Author Topic: J. Herbin (Artistes) Shogun - Kenzo Takada  (Read 679 times)

Offline K-2

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J. Herbin (Artistes) Shogun - Kenzo Takada
« on: February 27, 2022, 02:05:57 PM »
"Shogun" - A recent fountain pen ink from Jacques Herbin's "creations d'artistes" line, in collaboration with the designer Kenzo Takada (高田 賢三, Takada Kenzō), who died of COVID-19 in October 2020.

A saturated warm brown-black ink with red and gold shimmer, producing an effect reminiscent of traditional Japanese lacquer-ware.  As with all shimmer inks, shake up the bottle to put the particulates into suspension - they fall to the bottom really fast.  When dropped onto wetted paper, it bleeds out a compelling range of dove grays and soft periwinkle.  A glowing gold reaction to bleach.  Well behaved straight out of the bottle for broad edge and pointed pen.  It even shows up its sparkles in the pointed pen sample on the swatch card below.  The company advertises it as safe/designed for use in fountain pens, but also warns users to clean the pens it's used in often and thoroughly, due to the high saturation of the dyes and the shimmer particles - so maybe don't put it into that vintage Waterman.  I personally wouldn't use it in a pen with a bladder reservoir either, because you'll never be able to flush all the shimmer out, but I am definitely going to refill a cartridge to pop into one of my Pilot Parallel pens with it.

I'll see if I can post some more drawings and writing samples with it, if I get some time in the next couple of weeks.  But here's a swatch and a drawing of Takada with his iconic hair and puckish smile.  And a photo showing the handsome 50ml glass bottle it comes in.  Note: some retailers say that it comes with a wax seal; it does not, nor is the cap covered in wax like other J. Herbin anniversary inks, and which it is priced comparably to.

Offline Erica McPhee

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Re: J. Herbin (Artistes) Shogun - Kenzo Takada
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2022, 08:39:18 PM »
This is really lovely. So sad though.
Warm Regards,
Erica
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