MI4 has arrived!
Swabbing is happening at my place. This is an interesting color, indeed. More to come.
=)
MI4 has arrived!
Swabbing is happening at my place. This is an interesting color, indeed. More to come.
=)
Beware of oblique conclusions.
Ooh, I will look forward to checking tonight.
No mail, two days in a row...uwaaahhhhh....
My other pen is a Montblanc.
And my other blog is a tumblr!
And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CM2NGSSD
Im hoping to get it tonight!!!!
It's six degrees out with howling wind! But MI 4 saves the day.
Continuing in the tradition: I love this ink! It plays so nicely with the Hero and the Bagasse, and is a great color for snowy, cabin-fevery February.
Now that I look closely I may see hints of darkish green in the chroma's center and corona. I have a certain ink in the back of my mind (mostly due to the excellent flow and hue) but I'm probably wrong.
As usual.
Thanks once again to the Mystery Team that makes this possible!
My other pen is a Montblanc.
And my other blog is a tumblr!
And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CM2NGSSD
akapulko2020 (February 20th, 2015), Cob (February 20th, 2015), Crazyorange (February 20th, 2015), elaineb (February 21st, 2015), Frantik (February 20th, 2015), klpeabody (February 20th, 2015), Laura N (February 21st, 2015), mustud52 (February 20th, 2015), Neo (February 20th, 2015), reprieve (February 20th, 2015), tandaina (February 20th, 2015)
Ok...I'm hoping this ink is available to buy....I love it!!!
It's a wonderful chocolate brown with a red purple hue. Flow is excellent. Shading is wonderful. Drying time is a bit slow. You'll see places where I smeared the drawing. It me the ink is sophisticated with a funky fun undertone.
Out of the three MI I've tried, this one has completely won me over. I could use using this color regularly and especially for writing notes at work. I don't know if it will stain so that's something I would want to rule out before putting it in some of my pens.
Cob (February 20th, 2015), elaineb (February 21st, 2015), fountainpenkid (March 8th, 2015), klpeabody (February 20th, 2015), Laura N (February 21st, 2015), mustud52 (February 20th, 2015), Neo (February 20th, 2015), reprieve (February 20th, 2015), Sailor Kenshin (February 20th, 2015)
Apologies for the delay: what with the fact I am moving, plus I have had some severe computer problems with my second machine (and with my mother in hospital) I have been a bit tied up.
I will attend to it very soon indeed - based on what I have seen so far it looks very nice indeed.
Cob
Crazyorange, I LOVE your sketches!
My other pen is a Montblanc.
And my other blog is a tumblr!
And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CM2NGSSD
Crazyorange (February 20th, 2015)
Crazyorange (February 20th, 2015)
I have a couple of ideas which I will keep to myself for now.
Laura N (February 21st, 2015)
So glad to see people are already posting their reports of MI4. I have been toying with it all week, and I really like it. I have not yet had the opportunity to take any photos since it is pitch dark by the time I get home. Hopefully will be able to post something tomorrow. Crazyorange, thanks for another excellent zentangle!
Beware of oblique conclusions.
Laura N (February 21st, 2015)
Ooh, I like brown. Diamine Chocolate Brown is in a couple of my pens, and I have a couple of pens ready to try out MI4 when it arrives.
Alas, Australia is a long way away when it come to postal deliveries.
Laura N (February 21st, 2015)
Mystery Ink 4 is extremely frustrating to photograph. I cannot for the life of me capture the color on my camera that I actually see in person. It looks much, much redder in my photos than it does in real life. I took about thirty pictures, but this was the most accurate one (and it's not very accurate ):
My poor photography skills aside, I love MI4. It's either a warm grey-brown or a cold brown-grey. It immediately reminded me of three inks, but I don't think it actually is any of those. I've done some side-by-side comparisons, and I already have an ink that is quite close, but MI4 is distinctive enough that I'd still buy a bottle. It has this weird slightly purple undertone that really appeals to me. I want to know what it is so that I can order it right now. That's how much I love it!
It flows very well. I'd call it a wet ink. I'm using it in a Lamy Al-Star with a 1.1mm nib, which is characteristically on the dry side. I don't see any sheen on Rhodia, Tomoe, HP copy paper, or on my ink journal's watercolor paper. There's no feathering or bleed-through. It's a pretty dark, saturated ink and so there's not much shading to speak of. It takes a long time to dry--about thirty seconds or so. It did stain my hands (it did not wash off with soap), but that doesn't bother me. I tried it in a glass pen and filled my Al-Star's converter with a syringe, and the ink cleaned up from the dip pen and syringe easily enough. I'll report back after I flush it from the actual fountain pen (though it may be a while as I like this ink so much that I'm going to be refilling with the remainder of my sample!).
Last edited by reprieve; February 21st, 2015 at 01:40 PM.
Yeah...your pics are more red. I found my pics look more black. It's difficult to capture its look.
I want to buy it now too. I've got my fingers crossed that it's not discontinued. I like how it's brown...with closer look you see the undertones of purple red. It's so pretty. I have a bit of ink left in my sample....trying not to use it all up.
Here is my attempt at memorializing the event fondly known as "MI4". My apologies for the sub-par photos, but I've done my best to try to capture what I see with my eye. Also, I apologize for the delay in posting results, but I live in New England which is currently engulfed in a snow cocoon, not to mention that we have little daylight here; thus, my opportunities to try to catch relatively decent photos in my free time are limited. Without further ado, I was very excited to be a participant in this mystery ink round, so when my sample arrived in the mail on Tuesday, I got to swabbing right away in my Stilman & Birn epsilon ink notebook. When the ink initially went down on the paper, I knew it was a darker brown. But, as it started to dry, I began to see a reddish, burgundy hue come through. By the time it had finished drying, I questioned whether this was a brown or a burgundy. But, for purposes of experimentation I proceeded under the assumption that this is a brown, and I went ahead and swabbed some browns from my stash, just to compare. I only have a few brown inks on hand, but what I noticed is that it did appear more burgundy when placed side-by-side against an ink I know to be a reddish-leaning brown. My first photo shows the comparison swabs, with MI4 in the top-left, and the reddish leaning brown directly next to it. The other two browns are distinctively more dark brown, falling in what I would call the "walnut" category.
swabs.jpg
I inked up a couple of pens (only two this time around), a LAMY Al-Star medium and a LAMY Joy 1.1. With ink testing, I always start with these because I know how these pens behave and they are easy to clean. Both pens are known to lay down a generous line, and this ink went onto the paper effortlessly which tells me that the ink falls on the wetter-writing side. Being nicely saturated, I found that I preferred it coming from a round nib, as opposed to the italic. Often when I sample inks, I try it in at least one italic just to see if it brings out some lovely shading properties. I don't really find that here.
wrting sample.jpg
I also wanted to see how the ink performed on ivory Tomoe River paper, so I did a quick writing sample. No sheen. This also helped me to determine that white paper is a better companion for this particular shade of ink. That's just my humble, and very subjective, opinion.
TR paper.jpg
As others have noted, this particular ink comes with a longer drying time taking roughly 20 seconds to dry on the papers I used.
I also tested for water-resistance by submerging a piece of paper in water for a few minutes. When I pulled the paper out, the burgundy brown ink color had washed away, leaving only black words on the paper. The writing sample was still perfectly legible, though.
Overall, I liked this ink and I would be inclined to use it. This is a really intriguing color, which begs the question: Why haven't I seen more of this one? I am a little picky about brown inks, but I'm a big fan of burgundy. Because this has a nice, muted feel to it; and, combined with the burgundy-leaning hue, it appeals to me right away. I would have liked to see just a little more shading though. Despite that, the saturation will likely make it a good choice with perhaps some of my finer nibs; giving it some versatility which I really appreciate. The long dry time is something to consider, although it has never been a deterrent for me. The water-resistance properties are a plus. Seems like a good value.
Thanks, Laura, for this opportunity!
Beware of oblique conclusions.
Crazyorange (February 22nd, 2015), Laura N (February 22nd, 2015), Neo (February 23rd, 2015), reprieve (February 22nd, 2015), Sailor Kenshin (February 22nd, 2015)
MI4 arrived today. I was late home and feeling a little knackered, but had to have a quick play before dealing with other stuff.
OK, only did a dip with an old Pelikan 400NN with a B nib and compared it to Diamine Chocolate Brown in a Sheaffer Intrigue with a Left Oblique .9mm nib (for those, as am I, interested in such details).
A most fleeting try out and a dreadful photo under a desk lamp. In any event, my initial impressions:
A deeper ink that the Diamine, and with a touch of red. The Diamine looks a little thin in comparison, however that may also be because I am comparing a dip to a nib feed and am therefore getting a wetter line. I am really keen to see how M.I.4 behaves when doing a little flex with a B or BB nib. How will it shade? How will the colour depth vary? These are mysteries I look forward to exploring later.
In the mean time, an interesting ink that has a lot of character. Actually I now also want to try it with an EF nib - I think it has enough strength to still impress.
Last edited by mustud52; February 23rd, 2015 at 04:28 AM. Reason: extra nib info
Crazyorange (February 23rd, 2015), klpeabody (February 23rd, 2015), Laura N (February 23rd, 2015), Neo (February 23rd, 2015), reprieve (February 23rd, 2015), Sailor Kenshin (February 23rd, 2015)
Cob (February 26th, 2015), Crazyorange (February 23rd, 2015), elaineb (February 23rd, 2015), Frantik (February 23rd, 2015), klpeabody (February 23rd, 2015), reprieve (February 23rd, 2015), Sailor Kenshin (February 23rd, 2015)
Whoa, great contributions everyone. Sadly, just like with a real house, it seems to be time for housekeeping again.
First, I know you'll all join me in lamenting some bad news on the Chicago Blackhawks front (Skrip Red and Aurora Black). League-leading scorer Patrick Kane probably has a very serious injury, thanks to a cross-check into the boards last night. So glad that during my lone free hour this week I was watching that. Ooof. But, since Marian Hossa rose to the heights of NFL Player of the Week after being mentioned on Mystery Ink, I'll count on the power of MI once more.
Second, not everyone has received MI4 -- one sample still remains undelivered in the UK, after two weeks. Bummer there. So we'll hold on for a bit longer for the reveal. I've received two brave guesses so far, but that's all. PM or email me if you want to throw your guess into the hopper. If not, that's okay, too. But a continued thank-you for not mentioning any guesses here on the thread.
Third, yesterday we received a very generous contribution to MI from Neo. On behalf of everyone, including future MI participants, thank you, Neo!
Crazyorange (February 25th, 2015), klpeabody (February 25th, 2015), Neo (February 25th, 2015), reprieve (February 25th, 2015)
Sorry to hear the Blackhawks are kaput. I did see on antique roadshow a 1952 Blackhawk jersey was worth $15,000. Because of you, I knew who they were. Otherwise I would have thought football.
Ah, thank you, condolences accepted, but ... it's not over yet. The force of MI is strong, and the Hawks will fight on. Like Skrip Red and Aurora Black, our Blackhawks will always come back.
Bookmarks