Mystery Ink #20

[Scooby921]

I wish I had a hosepipe pen I could try MI#20 in, to see if it felt any more lubricated, but my nearest contender for a hosepipe is currently being used for testing a new ink.

If it's an expensive and unusual ink that's dry then maybe I just don't have any inks from that manufacturer?

Scooby, I like the colour, but not the dryness. What brands of pens have you been able to try it with?

I finally added pics to my earlier post. I've only used it in one pen, but it is a Visconti HS Jade with an EF dreamtouch nib. They tend to be very wet, and that's why I have it in an EF. I'm not loving this ink at all, so I must admit my motivation to clean additional pens is very low. But I do own a 1.3 stub dreamtouch nib that I might swap in just to see some broader strokes. That nib really is a fire hose.

I wasn't really getting the dryness that everyone else was, maybe my JinHao X750 is a secret gusher but this is the first ink to try in it. It only costs me about £2.50 on amazon so maybe you can pick one up cheap to try this ink with? For me it was a delight to write & sketch with. Once the ink is revealed I'll try the pen with my normal ink and report back.

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I suspect we are all mistaking the lack of lubrication for dryness. Organics Studio inks are dry. They dry up in feeds within 24 hours (in my experience). This mystery ink hasn't shown any signs of drying up. When writing on a coated paper (like the Rhodia in the pics I added) it seems to have the same longer drying times as other inks (>15 seconds). I'm not sure what liquids get mixed to make an ink, but water is less slick than oil. So maybe the mixture is a bit more watery and less oily than other inks.

[FredRydr]

...I suspect we are all mistaking the lack of lubrication for dryness....

I always use "dry" in that term, not how quickly it dries.

[azkid]

And now for a mad science experiment...

My MB 221 ran out of ink, a pen that flows too wet for Pelikan 4001 black, touted as a dry ink by many. It is only happy with much drier MB Mystery Black, unusuable in my medium flow pens.

So, naturally I wondered: MI#20 + MB221 = ...?

It is a pleasant match! MI#20 is transformed completely in this pen, flowing decently, a nice rich green, with this fine nib transforming lacking lubrication into a smidge of extra feedback.

I actually enjoy writing with this ink in this pen!



Edited to add:

As I understand it some inks use additives that lubricate the paper-nib interface. I theorize that ink flow can make up for a lack of lubrication. And that a surfactant can increase apparent flow. I also notice inks tend to write darker with a pen that flows more ink and higher flow seems to mean longer drying time. These are merely wild pet theories at this point.

At any rate, when I say "dry," I mean low flow. If I also notice the nib dragging more vs. my control ink (Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black) I note it doesn't lubricate.

[mulrich]

Here goes…

Based on prior posts I inked two pens with the mystery ink, a Pelikan M800 (F) and Conid Minimalistica (F titanium). Both pens are generally wet writers but I remembered the Conid being the wetter of the two. The writing samples with #20 proved otherwise, with the M800 consistently laying down a darker line. I didn't notice the ink being dry but again, these are both wet writers. I've only used the ink for a few writing samples, including some of the pictures below. I'll post some more thoughts after using these pens over the next few days.

Since both pens are really wet writers I didn't have any problems with dryness. But, by the time I was done with the writing samples the Conid was putting down a slightly lighter line. I suspect I may have some problems using the pen for anything more than a page.

The ink has a little shading, but not much. The ink didn't feather much even on cheap paper. It was relatively quick to dry which isn't surprising based on others' reviews.

The color first reminded me of grass--light green with a bit of yellow. It's definitely a lighter shade of green and I usually prefer dark greens so I probably won't add it to my collection. The only ink I own which is even remotely similar is J Herbin Vert Empire, but I wouldn't consider these inks similar aside from both being sort of light green.

I'm not sure how long I'll keep the pens inked with #20 since I don't love the color.

Thanks again to Scooby for organizing the mystery ink. Even though I didn't like it I still enjoyed trying something totally different.

IMG_0065.jpegIMG_0067.jpegIMG_0069.jpegIMG_0070.jpegIMG_0071.jpgIMG_0066.jpeg

[Chrissy]

Whether a dry feeling ink is due to low flow or insufficient lubrication is a tricky one because everyone has their own concept of what they perceive as a "dry" ink.

My feeling is that a dry ink just doesn't seem to flow well or consistently through several pens. If I have to apply more pressure so that my pen will write with a particular ink, then the ink is dry. It's not flowing down through the feed as well as wetter inks do.

Lack of lubrication can also be present in a dry ink and that makes it either drag across the page, compared with a well-lubricated ink that needs little effort or pressure to write across the page, or it makes it feel more "watery" so that you get more nib feedback. So a wetter ink can still feel less lubricated.

My Waterman Hemisphere is a dryer writer. When I was writing with MI#20 I felt like I had to press on harder to write, and the ink was dry on my Rhodia dot pad as soon as it hit the paper. For me that was low flow and a dry ink. It wasn't a well lubricated ink either.

[Scooby921]

Chrissy, I put the 1.3mm stub into the Visconti this morning. As soon as the ink works its way into the feed and it puts ink to paper I'll see what happens.


Edit: Here we go...

When you put enough ink down it does take on a darker, more pleasant color. When this much ink goes down on a page it highlights why Apica notebooks are not that great. Plenty of feathering and then show-through on the other side. As expected, the Rhodia paper performs better.

As far as the writing experience goes, it's still light on lubrication. I can still feel a difference in the way the nib glides across the page. It's more pleasant with the big stub than the EF, but still a bit more friction than what other inks produce.

[Chrissy]

Thanks Scooby. I'm sure I've had some lovely Apica notebook paper that was lovely, but a really kind person sent it to me as a sample and I'm not sure which version it was. It was beautifully smooth and no ink spread or showed through on it. I used it for one of the sets of Diamine Shimmer inks when they were launched.

I agree with you that MI#20 is performing poorly on that Apica notebook, but looks much better on the Rhodia.

[azkid]

Apica paper has been a bit of a disappointment for me too, at least for some ink / pen combos.

Thanks for clearly explaining the distinction between dry vs lubricated, @Chrissy.

I may have confused things a bit. To revisit... I said the ink was very dry but perhaps mostly because I perceived an extreme lack of lubrication.

I had long dry times and relatively dark lines on some pens so flow wasn't terrible, I guess?

But the extra flow and smoothness of two pens presumably made up for lack of lubrication.

Interesting stuff! Makes me want to experiment with diy ink some day.

Can't for the reveal!

[KKay]

I do agree that some ink does not perform well on Apica Premium, even if you don't use a wet pen. It writes fine, but it may feather or bleed through a little. I do have certain pen and ink combos that look okay on HP32 # paper, but write much too dry for my tastes. That paper handles most combos quite well, but not all of them. That is why the pen, paper, and ink all have to work together. I do not have the regular Apica paper, so I can't say on that. On the whole I do not tend to like inks that lack lubrication. If it feels dry, I don't like it. In that case I put it in a wet pen. If the increased flow doesn't help, I don't use the ink again.

[Scooby921]

Time to reveal the mystery ink. As I've stated, I'm less that thrilled by this ink. For most it was either too dry or too lacking in lubrication. This is quite surprising considering a previous mystery ink from the same manufacturer. That ink was well received. This one not as much. It certainly has me hesitating to try any others from this manufacturer.


Mystery Ink #20 is Colorverse Sea of Tranquility

[Sailor Kenshin]

Scooby, you were right. i do NOT have this ink! And I never would have guessed (my 'inkling,' since it was dry and thin, was some Papier Plume ink).

I did say it was growing on me, and I will probably use the rest in my Official Firehose Platinum 3776 B-nib gusher.

Thank you so much. I love Mystery Inking.

[Chrissy]

Thank you Scooby for the reveal. I'm relieved I didn't buy this Colorverse ink, as they are expensive and I would have been really disappointed with the behaviour of this one.

I might buy an empty bottle if I get the chance though. It's a nice shape and would be a nice size to put another ink in.

[azkid]

Didn't see that brand coming. Interesting. Clearly, I won't consider that one when I finally get around to seeking out a green ink.

Thanks for the opportunity-- this has been such an amazing learning experience for me!

[KKay]

Scooby, I am shocked. I never suspected that ink at all. I have heard rave reviews about their inks. Clearly this one won't be going on my wish list. It is just okay at best for me, but that is just from what I've seen.

[mulrich]

The ink surprised me too. I hadn’t read reviews of this specific color until its reveal but other reviews seem much more favorable than the consensus here. I used the ink in two wet pens so I didn’t have terrible problems, but it still felt dry.

[ShugPug]

Thanks for the reveal Scooby - like others, not one I will get, but definitely interesting to use one of the new "taking the internet by storm" inks.

I have their blue-back as well (apologies, I cannot remember the name of the to of my head) in a Kaweco medium modified to a cursive italic age haven't found that dry at all. Quite the opposite, without having Rouge Haematite drying times...

[suzy01]

Thank you for the reveal Scooby, I have another note to add the I didn't know if anyone else noticed, after I let the ink sit for a couple of weeks in my pen it came out super dark when I tried to doodle this little Hulk guy. I drew another picture bigger (apologies for the nudity) and it seemed to go back to normal colour but I thought that was a bit weird.

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[azkid]

I noticed mine darkened in the nib if I let the pen sit overnight...

[Scooby921]

Yeah. It does seem to dry up a bit in the nib and this leads to more color saturation, but as soon as new ink comes through the feed it returns to its normal shade.

[Kulprit]

Wow, I'm very surprised by that reveal. I did not see that coming.


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