images you’ll get even bigger pictures.
Noodler's Red Rattler with Noodler's flex pen
Pen: Noodler’s Flex Pen. A modern flex for a modest price.
Ink: Noodler’s Red Rattler is slightly more bluish than Diamine Poppy red and more saturated in appearance this might be my new favourite clear red ink. No shading whatsoever. The colour has a velvety feel that I like. Originally I bought it to have a red colour to use in the Noodler’s Ink 2011 artist prize (youtube link) , in which I plan to participate, as you can use only Noodler’s ink and Noodler’s pen in it. Here is a post about the competition from Ink Noveau.
Diamine Poppy Red with a Lamy Safari F
Pen: Lamy Safari F.
Ink: Diamine Poppy Red.
Verdict: Perhaps it is unfair to do the comparison with other inks using pens with various amount of flex, since the Lamy Safari Fine is a great pen but not very exciting for decorative writing. I have previously had no problem with saturation of this ink, but in this comparison it comes up short. It manages to be a very bright true red without any obvious yellow or blue tendencies, though. Because of this, I still like it a lot.
J Herbin 1670 with a steel nib dip pen
Pen: Dip pen with steel nib.
Ink: J Herbin 1670.
Verdict: About a year ago this ink was very popular and it still is. I can understand why. The metallic green effect is visible in this scan and it is even more beautiful in real life. Sometimes it creeps up on fountain pen nibs and dries to an ugly layer that disturbs the flow. I stopped using it in Noodler’s flex pens because of this. Not much shading. You can see in this detailed picture how different the colour is when in a thick layer (the “H”) and in a thin layer (the “er”). I suspect this effect may be better represented using a fountain pen with good flow control. The steel nib is more of “all or nothing” when it comes to flow…
Diamine Monaco Red with a steel nib dip pen
Pen: Dip pen with steel nib
Ink: Diamine Monaco Red
Verdict: I even wrote a poem about this ink so I guess I have a rather subjective view of its awesomeness. I don’t know what the darkening at the edges of the line is called so I call it railroad shading. I love railroad shading and I love this ink. There is a little bit of bleeding at the downstroke of the “D”, but I believe this is because the steel nib is very thin and harsh to the paper.
Noodler's Red Black with Edward Todd Eyedropper
Pen: Edward Todd Eyedropper.
Ink: Noodler’s Red Black.
Verdict: Oh… Where to begin… There will be an upcoming post solely concentrating on the amazing pen so I leave that for now. At the beginning of the sentence I noticed the ink seemed more watery than usual, because I’d just cleaned out the pen. So, I added some “flourishes” later to represent the ink fairly. The water-mixed letters does look nice though, don’t they? The Red Black was an ink I wanted for a long time, but getting it I am not that much in love with it as I’d thought I would be. Not enough red, too much purplish reddish brown. Not a bad colour, but not the one I expected. But the shading is still amazing! Ah, and a short note on the handwriting, I’m still looking for a good way to write the capital “B”…
Upcoming: I believe this was the longest post to date. I had fun doing it. What’s next, greens or blues? Also in the line to be published is a wolf with gills, a happy bird and some more colourful myller.
Anachroneironaut 
You’ve inspired me to give one of these a try. Thanks.
[…] Pen: The Noodler’s flex pen became a great success when released as it provides good flex for a modest price. There isn’t really any other modern pen in the same price-bracket with flex like this. I was eager to try one for myself. Actually I ordered two of them from Gouletpens, a red/green and a demonstrator (clear/see-through). They smelled a bit weird at first. The nib is slit vertically almost in half, which gives a good degree of flex although the metal in the nib itself doesn’t feel as soft as in vintage flex nibs (it’s like comparing apples and llamas anyway). There was some flow-problems in the beginning, but as I have used the pens and adjusted the feeds and nibs in the sections I believe I have reached a happy equilibrium and the line is seldom broken. For a writing sample see the “Five Reds“-post. […]
Awesome pen. I am more than pleased. I also signed up for the Goulet Pen Ink Drop and I’m ridiculously excited about it. Thank you! Enjoy London.
Which one of the inks did you decide to try?
I am also intrested in the Ink Drop stuff. Only the several bottles of yet-untried ink that I do own is stopping me at the moment.
As for the flex pens I really like the two I got. Was going to invest in another one, but none of the colours available from Goulet Pens interested me this time.
[…] favourite blog is the Anachroneironaut. Amazing gothic illustrations, lovecraftian houseplants, and ink. Check out this amazing piece of art inspired by Perdido Street […]