AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I currently have twenty-five inks here, and fifteen of which won't be replenished if I finish them. Of the remaining ten, some are secure favourites, but I'm thinking of trying a few others before committing to the rest.
Blues:
Diamine Recency Blue, Sargasso Sea, and Deep Dark Blue won't be replenished. They're OK, and I will keep using them till they're gone, but I do prefer their Sapphire (1), Midnight (2) and Bilberry (3). I also have Twilight and Teal, and might replenish one of those (they are very similar inks), but it's far from certain that I'll get them again. I have been tempted to try something like Mediterranean Blue or Eau de Nil first. I like the idea of a lighter blue-spectrum ink, or something slightly off-blue, but many of them look like they may shade a little too much for my tastes. It's only just over a couple of quid for a 30ml bottle though, so not exactly a big extravagance if I don't like them.
Green:
Salamander and Deep Dark Green will be phased out. Only Sherwood Green (4) will stay. It's the perfect green ink for me. I'm not tempted to try any others at present either. Sherwood Green seems to hit that magic balance of being dark enough for general use, without being weary on the eye, yet still having sufficient contrast from anything else on the page.
Browns and Oranges:
Antique Copper and Blood Orange will phase out, leaving just Burnt Sienna (5) in the brighter of these colours. I love that ink, both in colour and performance. Particularly for contrast, instead of a red ink. Also, Chocolate Brown (6) will be bought again, but Macassar will not. I might possibly try another mid-brown, but I doubt anything will boot the Choccy B or Sienna out of the final array.
Purples:
Amaranth went down the drain some time ago. Far too pink. Even a splurge of Oxblood mixed in, wouldn't turn it around. Burgundy Royale hasn't won me over either, and nor has Violet or Deep Dark Purple. Only Grape (7) remains on the purples list so far, but I might try Majestic Purple for something with a little more contrast.
Reds:
Red Dragon (8) easily beat Passion Red, and Oxblood (9) comfortably beat Writer's Blood too. Oxblood is great as a general use ink, but I might try something a little lighter than the Dragon for contrast use. Matador is a possibility. Poppy Red seems a little too variable across the sample pics I've seen.
All those are Diamine inks. Price, performance, and availability have stopped me straying further. They also perform similarly across all my pens too, and a different maker might not be as immediately compatible with how I have tuned my pens. I'm looking at sticking to their standard range, so I can gradually replenish them with the regular 80ml bottles, up from the 30ml ones I'm currently using. As such, I haven't browsed their periphery ranges. I'd just be paying more for a fancy bottle, which wouldn't nestle together as well in a drawer. Some inks will be kept in as cartridges too.
The only other ink I have in a bottle, is Quink Black (10). It really ought to be called Quink Very Dark Teal, or Quink Humbug (as in the sweets), but it does perform very well for me. I'm not sure I need a true black, and that 57ml bottle will last me a good while.
I'm not necessarily at the stage of wanting to actually ditch the ones that won't be replenished, but I may well do if I tire of trying to use them up. I'll likely be using them in pens with medium nibs rather than fine though, to try to gee them along a bit.
Blues:
Diamine Recency Blue, Sargasso Sea, and Deep Dark Blue won't be replenished. They're OK, and I will keep using them till they're gone, but I do prefer their Sapphire (1), Midnight (2) and Bilberry (3). I also have Twilight and Teal, and might replenish one of those (they are very similar inks), but it's far from certain that I'll get them again. I have been tempted to try something like Mediterranean Blue or Eau de Nil first. I like the idea of a lighter blue-spectrum ink, or something slightly off-blue, but many of them look like they may shade a little too much for my tastes. It's only just over a couple of quid for a 30ml bottle though, so not exactly a big extravagance if I don't like them.
Green:
Salamander and Deep Dark Green will be phased out. Only Sherwood Green (4) will stay. It's the perfect green ink for me. I'm not tempted to try any others at present either. Sherwood Green seems to hit that magic balance of being dark enough for general use, without being weary on the eye, yet still having sufficient contrast from anything else on the page.
Browns and Oranges:
Antique Copper and Blood Orange will phase out, leaving just Burnt Sienna (5) in the brighter of these colours. I love that ink, both in colour and performance. Particularly for contrast, instead of a red ink. Also, Chocolate Brown (6) will be bought again, but Macassar will not. I might possibly try another mid-brown, but I doubt anything will boot the Choccy B or Sienna out of the final array.
Purples:
Amaranth went down the drain some time ago. Far too pink. Even a splurge of Oxblood mixed in, wouldn't turn it around. Burgundy Royale hasn't won me over either, and nor has Violet or Deep Dark Purple. Only Grape (7) remains on the purples list so far, but I might try Majestic Purple for something with a little more contrast.
Reds:
Red Dragon (8) easily beat Passion Red, and Oxblood (9) comfortably beat Writer's Blood too. Oxblood is great as a general use ink, but I might try something a little lighter than the Dragon for contrast use. Matador is a possibility. Poppy Red seems a little too variable across the sample pics I've seen.
All those are Diamine inks. Price, performance, and availability have stopped me straying further. They also perform similarly across all my pens too, and a different maker might not be as immediately compatible with how I have tuned my pens. I'm looking at sticking to their standard range, so I can gradually replenish them with the regular 80ml bottles, up from the 30ml ones I'm currently using. As such, I haven't browsed their periphery ranges. I'd just be paying more for a fancy bottle, which wouldn't nestle together as well in a drawer. Some inks will be kept in as cartridges too.
The only other ink I have in a bottle, is Quink Black (10). It really ought to be called Quink Very Dark Teal, or Quink Humbug (as in the sweets), but it does perform very well for me. I'm not sure I need a true black, and that 57ml bottle will last me a good while.
I'm not necessarily at the stage of wanting to actually ditch the ones that won't be replenished, but I may well do if I tire of trying to use them up. I'll likely be using them in pens with medium nibs rather than fine though, to try to gee them along a bit.
Anyway, I have three inks - Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Red, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, and Cross Blue Black. When I use up the Cross I will probably replace it with the Pelikan 4001 equivalent.
I probably have ink that will last a few life times. I did watch a YT video of one guy testing how long a 50ml bottle of ink would last and it was a couple of thousand pages! Given that I have many decades of ink to go through. It is just so enjoyable with all those colors.
I want a few blues (plus Quink Black) for my primary pens, one dark-ish ink in each (non-blue) colour for the secondary pens, and a few different brighter/editing/contrast inks for the third group of pens.
