(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
Today I'm reviewing two inks from two different companies. There's no special reason for combining these particular inks, other than that I love purple and green together. Plus, these inks have been languishing in my queue for awhile.
Monteverde Mulberry Noir
Mulberry Noir is a pinkish purple with good shading and green sheen. I had a difficult time capturing the true color of this ink in my photos and had to enhance the pink tones.
On Rhodia paper, the ink looks fairly flat and not much sheen or shading comes through. The ink did not dry quickly, but this is probably because I was using a large stub nib and had just inked my pen. Later, when I wrote my longer writing sample, the ink was much drier. The ink is not waterproof, but you can see in the water test how the pink tones predominate.
On the Col-o-dex card, the ink displays some shading and lots of green sheen.
Chromatography confirms that Mulberry is primarily composed of pink with a bit of lavender and some turquoise.
Using a ruling pen brings out all the lovely characteristics of Mulberry Noir--shading and a burst of rainbow sheen.
Although the ink flowed well on Rhodia paper, when I did a longer writing sample on MD Paper, it ran much drier. My sense is that the ink is rather dry and might benefit from Vanness White Lightning Ink Additive.
Mulberry Noir is a beautiful purple ink with fantastic sheen and excellent shading (depending on the paper and nib you use).
L'Artisan Pastellier Vert Moyen (Irish Green)
Vert Moyen is a bright spring green.
On Rhodia paper, the ink displays good shading with wider nibs. It dries fairly quickly and is not waterproof.
The Col-o-dex card shows off the shading capabilities of the ink more clearly. There's no sheen to this ink--the splats dried almost black.
Chromatography indicates that Vert Moyen is comprised of light peach, lime green, and turquoise.
A ruling pen allows the ink to pool and shows off its shading characteristics. Vert Moyen is gorgeous with wider nibs.
I used my Sailor Pro Gear Aprés Ski with a fine nib to do my longer writing sample. This wasn't the best choice for Vert Moyen since Sailor fine nibs are really extra fines. Thus, the writing is light and no shading is evident.
Vert Moyen is a beautiful color that reminds me of fresh clover.
You can purchase Monteverde Mulberry Noir from Vanness Pens, 30ml for $18. L'Artisan Pastellier Vert Moyen is also available from Vanness, 30ml for $7.
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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