Though this was my first attempt at ink mixing, I knew what I could expect. When mixing dyes, the four primary colors used are CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK). From these, almost any shade can be obtained. For lighter colors, white can also be used.
Noodler's Navajo Turquoise is an excellent substitute for Cyan and Noodler's Yellow is, well, Yellow. Cyan + Yellow gives Green. It depends, of course, what proportion of each primary color is used. Yellow being a light color, requires just a little bit of cyan to turn into green.
I still had some Noodler's Yellow left in the cartridge fitted to my Pilot Parallel 2.4mm. All I had to do was put a couple of small drops of Navajo Turquoise (of which I have a whole bottle) into the cartridge with a syringe and then shake it well until the two colors mixed. Since this wasn't a scientific experiment in the least, I have no idea what the exact proportions were, but if I were to guess, I'd say 4-5 parts of Yellow to 1 part of Cyan.
Here's the result: a very nice shade of light green, bright and saturated.
It looks like the inks didn't mix that well after all, but since I'm a beginner at this, it's hard to tell. This, however, creates a very beautiful effect. Notice the awesome shading: grass green interspersed with flecks of gold. To me, this color is very cheerful and refreshing. I would almost drink it from a frosty glass.
Here's a closeup of the beautiful shading.
This has been my first experiment with ink mixing but I consider it highly successful. What do you think?
That came out very nice. I've noticed that some of the pigments in Noodlers inks behave differently. In the case of one of my blue-blacks (the V-Mail one, if I remember correctly) the blue will pull away from the black under certain circumstances. I noticed it when I was cleaning out a pen that had used it: the paper towel had a black splotch with a bright blue ring around it. I didn't notice anything under normal writing conditions.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a neat effect if it could be controlled.
That is a lovely shade of green! You could market that and sell it! I've mixed inks once or twice before. I made a beautiful deep true purple color once. I think it was Navajo turquoise and Diamine Deep Magenta. I can't exactly remember though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I'll bet it'd look delicious in a TWSBI Demonstrator... :)
Regards,
777 - Tyler Dahl
I was so sure I'd never monkey around with the dangers of mixing; but now I think it might be the next new adventure. Thank you for this, it looks great, and thank you for the previous entry's link to a mixing chart. I will have to print it out and put Yellow and Whiteness of the Whale on my next order. Show us a few more, ok?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, many inks behave like that. The ones that do are usually made up from 2 colors (or who know, more). One example is Noodler's Polar Brown. A drop on a paper towel will clearly show the components separating. In this case there's a strong orange component which feathers towards the exterior. Same thing happens when the ink bleeds through. The orange component shows first.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I doubt I could sell something like this. After all, it's so easy to make. But who knows, there might be a market for this thing. I'm not sure how Noodler's Ink would like it though.
ReplyDeleteTBH it didn't look that great in the cartridge. Just a murky green-ish goo.
Yea, I guess Noodlers wouldn't be to happy. I think someone someone should compile a list of all the homemade ink recipes out there. A good list with pictures and swabs of each. Then make it into a PDF... That would be both useful and very cool.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
777 - Tyler Dahl
Sure thing! There's nothing to be afraid of. After I discovered that chart and the 5 Noodler's colors (CMYK + W) which are mixable, all anxiety vanished.
ReplyDeletePlatinum also has a series of inks intended for mixing. The series is called "Mix-Free".
My next mix is likely to be Navajo Turquoise and Shah's Rose because I got a sample of the latter.
Ooooh, I have those two plus the bulletproof black! And I might be getting Yellow from my local pen place (Goldspot) today or tomorrow when I go to pick up the new Noodler's pens. I'm so anxious to try. Uuuuuuh--you go first. I want to see what happens. ;-D
ReplyDeleteKaren if you have full bottles for those two, go ahead! It will take me while until load Shah's Rose into a fountain pen.
ReplyDeleteI personally love the color combination. I think the variation is interesting to look at, and the shading rocks. I haven't really dabbled with mixing inks, but I think that I need to, especially for the colors that I can't imagine using a whole bottle of, like the bottle of J. Herbin Rouge Bourgogne that my girlfriend has ditched for Noodler's Cactus Fruit Eel (gorgeous, and highly recommended).
ReplyDeleteNice work on this!
Thanks man!
ReplyDeleteI really like this color, but unfortunately, it is too bright to be practical for a scholastic setting (my primary use). Mixing inks is always fun though, regardless of the end result.
ReplyDeleteOh I wouldn't use it in an official setting (unless they permit something like that). But it's fun to use it in more casual circumstances, for art, calligraphy and so on. Stay tuned for my next ink mix. It's more somber so I would like to hear your opinion on it.
ReplyDeleteBTW, are you a student or a teacher?
I like it; in fact, I like it a lot.
ReplyDeleteAbsinthe
ReplyDeleteHah you're right! I googled "absinthe green" and that's exactly it.
ReplyDeleteThis looks really awesome! That shading really is quite dramatic. ARGGHHHH....I'm trying to avoid ink mixing because I know how addictive it will be, but you're making me want to do it.....UGH!!
ReplyDeleteYou know you want to ;)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the dark side haha!