Diamine Ancient Copper

A rich warm coppery brown, that shades wonderfully. Very much like a gently aged copper penny, but far from ancient; after all, wouldn't that be verdigris green?

Diamine Burnt Sienna

A light orangey brown, lighter than I expected. Approaches what I would call a burnt sienna in its darkest shading, when lighter seems more like a café au lait (or maybe a chai latté!).

I grabbed a sample of this for the scent, and it's lovely; sweet and rich with just a trace of the chemically undertone of ink. Interesting golden brown, too.

Another sample with an inriguing color. It's a dusty, caramel-orange. It might be a tad too bland for larger stretches of writing, but I like it a lot, and will probably end up getting a bottle.

I love this color! I grabbed it on a whim one day, and it's fast become a go-to favorite for both grading papers and for longer stretches of writing. Occupies that perfect spot between red, orange, and brown.

Bright, semi-saturated red-gold; not orangey, but still reddish. Bright, but with just a hint of fade to keep it from being to harsh.

Herbin Orange Indien

Brilliiant clear yellow-ochre-orange, shades slightly, but stays true. This color reminds me of saffron more than the Caran d'ache of that name!

Noodler's Apace Sunset (-)

Another gold/orange/red conundrum. Brighter and darker than Saffron, Orange Indien, or Shoreline Gold, it ranges from a pale juicy orange to a deep, rusty red.

After chasing this ink for over a year, I'm somewhat less thrilled than I would have thought. It's a nice, bright, clear orange; that's it. No shading to speak of, and in most nibs, it's a little light to be used for any long writing. Huge gorgeous bottle though!

I got this at my son's behest, and it's interesting. I think a little light for everyday, but would be lovely for calligraphy or in bolder nibs. A really pretty warm golden orange.

Caran d’Ache Saffron

Orangey-gold, bright but not too ‘day-glo,’ shades nicely to a rich sunset red.

Pelikan Brilliant Red

Orangey-red with almost a salmony tone, not as deep or true a red as I expected.

De Atramentis School Ink-Red

Brilliant fire-red with lavender scent, not yellow or pink. Manages to shade to a light red, not towards either pink or orange. Lavender scent.

J. Herbin 1670, Special Edition

Rouge Hematite, a fantastic flaming crimson, that shades to a deep rust, with an occational flash of bronzey green. In the bottle it has a shimmer, on the page it's vibrant and striking. If you enlarge the swatch, you can just make out the gold/green shimmer at the edges.

Noodler's Rattler Red (Eel)

This is a really nice, basic red. Deeper than a 'pure red,' but without either a pink/purple cast, or an orange tone to it. And the Eel (lubricated) version of this has opened up some more expressiveness in a couple of dreir pens.

De Atramentis Dante Alighieri

A.K.A. 'Ruby Red.' Bright, saturated, vivid crimson red, shades beautifully, but crimson hue stays true. Gorgeous; at last a real red!

Diamine Claret

Less of a Claret, more of a brilliant magenta. Very saturated (but not at all 'day-glo'), not much shading in this swatch, but very clear and vivid. I think this will be a striking writing ink.

J. Herbin Bouquet d'Antan (-)

I don't really do pinks. That said, this is a pretty nice dusty-rose sort of pink. Sort of the range of pinks I can almost tolerate.

J. Herbin Rose Tendresse (-)

Less of a Claret, more of a brilliant magenta. Very saturated (but not at all 'day-glo'), not much shading in this swatch, but very clear and vivid. I think this will be a striking writing ink.

My Own Burgundy Mix

A mix of 2 parts Pelikan Violet and 1 part Pelikan Brilliant Red. It's a nice color, but falls prey, I think, to the weaknesses of both the inks in it, especially the Red.

Herbin Rouge Opera

Soft cool lilac/red, not very saturated. Shades from a faded red/purple to a medium greyed magenta. Light ‘violet’ scent.

Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses

Aside from possibly the longest ink name ever, this is a really gorgeous deep burgundy, but without a lot of the brownish tones that burgundies often have. Deep enough to be respectable, and a very well-behaved ink.

Private Reserve Arabian Rose

Take a brilliant rose, deepen it down just a shade or two, add a bit of purple, soften it with a trace of grey, and you have Arabian Rose. Not sure if I like this one or not.

A version of "Binder Burgundy"

Mixed by 'dflorida' on Fountain Pen Network, this is a similar color to my own mix, but with far superior qualities. It's more saturated, relatively water-resistant (leaving a fairly vivid and very legible magenta after determined soaking). Much wetter flow, too. Fantastic!

Diamine Syrah

Another solid Diamine ink, in a nice deep, warmish burgundy. I think I have tapped out the "burgundy" offerings, as I can't really manage to distinguish them by anything more than lighter, darker, redder, etc. Still, a very fine ink.

DeAtramentis Patchouli

This color is unusual - not quite burgundy, nor really rose, not purple, not brown....but I like it. But what's best about this ink the the scent. Of all the scented inks I've tried, this one is exceptional. It boasts a true, clear patchouli scent that stays for days, and is really wonderful when writing.

Visconti Ruby Red

This is an older bottle, one of the large glass champagne styles. I don't know if I'd call this a ruby, maybe more of a plum or mulberry. It's a rich purply-burgundy, subdued but not brown or faded.

Private Reserve Plum (-)

I think I'd be more likely to call the Arabian Rose 'Plum' and call this some kind of deep red. It does have a purpley-burgundy tone to it, but there is a definite hint of brown as well. It shades well in the swab, but I'm less than impressed on paper.

Diamine Oxblood

A deep, rusty red, heavy with shades of iron and burgundy. A perfect deep dried blood, but a lovely color nevertheless.

Noodler's Tienamen

Clearly I have a thing for brown/red hybrids! This is another lovely one from Noodler's.

Diamine Monaco Red

A rich cinnamon red brown, saturated and fiery but not orangey. Shades beautifully, not as darkly as Oriental Red, but with nice depth. Another Opium red, and another favorite!

De Atramentis Oriental Red

Warm, saturated, cinnabar red, shades beautifully to a deep rust. Opium red. I love this color!

De Atramentis Chocolate

Rich reddish brown, shades to semi-sweet chocolate brown, light chocolate scent. I can't decide between this, PR Copper Burst, and PR Chocolat - I love them all!

Private Reserve Chocolat

Rich chocolatey red brown, shades well to a deep reddish walnut. A favorite!

Diamine Saddle Brown

Deep red-brown, similar to PR Chocolat, but lighter in its deep tones; for me it displays much less of a shading range, and its very lightest shades seem a little washed out.

Herbin Lie d’The

Soft sepia brown with a hint of a green cast. It shades well to a true walnut, but lighter tones don't seem very saturated.

Parker Penman Mocha

Gorgeous neutral brown, ranges from a dark walnut to a true brown, maybe a hint of a burgundy cast in some light. Discontinued, sadly. (I'm in the 'love it' camp!)

Herbin Cacao Du Brisil (-)

Another deep espeesso, surprisingly not at all what I'd expect from a 'cocoa.' I am underwhelmed by this ink, much as I love browns.

De Atramentis Coffee

Deep, deep, espresso brown, shades to a true dark roasted coffee brown, espresso scent.

Diamine Grey (-)

This is an interesting ink. It's a true grey, with no noticeable shades of green, blue, or brown. It shades nicely, and seems to perform as one would expect a Diamine ink to perform. So I like this, I'm just not sure I'll ever use it....

Waterman Black

Slightly washed out but pretty true black; no noticable blue or brown tones.

A. T. Cross Black

Neutral to purple/brown black with grey tones in its lighter range.

De Atramentis Love Letter

True velvety charcoal black, no green/blue/brown tones, with very subtle shading and a heady rose scent.

Visconti Black

Deep true black. (Small plastic bottle.)

Mont Blanc Black

Another basic black. I grabbed this more for the 'shoe' style bottle (the older, more rounded, deco-styled one, not the current blocky one) than the ink- I don't tend to use black much.

Private Reserve Ebony Purple

Deep purple with charcoal tones, nearly black. This ink actually reads black in finer nibs, or under any but the brightest light.

Scribal Workshop Cryptid Series, "Nessie"

A new brand, introduced by Goulet Pens. An absolutely HUGE bottle, of what seems so far to be a very well made ink. This is a nice deep purple, more visibly purple than PR's Ebony Purple, but with that nice plum-ish tone, more red than Diamine's IMperial. I like it!

Pelikan Violet

Nice violet purple, actually a color I might associate with violets. (Although in reality, I suspect they may run more to the blue, but it matches the violets on my vintage chine to a T!) If it has a flaw, it is a lack of saturation, and a dry-ish flow.

Noodler's La Reine Mauve (-)

A beautiful deep blue-ish purple, that has the advantage of being 'bulletproof.' Its permanence comes at the cost of any shading, but it's a great color, and waterproofs are always nice for letters, signatures, and so on.

Diamine Imperial Purple

Nice clear purple, not too blue, not too pinky. Some shading, but never gets too 'solid.' (Did an odd sort of color shift thing in the scan, but it doesn't look that way on the paper.)

Diamine Lavender (-)

This is a pretty blue-purple, but not what I'd call Lavender. It's bluer that any of the other purples I have, but still unquestionably purple. Seems to shade nicely, and wuld likely really shine in a braod or calligrahy nib.

Waterman Florida Blue

Your quintessential Royal blue. Only the barest hint of shading, tends to dry to a uniform shade regardless of amount of ink laid down. (I did all of these swatches the same way.)

Herbin Eclat Du Saphir

A 'bluer than blue' kind of blue. Lighter than Waterman Florida, but with a similar lack of shading. (It's actually a truer blue that shows in the scan, equally dark but just a shade brighter than the Florida Blue above.)

Visconti Aquamarine

This is another of the older, large glass champagne style bottles. Aquamarine is a good name for this color; it evokes the gem, and shades to a deeper marine blue-green.

J. Herbin Bleu Azur

This is a light, summer-sky sort of blue. I actually got this as a pobbile highlighter ink, for which is is OK, but far from eyecatching. I've since sworn lifelong allegiance to Pelikan's Highlighter ink, which I have yet to be able to photograph!

De Atramentis Aircraft

Brilliant sky blue with just a hint of turquoise, shades to a clear ultramarine blue. Odd, but not unpleasant jet-fuel scent.

Noodler's FPN Van Gogh Starry Night (-)

I hear raves about this blue, but frankly, it doesn't do much for me. Then again, I'm not a big fan of blues to begin with. It's a deep, dark, blue-black, sort of a navy. Doesn't shade much.

Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher

As far as blues go, I really like this. It's a blue blue (as in not greenish or greyish, as many blue-blacks tend to be), and it has a richness that reminds me of a sapphire ring my grandmother had. Also, bullet-proof!

De Atramentis Charles Darwin

A.K.A. 'Blue Jeans.' Deep navy blue, not too royal, not too green. Lighter range is a true denim hue. Lovely!

De Atramentis Petrol

Subdued but intense blue-green. Ranges from a sort of dark celadon/aqua to a deep stromy midnight ocean. Hard to describe, but a really beautiful color!

Private Reserve Blue Suede

Very bright turquoise blue, almost a green. In fact, I'd say this is closer to the Visconti Green than to any of the other blues I have. Shades to a nice deep teal, and loses a bit of that electric blue/green when writing.

Visconti Green

Bright and Christmasy emerald green with a definite hint of turquoise, particulalry in the lighter range, shades to more of a spruce. (Glass bottle.)

De Atramentis Ghost

Mournful green-grey, another tough one to describe. Think old mossy wood, stained green over water-logged grey. Has a very evocative (considering the name) scent of pine, water and camphor - makes me think of haunted mansions in the Bayou. Or something....

Noodler’s Bad Green Gator (-)

Another offering from the 'bullet-proof' Warden Series inks. I like this a lot, but I think I prefer the Polar Green but a hairsbreadth, though there is, in fact, very little difference between them.

Noodler’s Polar Green (-)

Waterproof, lubricating, non-freezing, and green. Very similar to the Bad Green Gator, but I think my preference for this year's holiday cards.

Private Reserve Avocado

Lovely soft middle green, not too yellow, but vivid. Subdued enough not to scream 'green,' but bright enough to be fresh and verdant. Shades from olive to deep pine.

Noodler’s Green Marine (-)

A very vibrant, intense dark green. I love this color! Semi-waterproof, meaning it will bleed out a regular cloud of green, but won't actually go away.

Noodler’s Sequoia

Deep, cool, pine green, close to black when wet, shades to a deep hunter when dry.