(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
De Atramentis, the German ink company comprised of Dr. Franz-Josef Jansen, is an ink brand that I'm getting more accustomed with. As I try more of their inks, I've found a lot that I like, as well as things I don't care for. In the case of Black Edition Green, I came away a bit disappointed with the color and behavior of the ink. But, as they say, you can't win them all.
From looking at the name of the ink, I was expecting a rich, deep ink that had hints of green hidden away under a black shroud. Instead, the ink looks like a medium gray-green. It's not a bad color, I just don't think the name matches up with the actual ink color. The green is definitely there, but the black is pretty light. It's an interesting color, for sure, but not what I was expecting.
The next thing I noticed about the ink was how quickly it soaks into the paper when writing. In the 1.1 mm Monteverde stub nib, it felt a bit dry, but some papers soaked up the ink like a sponge, while others behaved normally. This probably has something to do with the coatings on different papers. For example, the ink did great on Rhodia and Clairefontaine, but looked terrible on Baron Fig paper. On the latter, the ink had zero shading and a bland gray-green hue that didn't look very attractive. Overall, the saturation of this ink is on the low side.
On the plus side, there's a fair amount of shading if you're using the right paper. It shades between a dark green and a lighter gray-green, but it's not dramatic. It's business friendly, especially in finer nibs.
Dry time is somewhere in the 15-second range, depending on the nib and paper. This is fairly standard and positive as far as drying times go for most inks.
I didn't detect any amount of feathering in my testing, with only minimal cases on cheap copy paper. It does an excellent job in that department. Show-through was also minimal, which is pretty impressive for a darker and somewhat wet ink like this one.
Like I mentioned before, I'm not sure what to make of the lubrication qualities in this ink. The pens I've tested with this ink do fine, but they feel slightly less smooth. And, there's the tendency for the ink to soak in on uncoated papers, which is something you need to keep in mind if that's primarily what you use. If I used Baron Fig exclusively with this ink, I would be disappointed. This isn't a knock on Baron Fig — most of my inks perform great on their paper. This has something to do with the formula of this particular ink.
When it comes down to it, it's difficult to recommend De Atramentis Black Edition Green. Dark greens are plentiful, and I can think of 5 inks from memory I'd rather use than this one, let alone if I went ink shopping. Given the price of the De Atramentis inks (about $15 per 35ml bottle), I'd suggest looking at some of the options that Diamine offers as a start. After that, most ink brands have a dark green or gray-green that looks great and performs well.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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