Noodler's Pasternak - A poetic grey....

[Yazeh]

A complex grey belonging to the Russian series, an homage to the great Russian Poet, Boris Pasternak.
In its early iteration (2012) this ink was purple

Pasternak was born in an integrated Jewish Russian family. His father was a painter, his mother a pianist. As a four-year-old, Tolstoy visited their house, to listen Pasternak’s mother play the piano.
A young Pasternak by his father Leonid 1910, Courtesy of Wikipedia.

In his youth he met Alexander Scriabin, the great Russian composer, and decided to become a musician but after six years of toil he realized he had no talent. So, he abandoned music and studied philosophy in Germany, but to no avail. Thankfully he settled on literature: Poetry and translation

Here is a sample of his work (translation used from Poemhunter) on TR 68gr
1Pasternak - TR68gr.jpeg
and Midori…
2Pasternak - Midori.jpeg


While like many Russians artists, he embraced the promise of the revolution, he soon became disillusioned. He survived the great purge. It is said that Stalin had written besides his name: leave alone this cloud dweller. Yet his lover was sent to the gulag and had a miscarriage. Some say he survived maybe, because he translated works of Georgian Literature. Stalin was from Georgia/Russia.

The culmination of his work was Dr. Zhivago, his only work of prose, for which and his poetry he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature, which brought him disgrace. He died two years later.
Sketych - Midori.jpeg



He died two years after, is dishonour for having accepted/awarded the Nobel prize (though he rejected it, 6 days after). Dr. Zhivago was published in Russia in 1988.

I don’t know why Nathan has settled on grey. I am not familiar enough with Pasternak’s work. However, the complexity of the chroma has convinced that the literary imagery of this genius would demand a cacophony of colour to create a vibrant grey.
Chroma.jpeg

Now for the ink:
This is a dream ink for an occasional sketcher, on good fountain pen paper. The ink is wetter than the other Russian inks, I tried and it would embrace copy paper like a long-lost lover, never to let go. I preferred it most in my medium Jinhao. I enjoyed less with EF/F nibs, though truth be said, I’m not a fan of fine lines in general, unless I’m doodling. With TWSBI Stub, was a bit difficult to control. Though enjoyable to write.

Here is an unrelated sketch:
Sketch - TR68gr 1.jpg

Note Russian series inks are more expensive than standard bulletproof inks.
Ink is bulletproof. However, excess ink will wash away as you can see on the left image.
Passternak Watwetest.jpeg


· Pens used: TWSBI Go STUB – Jinaho 450 fude/ medium nib, No name F/EF nibs.
· Shading: Quite a bit on good paper.
· Ghosting: No
· Bleed through: Yes on copy paper
· Flow Rate: Wet
· Lubrication: Cushiony
· Nib Dry-out: No.
· Start-up: No
· Saturation: Deep rich grey. Though on absorbent paper it turns into a dull grey.
· Shading Potential: Yes
· Sheen: None
· Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed
· Nib Creep / “Crud”: No
· Staining (pen): Very easy to clean…
· Clogging: None
· Water resistance: Excellent
· Availability: 90 ml bottles