Author Topic: Diamine Inkvent 2021  (Read 8481 times)

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #15 on: December 10, 2021, 05:09:50 PM »
Wow! I love that you have demonstrated the depth of the colors and described it so well, too. And yes, what an amazing book!

I believe whole heartedly Diamine would LOVE these!

I laughed out loud at “your leastest highness.” That’s me!  ;D
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline K-2

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #16 on: December 10, 2021, 09:50:44 PM »
Your Leastest Highness, @Erica McPhee - I really appreciate your encouragement!  I'm going to reach out to Diamine - the worst they could do is not be at all interested (well... I suppose they could order me to cease & desist, if they really hated the drawings  :)). Maybe after the semester is over and I've got a moment to figure it out, and see what's out there on social media.  I will admit that I live an extremely off-line life.  I am a medieval Latin paleographer -- when I say, "information technology," I mean, I kill an animal and write on it, using the feather off another animal, sometimes with ink I've brewed up from tree parts.  I prefer to communicate via carrier pigeon and semaphore flag.

I'm glad you're finding the descriptions of the inks useful too.  I'll be very interested to see what your favorites are at the end of it all!

As for today's ink.... I guess I've started editorializing more than I had intended to initially, so here's the review of the first one I'm kind of tepid about.  Even though some of the others aren't really my aesthetic, I nonetheless feel like they are excellent examples of their colors and qualities.  This one is...average.

"Peach Punch" - which, I don't think is very "peach" colored though, except for in the mid-level dilution.  A standard medium orange ink - with a decent tonal range and even shading without any chromatography surprises.  It's happy and "punchy" though, and has a clean white-gold reaction to bleach.

Flourish Friends - I'm rather inclined to like orange ink, and I reach for the 2019 Inkvent "Fire Embers" again and again for illustration (I used it for the Inktober 2021 "Connect" drawing), but this "Peach Punch" ink isn't making my heart sing.  It's not a very well-behaved ink, even on superb Col-O-Ring paper.  And, if an ink isn't going to behave well on that paper, I don't know what paper it will perform well on.  You can see where it's blobbed and bled, and had trouble flowing and starting.  You can also see that I struggled a bit to control it in the drawing (on Stillman & Birn beta series paper).  Granted, the type of writing and drawing I put inks through in these "tests" really put pressure on them to see what they can do -- sometimes you find a weak link.  I'm positive that it would be fine if you just wanted a medium orange ink to write with in a fountain pen on good paper (Rhodia, Clairfontaine, Tomoegawa, Crown Mill, etc).  But using it with a dip pen and for art purposes will clearly take a lot of doctoring, and it doesn't strike me as interesting enough to invest the time in.

For comparison - I've also included an image showing "Peach Punch" next to "Fire Embers" (more vibrant, greater tonal range) and the magnificent Pilot iroshizuku "fuyu-gaki" (vibrant, phenomenal chromatography bleeding out pale pinks, actual peach, salmon, and tendrils of buttercup yellow, plus a subtle gold sheen - what an ink!  I used it for the orange field of my Dante project)


Offline K-2

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #17 on: December 11, 2021, 08:46:56 PM »
"Party Time" - a vibrant, saturated, fuchsia ink with violet shimmer.  Even shading, bleeding into bright and soft pinks, but not much chromatography.  Neon white reaction to bleach.

Now we're back in business!  It's bright but surprisingly elegant, raucous, beautiful and crisp; easy to use right out of the bottle; and it evokes a long history of party girls, starting with "the first American flapper" as Minnesota's own F. Scott Fitzgerald called her.

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #18 on: December 12, 2021, 12:29:46 PM »
Quote
I am a Medieval Latin paleographer…

Oh, you would be a very welcome guest at our dinner table! The entire family are history enthusiasts. And my son has a penchant for anything medieval. He is currently involved in HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts - aka the art of sword fighting), and actually asked to study Latin when we were homeschooling. He said his first purchase when he has is own home will be a full suit of armor.  ;D  I think I am one of the few who purchased a giant book analyzing handwriting in regard to homeopathic remedies. So we would sit enthralled while our dinners get cold.  :D

Anyhow, I feel as if we have a first row seat in a Masters of Fine Art class regarding color. I would have looked at the peach/orange samples and seen there was a difference in them without knowing how to characterize it. But you have given us the eyes (and words) to experience and recognize the details. Thank you so much for that!
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline K-2

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #19 on: December 12, 2021, 04:08:50 PM »
Dear @Erica McPhee - Your son sounds like an ideal student.  What a joy to have such an engaged young learner at home.  If I'm ever in your neck of the woods, I'll come over and teach him how to carve a feather into a pen.  There's a very approachable book called "Learn Latin" - it's the compilation of the Daily Telegraph's QED series on Latin: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Latin-Telegraph-Q-D/dp/0715627570.  It's a good introduction to the rudimentary features of the language.  Depending on how old he is, he might enjoy the blog by the military historian, Brett Devereaux: "A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry" https://acoup.blog/ - so many great discussions of historical armor!

I so appreciate you kind words about my work and the descriptions of the inks!  Just the other day, I was admonishing my students that being able to talk about your work in a careful and meaningful way, with regard to the interests of your audience, is almost as important as doing the work itself!

Now we're on to what might be my favorite ink in the series so far -- which is a great testament to how wonderful these inks are, considering the very first ink "Seize the Night" made ready to proclaim it my favorite ink.  And then "Tempest" became my other favorite ink.  And now this is another favorite ink!

"Stargazer" - Look at the shimmer and sheen on the lettering!!  Like stardust on a laser-beam!  Okay, I'm getting a hold of myself.  "Stargazer" is a superbly named, saturated, navy blue ink with multi-dimensional silvery shimmer and brilliant deep red sheen.  Chromatography bleeding out powder blue, robin's egg, cyan, and royal blue.  Clean and clear gold reaction to bleach.  Crisp lettering right out of the bottle, and a dream for blending & shading.

The drawings pulled out all the stops to highlight the special qualities of this very special ink - the chromatography, shimmer & sheen, bleach splatters and salt technique all come together to make the spacey effects.  I did two drawings, because I couldn't stop drawing with it!  And because I couldn't pick between the two astrophysicists.

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #20 on: December 12, 2021, 06:03:55 PM »
Excellent. Both instantly recognizable.
Can't wait to try the ink.

Offline K-2

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #21 on: December 13, 2021, 10:03:19 PM »
“Ruby Blues” – a heavily saturated, vibrant, cobalt blue with a vivid ruby red sheen (like it says on the tin).  On wetted paper it bleeds out clear sky blue, robin's egg blue, and bright cyan.  Reluctant reaction to bleach on the heavily inked areas, out to a clear gold on less saturated areas.

Forum Friends, I had a really hard time blending this ink for the drawing.  I'm actively not happy with the drawing.  I chose a photo of Ruby Bridges as a child, when she became a hero of desegregation.  But drawing children is hard - their bone structure isn't set yet, and their facial proportions are very different from adults, and their skin is smooth and perfect.  And then I was fighting the ink, which is a beautiful ink, but maybe not as terrific for art.  So this one is kind of a fail.  But I'm putting it out here anyway, because that's what this exercise is about.  I'll be back with something better tomorrow.

Offline darrin1200

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #22 on: December 14, 2021, 07:50:43 AM »
I love that blue. It has such bright hints.
Darrin McArthur
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Offline TeresaS

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #23 on: December 14, 2021, 02:00:22 PM »
Thank you for posting these. I  look forward to them everyday!  You are incredibly talented!  I am always in awe of people who can do both art and calligraphy so very well.   
Teresa

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #24 on: December 14, 2021, 04:44:41 PM »
Wow, wow, and wow!
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline K-2

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #25 on: December 14, 2021, 05:31:19 PM »
@darrin1200 @Erica McPhee @TeresaS - I so appreciate your kind thoughts for my drawings.  Even the unsuccessful drawing.

Darrin - in particular, I think that "Ruby Blues" ink would be a very nice writing ink; so vibrant!

Teresa - You are too kind, and I'm flattered that you're enjoying my posts!  I will say though, that there is no such thing as talent, only practice!  (it definitely helps when I get called a talentless hack, as I have been so called many times for the "commercial outlook" of my work).  And if I recall from your Inktober post on "patch", you are a very well practiced calligrapher yourself!

And once again, Erica - I can't thank you enough for creating such a supportive community for sharing and experimentation!  Your good opinion of my work always means a lot to me!

"Red Robin" - a "standard" brick red ink, exactly the color of a robin's breast!  However, I'm definitely seeing some black sheening around the edges of the blackletter "Inkvent" on the more saturated area.  Terrific shading, bleeding out medium terra cottas and rosy blush on wetted paper.  Clean, clear, bright white reaction to bleach.

It would make a superb writing ink - I may fill a fountain pen with it to use for grading papers next semester.  It's definitely red, but not bright, and easy on the eyes.

And you can see how it trends a little more toward a "russet-sienna" on the Stillman & Birn paper.  As for the logic of this drawing... I was connecting the "red" of "red robin" to the "scarlet" of "Scarlet Pimpernel" (for those of you out in the land of the "young people," we olds used to call people who work in obscurity to rescue others from bondage and death "scarlet pimpernels" because of that book and then all the movies especially the one from 1982, and Daffy Duck too) - and so I figured to draw the fiercest "scarlet pimpernel" of them all.

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #26 on: December 14, 2021, 09:30:30 PM »
Now that's an ink I could like - Red robin.
Busted into the Stargazer--will report anon.

As reported by @K-2 , Stargazer can indeed be used with a pointed pen right out of the bottle--the right viscosity--but when so used, it appears black, as you see in the word "Stargazer." I tried it on two different papers--Staples 32 lb., 25% cotton laser paper (what I practise on, generally) on the right, and a piece of Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolour I use to test inks. After writing with it full strength, I cleared the dropper I used to fill the dinky dip into a one ounce bottle of clear water, rinsed the nib off in the same water and ended up with a pretty pale blue. That's some serious dilution, 1:100 maybe? I also prewetted the paper and let the ink bleed into it to get those shapes. Didn't really see any sheen or non-blue colour. Is this ink meant to be diluted to get the blue colour when using a fountain pen? Various dilutions of it would produce a wide range of blues, as you did K-2. I may try a modest dilution and add a little gum arabic (it runs off the nib pretty fast) to get a deep blue and allow for finer hairlines. How to get that shimmer and sheen you mentioned?

Correction:  I just took my sample writing out in the full sunlight, and there was the sparkle of red in the full strength letters as well as when dropped full strength into a wet dilute letter (the first P). All that was needed was more light. Very interesting.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2021, 10:26:30 AM by AnasaziWrites »

Offline Gary

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #27 on: December 15, 2021, 05:39:08 AM »
“Ruby Blues” – a heavily saturated, vibrant, cobalt blue with a vivid ruby red sheen (like it says on the tin).  On wetted paper it bleeds out clear sky blue, robin's egg blue, and bright cyan.  Reluctant reaction to bleach on the heavily inked areas, out to a clear gold on less saturated areas.

Forum Friends, I had a really hard time blending this ink for the drawing.  I'm actively not happy with the drawing.  I chose a photo of Ruby Bridges as a child, when she became a hero of desegregation.  But drawing children is hard - their bone structure isn't set yet, and their facial proportions are very different from adults, and their skin is smooth and perfect.  And then I was fighting the ink, which is a beautiful ink, but maybe not as terrific for art.  So this one is kind of a fail.  But I'm putting it out here anyway, because that's what this exercise is about.  I'll be back with something better tomorrow.

I wish I could fail as well as you do !
« Last Edit: December 15, 2021, 02:01:57 PM by Erica McPhee »

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #28 on: December 15, 2021, 02:02:42 PM »
@AnasaziWrites What is this magic? That turquoise is my absolute favoritest color!
Warm Regards,
Erica
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Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: Diamine Inkvent 2021
« Reply #29 on: December 15, 2021, 03:27:13 PM »
@AnasaziWrites What is this magic? That turquoise is my absolute favoritest color!
It's pretty amazing. If I can adjust it to a lighter color and still get the sparkle, I'll probably buy a big bottle of it if they make it next year. A good ink to sign documents/checks with--hard to counterfeit.