Flourish Friends -- I'm reviving this thread based on the lively conversation we were having over in the KOUS Shimmering Walnut Ink thread (
https://theflourishforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7665.0) since we had veered off on the question of shimmer inks in general.
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@Zivio @tde44p @Lyric @hudson32 all had thoughts about shimmer inks in general, which we might pick back up on.
I totally agree with
@JanisTX that often times shimmer inks show up much better with broad edge work. However many of the metallics (like the Dr. Ph. Martin's iridescent ink that
@AnasaziWrites showed in that thread) are really vivid and beautiful with pointed pen on black/dark paper too. My favorite of those is the "Nickel" color, which shows up well on both dark and light backgrounds, and is easy to use with either broad edge or pointed pen. I kind of want to make a distinction between "shimmer" and "metallic" because "shimmer" has particulates that float in a transparent base ink and is often safe for fountain pens, whereas "metallic" has much denser particulates in what's usually an acrylic medium (or comes in a pan like Coliro/Finetec or in the form of gouache), cannot be put into fountain pens and is opaque upon application. In general, broad edge works better for shimmer, simply because it lays down more surface area for the shimmer to sit on; metallics work fine for pointed & broad because there is nothing but shine distributed evenly throughout.
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@BrightStar I keep feeling like I might could invest in more of the Pearl-Ex pigments (I have the gold one). I've never used the turquoise one, but it's good to know, per Janis, that it might underwhelm. However, lots of times, I dust the powder onto wet ink/paint rather than mix it into the medium, so it might work for that. I've been considering that particular Wearingeul "Half Moon with Dimmed Light" too though - BrightStar, what do you think keeps it at the bottom of your drawer?
Mike asked what my favorites are for lettering in particular -- I don't really have "favorites" as such. Mostly I make things to order, which puts color selection a little out of my hands, save that it's nice having a range of inks for clients to choose from. But there are a few that I come back to again and again, because I do a lot of work for local groups that require specific colors to match institutional branding. So my "Maroon & Gold" pick is Wearingeul's "Queen of Hearts" and my grey/silver for the local high school's "Red & Grey" color scheme is Ferris Wheel's "Atlas Iron Ore" (although every single time I open that beautiful bottle of beautiful ink, I fear that I will spill it -
@Erica McPhee I've totally knocked over tall, skinny bottles of ink trying to decant them into dinky dips). I keep Pilot Parallel pens loaded with those inks at all times - the way those fountain pens meter out the ink works great on a variety of papers without any doctoring. I also usually have a pen loaded with Diamine's "Vintage Copper" from Inkvent 2021, which I find incredibly versatile. All of them are phenomenal drawing inks as well, but I only included lettering examples here, since that's what most of us use ink for (I've shown drawings of the others elsewhere on the Forum).
How about others? What are your favorites? What do you use them for? Do you have shimmer/metallic goals? Show us your shiny work!
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