Goulet Pen's August 2011 Ink Drop - Finale

The Noodler's Blue Nose Bear ink that was one of the samples in the August Ink Drop from Goulet Pen Company is suppose to react to UV light. The card that came with the samples says to use it on ivory paper for the best effect. Unfortunately I don't use anything except bright white paper because I want to see the colors of the inks and I think white paper does shows them best.

But I do have a notebook that has some off white paper. It is the one I use for my flight log. I'm not a pilot, but I play one in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Here is what the log book looks like. I write kind of small.

So I drew a very simple one page page to test the Noodler's Blue Nose Bear. With the paper in this notebook I did notice some feathering and a little bleeding of the ink. This is to be expected with paper not designed for fountain pens. Yous can see the blue halo effect where the word 'Start” is in this picture.

Now here is the page under UV light. The picture is not the best. In real life you can make out a little reaction, but not much. It seems to be mainly the light blue halo part of the light that reacts. The scotch tape reacts more than the ink. I'm guessing that the effect would be more pronounced using a Board nib instead of a Fine one.

For those of you who want a simple maze, here is the scanned and lightly edited version.

Now I'm ready for next month's Ink Drop. If you are interested in recieving sample ink you can join the Ink Drop here.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's July 2011 Ink Drop - Part 4

For my last test maze of the July Ink Drop samples from the Goulet Pen Company I paired up two of the inks I have used in the previous mazes. These are Noodler's Dragon Catfish Green and Noodler's Firefly. I have been having great fun with these inks because they react under UV light. They can be used for their designed purpose of highlighting I suppose. That is if you are the kind of person that does that sort of thing. The main thing is that all of the inks in this month's ink drop are great inks. They dry quickly and work well in all of my pens.

Here is a picture of the maze with the Ducati Limited pen and the Noodler's fountain pen I used with these two inks.

Here is what it looks like in Blacklight. This was drawn on bright white paper from Clairefontaine. Such bright white paper really reacts to the UV light too, so I guess I should have tried an off-white paper.

Here is a scanned and edited version for solving.

My hat is off to Brian and Rachel Goulet for a very fun Ink Drop.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's July 2011 Ink Drop - Part 3

For my second test maze for the July Ink Drop I used Noodler's Dragon Catfish Pink in a Noodler's fountain pen and paired it with the Noodler's Firefly in another Noodler's fountain. Here is a picture of the resulting maze.

Both of these inks were very well behaved. They dry very quickly so I had no smudging or smearing problems. Both inks are highlighter inks so they are suppose to be relatively faint on the page. After all, they are not suppose to block out a printed passage, just highlight it. The Firefly looks very intense as it comes out of the ink. It looks as if you are drawing a line with pure fire or something. After is dries it is less intense and is very faint. It may not really show up enough to be a good at highlighting. It is however very reactive to UV light. It is very bright under blacklight.

I found a better blacklight at Spenser's Gifts at the Valley Fair Mall. They were 19.95 each and buy one get another for half price. It is a good place to go for your party lighting needs and also if you are into toilet humor. Anyway, here is the maze under UV light.

Here is the scanned and edited version of the same maze. These inks work much better than I thought they would for maze drawing. I'm totally grooving on the sixties vibe they give.

Until next time.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's July 2011 Ink Drop - Part 2

The July Ink Drop from Goulet Pen Company is one that features inks used in highlighter pens. The remarkable thing about these particular inks made by Noodler's Inks is that they react to UV light. Just like the blacklight posters those of us of a certain age remember, or don't remember depending on the amount of smoke you consumed, these inks glow in the darkness of UV light.

The ink drop came with a very cool UV flashlight which can be used to produce this effect with the ink samples, but I wanted to get a bigger light so that I could sit back a contemplate the groovy glow. So I took a short trip to a local Head Shop. This shop is a relic of the seventies which is across the street from a very good Art Supply store called University Arts. I can't recall the name of the Head Shop. It sells all things needed to partake of that culture characterized by the phrase, “Hey man.” Sometimes this phrase is shortened to. “Dude.” This can be used as a response to any conceivable utterance.

Anyway, I looked around at the posters, Tie-died T-shirts, beads, pipes, inscent sticks and burners, buttons, patches, and sandals in the dimly lit shop. Finally I resorted to asking the dude at the counter if they sold blacklights. He wandered through a maze of counters, racks and more counters to the other side of the shop and took up a small box from a pile of other small boxes. It was a 75 watt black light bulb. Perfect I thought. Actually, not so perfect. For when I got it home and screwed it into one of my desk lamps it was a dud. “Dude”, I said, “It's a dud.”

So the photo posted here was taken with the light from the ink drop flashlight. This is the test maze glowing in its light.

Here is the test maze in normal light.

It was drawn using the Dragon Catfish Green and the Dragon Catfish Pink. These Noodler's inks behaved very well. They dried quite quickly as they should for their designed purpose of highlighting. The maze turned out better than I thought it would. Both of these inks contrast enough with the white paper to be easily seen. For the maze I used the inks in a Noodler's Fountain pen and a Ducati Limited. The pens worked well in both of these pens.

Here is the scanned and lightly edited version of the maze.

I'll have another test maze later.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's June 2011 Ink Drop - Finale

The last sample to test from the June Ink Drop was the Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-gao. I saved this ink for last because it is the priciest of the bunch. The thought of trying this ink in one of Noodler's 14 dollar fountain pens intrigued me even though I would normally use it in one of my Pilot Vanishing Point pens. So I inked up one of my Noodler's pens with this upscale ink and used it to draw my final June test maze.

I paired the Asa-gao with the Noodler's Nightshade in my other Noodler's pen. Here is the real life version of the resulting maze.

As you can see there was plenty of smudging, smears and messes to screw up the work. The biggest blotch happened on the left hand side of the maze when the pen spilled out a huge drop of the Asa-gao. Up to that point the pen and ink had done fairly well. Let's be frank. The Noodler's pens have problems and are not ideally suited for precise work. The nib is relatively large and nail-like which makes it difficult to pick up a line for a continuation. The line varies in width quite a bit which can be a plus, but not for the mazes. But they are inexpensive and adequate for normal writing. Ink evaporates from the pen quite quickly, though this can be slowed by taping over the hole in the side of the cap.

Still it was surprising and disappointing to see a blob of ink spill from the pen. The cause, I believe, was an accidental twist of the knob on the end of the pen which forced too much ink to the nib. It was probably my fault.

The Pilot Iroshizuku is a great ink though. The color is a bold bright blue reminding me a bit of the Bay State Blue. It is better behaved than that blue. It shades a little even with this smallish nib. It dries quickly as well which I like. If I were a rich man, I'd buy it and all of the Pilot Iroshizuku colors. Sadly … that will have to wait.

Here is the scanned and edited version for solving.

Well, that do it for the June Ink Drop. I have a couple of days before the July Ink Drop drops in.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's June 2011 Ink Drop - Part 4

The third test maze for the June Ink Drop paired the same Sailor Jentle Sky High with the Private Reserve Midnight Blues. The Sky High was still in my Ducati pen and I put the Midnight Blues in one of my Noodler's Fountain pens. Again I did a checkboard sort of pattern with the colors. There is just enough difference between the two inks for it to show up.

I have already discussed the Sky High which I like very much. The Midnight Blues is a rich blue. This sample is a Fast Dry version of the regular Midnight Blues. That said, it still takes a little while to dry. Long enough that I managed to smudge it in a few place, but I have a natural talent for doing that sort of thing anyway.

Here is what the maze looks like in real life with the pens beside it.

Here is the scanned and edited version for solving.

That's it for the day.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's June 2011 Ink Drop - Part 3

The second test maze of the June Ink Drop paired the same Sailor Jentle Sky High that was used in the first maze with Noodler's Nightshade. As mentioned previously the Sailor Jentle Sky High is a very pleasant ink, both in the way it handles and the color itself. This is the first Sailor ink that I've tried and I don't know what I expected. Maybe tattoo blue and hairy forearms, I don't know, but I found it to be a nice surprise. No smudging, smearing or swearing (from me).

The Noodler's Nightshade is not a blue, but a brown with a purple tint. Compared to many Noodler's offerings this one drys fairly quickly. Used in a Fine nib Pilot, I had no trouble with smudging or smearing. I was still having trouble with my hand so I was drawing much slower than normal and this might have helped. When paired with the blue of the Sailor sample it looks very much like a true brown, but there is a bit of purple in there. This is good ink although I don't know what one would use a brown for in real life.

Here is the scanned and edited version:

Here is the same maze in real life. The checkerboard look shows up better in this maze than the first one. The Ducati with the Sky High and the Pilot Vanishing Point with the Nightshade are beside the maze.

That's it for today.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's June 2011 Ink Drop - Part 2

The Ink Drop for the month of June is entitled “Blue Skies”, so it is no surprise that the samples are mostly blue inks. For my first test maze I chose the J. Herbin Bleu Nuit and the Sailor Jentle Sky High. The J. Herbin was sucked up into one of my Pilot Vanishing Points and the Sailor Jentle went into my Ducati Limited.

The test maze that resulted from these two inks was an attempt to try something new. A checkerboard effect was what I was attempting, but there is not enough difference in these inks for the effect to be obvious. This is what it ended up looking like:

Both inks behaved beautifully with no smudging or smearing. Since I always use Fine nibs I don't get much shading, but it looks as if the Sailor Jentle Sky High would shade very well. Depending on the side of the nib which was the leading edge of the line, the color would vary from a light blue to a rich medium blue. The J. Herbin produced a line which was of a more consistent color. It looks slightly dull compared to the Sky High. When I see the two inks side by side I prefer the Sailor Jentle. After my struggles with the Noodler's Cactus Fruit Eel from last month I very much appreciated the quick drying properties of these two inks. By the way the Cactus Fruit Eel makes a very small appearance in this maze in a couple of spots. I picked up the wrong pen a couple of times. That red would go great with these two blues.

Here is the scanned and lightly edited version of the maze.

Two more test mazes have been completed and there is only one left to draw. The thought of using the Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-gao in one of my Noodler's Fountain pens intrigues me since a bottle of that ink costs twice as much as the pen. That will be a fun experiment.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens April 2011 Ink Drop - Part 4

This post deals with the April Ink Drop sample labeled “Easter Egg #3”. This ink is a very nice purple ink. I want to say it leans to the red a little, but next to the green of ink I paired it with it is hard to tell. I will be pairing Easter Egg #3 with Easter Egg #4 next, so I will be able to see if I still think it is a bit reddish. It is a well behaved ink with no skipping or feathering. There was no shading to speak of with the Fine nib of the Pilot pen I used. It is bluer than Private Reserve Plum which I have and can compare it to. It looks redder than Private Reserve Purple Mojo.

I don't know. I'll be totally guessing on this ink too.

For the test I did another decision maze. This time the it is based on the big question kids get asked quite a bit and I still ask myself from time to time. What do you want to be when you grow up? Just start from the question mark and follow any path and you will arrive at your answer. Now all of these occupations are honorable. Well some people might quibble with one of them, but I'm assured that there are some honorable lawyers. I'll be trying this maze later today to see what I will be when I grow up.

Here is the scanned and very lightly edited version.

Here is the same page in real life with the Pilot Vanishing Point pen I used for the Easter Egg #3

This clears out my completed tests of April's inks. For the rest of the day and tomorrow I will be trying to get the tests done for the other two ink samples.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens April 2011 Ink Drop - part 3

This is the second of April's Goulet Pen's Ink Drop inks, “Easter Egg #2”. I paired it with the blue “Easter Egg #1” from earlier in this test maze. I will say that using the #1 for several more pages of my fifth maze as well as for this maze, it has started to grow on me. I had said that it is an unremarkable blue, but it is a nice blue. It is well behaved and dries quickly. It looks quite purplish when it first hits the paper, but turns more bluish and softens as it dries. It still reminds me of Bic pen ink, but if I didn't have a ton of blue ink already I could see purchasing it. What brand and color is it? I'm still working on that.

Now to the Easter Egg #2. It is a bluish-green ink. I like this ink. There is quite a bit of shading with it even with a Fine nib. The Ducati Medium Nib pen I used actually looks like a Fine to me. The pen/nib combination was great, very smooth on the paper surface with a steady ink flow. I did get a little smudging, but that's because I'm clumsy. The shading properties of this ink remind me of two inks from the October Ink Drop. These are the Diamine Pumpkin and the Private Reserve Orange Crush. So I'm looking among these brands for my guess and Diamine Green are not green enough to be this green. So for me, this seems to be a Private Reserve ink, but I'm probably WAY off.

For my test maze I drew a quick decision maze based on the biggest decision that we make in our lives. That question is of course, where should we go the eat? I put down a few of the places we like (Notice that Subway is not on the list. They haven't come through with sponsorship for my Line Around The World Project yet). Then I drew a simple maze that leads to them all. Trace a path to one and that is the place to go eat. It is as easy and yet profound as that. Not to be morbid, but each meal could well be your last so it might as well be a good one.

Here is the scanned and edited (and corrected) version. Speelling is nat mi strng suete.

Here is the same page in the wild with the Ducati pen which I used for the green Easter Egg #2. The cap is post-able, that being technical talk for, “you can stick the cap onto the back end of the pen”. While using the pen I don't post it. If you do the balance is very much to the back. Much as Casey Stone's Ducati was last year in MotoGP. He often lost the front end when cornering.

It will be a busy weekend. I still have three more ink to test. The deadline for the contest for guessing  what the inks are is Monday April 18.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens April 2011 Ink Drop - Part 2

The Goulet Pens April Ink Drop is a different sort of ink Ink Drop. Each sample is labeled with a number and we can guess as to which brand and color they are for a chance to win a bottle of ink. The pressure is on in this competition. I take too long to test my samples to meet the mid month end of the contest. Still, I'm giving it a shot.

This first test maze uses just one of the April inks. This is the one that came in the bottle labeled
'Easter Egg #1”. I paired in with the Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng from last month since I was still running it out of my pen. The Egg #1 is a blue and after the dramatic Baystate Blue from last month, this unknown blue seems quite unremarkable. Someone that saw it called it regular blue. I would be very surprised if it is a Noodler's ink. It seems to me to be a J. Herbin ink, but I don't know. I should test it to see if it is waterproof to narrow down to options a little. Maybe run a spectral analysis on it. Maybe bombard it in a linear accelerator, or use a Oujia Board to really narrow down my guess. I can say that it is an ink that I do not currently own. To tell you the truth although the ink was well behaved, there is nothing about it that makes be want to purchase it.

Now about the test maze itself. It is a different sort of maze. I call it a decision maze. To use it, just ask it a question. Then starting from the question mark in the center and follow any path until you arrive at an answer. It works like one of those Magic 8 Balls you probably had when you were a kid. It is just as reliable and accurate in the answers it gives.

There is a cutting edge theory about how this type of maze works. The theory states that you subconsciously see the maze as a whole and your subconscious guides your hand along the path to the answer you mind really desires. I know this is a truly cutting edge theory because I made it up as I was typing this. Anyway it is all just for fun.

Here is the scanned and edited version.

Here is a picture of the real life maze with the few smudges.

That's it for today.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens March 2011 Ink Drop - Part 4

The last ink that I tested from the March Ink Drop was Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng. This is a dark grayish blue ink which is suppose to have the characteristics of the first royal ink of China. It is one of Noodler's bulletproof offerings and has a limited availability. I found it to be an excellent ink. It flows strongly making the drier writing of my two pens write wet. It shades quite a bit even with the Pilot fine nibs. It reminds me of Private Reserve Ebony Blue a little bit, but it is a better ink. I could see using this as a daily work ink. Then I was born to be King.

Here is the one page test maze which was drawn with the Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng and Noodler's Baystate Blue. For some reason the scan leans much too far to purple.

 

Here is the maze in real life. Here you can see the blue better. Next to the test maze is a page from my new big maze using the same inks.

 

Monday the April Ink Drop will probably show up and I'll have to work hard again. I'm going to take Sunday off.

Jon

Goulet Pens March 2011 Ink Drop - Part 3

The top vote getter for the March Ink Drop selection was Noodler's Baystate Blue. I was curious about it myself, but I already have a boatload of blue ink. Well maybe not a boatload, but the greater part of a shoe box that's for sure. So I was excited to get to try this controversial ink without having to buy a whole bottle. Controversial? Don't ask! If you need to know, google it. It is bogus.

I used the J. Herbin Rouge Hermatite as the base color for this test maze with the Noodler's Baystate Blue. The Rouge showed its fragility again when after more than a day of drying it still was smudged by my hand. The Baystate Blue was amazing though. It really stunned me a bit when I first saw it on the Cairefontaine paper. It is a bright slightly purplish blue. I was expecting it to be difficult to work with, but there was no problem at all. It dries very quickly and stayed where I put it. Very nice!

Here is the scanned and edited version of the test maze. It is impossible for me to capture the vividness of the blue for the screen.

Here is the maze in real life. Beside it is a page from my fifth maze. Fourteen pages are done so far, all completed mainly with February and March Ink Drop inks.

We are running out of month before I run out of ink. I have one more ink to test. This is the Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng. I'll post that maze when I finish it.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens March 2011 Ink Drop - Part Two

The second ink of the March Ink Drop to put through its paces was the J. Herbin Rouge Hematite. This is the Anniversary ink which J. Herbin put out last year. It was to be a limited time offering, but for various reasons has been continued for the time being. As it happens I ordered a bottle when Goulet Pens was able to have a steady supply of it. I waited until the rush was over, sort of like I do when boarding a bus. The bus arrives, a crush of people push their way to the door swinging open. An old lady is trampled in the melee of people climbing over her, and I wait calmly a few feet away. Then when the driver has helped the lady to her feet and she is shuffling down the center aisle, it is time for me to board. The advantage of this approach is that if there is more than one seat remaining I get to pick who I get to sit by instead of the other way around. It makes life much easier. Of course it has been years since I have boarded a bus. A car of my own made life even easier.

But I digress.
This second maze uses the Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman's Sepia as the base to compare to the J. Herbin Rouge Hematite. The J. Herbin offering is a very nice red very slightly towards the orange side. It seems to be a delicate ink. Maybe it is because the other ink on the page was so solid, the red had a fragile quality. It was easy to work with, dried quickly and did not smear as such. You do have to be careful with it though. If your hand rests on part of your drawing it can pick up some of the color and put it wherever else you rest your hand. This would not be a problem with letter writing by a right handed person. It wasn't really a problem for the drawing either. you just have to be careful.

It is definitely not bullet proof. It is not even waterproof, or any sort of moisture proof. This you can see in the real life picture of the maze. Just a bit of moisture and ARRRGGGH!!!!! Let's just say, editing was necessary for this maze.

The J. Herbin Rouge Hematite is a good red ink. There are some reds out there that are better as far as survivability and price are concerned. The bottle is very cool and probably will not be available forever so if you are flush with cash it is a worthwhile ink to get.

Here is the scanned and edited version.

So far in addition to these two one page mazes, I have done five pages of my fifth maze with these March Ink Drop colors. I finally was able to run out the Sepia so I could load up one pen with the Noodler's Baystate Blue. All I can say is WOW! I'll have a test maze using that ink soon.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens March 2011 Ink Drop - Part One

The March Ink Drop from Goulet Pens was a chance for the members of the club to vote for the inks that they wished to sample. I was eager to see if the other members of this exclusive club had the same tastes as I do. I have to admit that I didn't vote myself. I follow Tolstoy's practice nowadays when it comes to voting. As it turns out I was very happy with the selections of ink. The only problem was a leak from one of the sample bottles which spoiled the labels on the bottles. Brian Goulet would replace the sample which leaked, but to tell you the truth, if he did it would only make more work for both of us. For Brian to send it and for me to test it. Did I ever mention that I'm very lazy?

The inks of the March 2011 Ink Drop are:

Noddler's Baystate Blue - This ink got 23% of the vote.
J.Herbin Rouge Hermatite - This ink got 11% of the vote. It is the 1670 Anniversary ink.
Diamine Red Dragon - This ink got 10% of the vote. This was the one that leaked.
Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng - This is one was chosen by Brian and Rachel.
Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman' Sepia - This is another one chosen by Brian and Rachel.

The first ink I tested was the Noodler's Manjiro Hakahama Whaleman's Sepia. I love the name, even though I worried that I would run the pen out of ink before I finished writing the name out. I used the Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue to pair it with. The Noodler's Sepia was a good ink. It went on the page very wet, but dried quickly. It was fairly easy to avoid smearing. It was not as brown as I expected. It seemed to be more of a bluish gray at least when paired up with the Supershow Blue. According to the note sent with the Ink Drop it is bulletproof, and it might be. I wouldn't count on it being so if I was standing in front of a firing squad though. And it did run a little on a paper that got wet at work. Not badly, but enough to notice.

Here is the scanned and lightly edited version of my simple test maze.

Along with the five sample bottles, the Ink Drop comes with a sheet which describes the inks. For the Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama Whaleman's Sepia the sheet mentions that it is based on the whaler's logbook ink of the 1840s. Pretty cool! I'm a sucker for anything along this line.

There was also a bookmark, a business card and two nice stickers. Once the rain stops I will put the Ink Drop Club sticker on my motorcycle. Here is the maze in real life.

There you have one of the inks. I will have more for you later.

Jon

Goulet Pen's February 2011 Ink Drop - Part Three

Here is another in my series of Ink Drop mazes. This one page maze was drawn using J. Herbin Rose Cyclamin which is a February ink and Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue which is not. These colors paired up very nicely. The Rose Cyclamin is a good well behaved ink. I had zero problems with it. The Supershow Blue was a pain on this paper. It took quite awhile to dry and I smudged it all over the place. The Rose drew a consistent line with little color variation which is really a violet.

Here is the scanned and lightly edited version.

Here is the raw version where you can zoom in and see all of the blue smudges.

That's about it for today.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's February 2011 Ink Drop – Part Two

Today I bring you a single page maze drawn with one of this month's Ink Drop colors. That color is Noodler's Ottoman Rose. Again I used Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue as a contrasting color even though it is not an Ink Drop color. As I mentioned earlier, this blue is my all time favorite color. At least for now.

The Ottoman Rose is a great ink. It seemed to take a little longer to dry than the Shah's Rose. Since I tend to be a slob, this meant that I had a few smudges where my hand rested on completed lines. To me the color reminded me of blood. It was deep red when wet and dried with a bit of a brownish cast. If you had to sign a contract in blood, say with the devil for you soul, this would make a good substitute. I don't know what legal difficulties might arise with the Prince of Darkness if you did use ink instead of blood, but if you are squeamish about pricking your finger to provide the blood, definitely use this ink instead. Check with a lawyer before signing any contract with the devil.

Anyway here is the simple maze that resulted from the pairing of these two inks. I edited out the worst of the smudging and it spot where a tiny speck of water fell on the page.

Here is the maze in the raw so that you can see the mistakes.

 

So, two down and three more inks to go for this month. As I said before, I probably will not have time to do a maze for Private Reserve Arabian Rose. This ink I already have and have used for my fourth maze.

Jonathan

Goulet Pen's February 2011 Ink Drop - Part One

Way back when I started this blog, one of the main features was test mazes using the Goulet Pens Ink Drop samples. This turned out to be a rather large chore mainly because it took so much work to run the ink out of my pens. And I'm sure that has not changed. Still, it was fun for me to do the simpler mazes that I did for the tests. So I've decided to have another go at it.

For the month of February Brian and Rachel Goulet came up with a Valentine's Day themed selection of colors. They called this Ink Drop, “My Inky Valentine”. All of the inks have the word Rose in their name. So, in the February Ink Drop we find:

J. Herbin Rose Cyclamen

Noodler's Ottoman Rose

Noodler's Shah's Rose

Private Reserve Arabian Rose

Private Reserve Rose Rage

I may or may not use Private Reserve Arabian Rose in a maze. It turns out that I already have used that color of ink. I like it and it will be very interesting to compare it to the others in this selection, but I may not have the time to do a maze with it this month.

Anyway, here is what the February Ink Drop looks like. They package has been streamlined over the months as Goulet Pens' work load has increased. Their margins on this project must be razor thin with all the work preparing and mailing thousands of samples each month. Some months have had a sixth bonus sample, which adds to their work and mine when I test them.

The idea for my test mazes this month is to draw a one page maze using one of the Ink Drop colors and a contrasting blue color. I tend to enjoy using contrasting rather than harmonizing colors more often, so the blues are good for me. Not to mention that they were the two colors I had in my two pens when the Ink Drop arrived. The blues you see in these mazes are Private Reserve DC Super Show Blue and Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue. The latter color is my all time favorite.

The completed maze to the right has been drawn with the aforementioned Lake Placid Blue and the Noodler's Shah's Rose from the Ink Drop. I was very impressed by how well this Noodler's offering worked on the Clairefontaine paper. It dried quite quickly so that I only had one smug with it.

Here is a scanned and edited version of the first of these test mazes. Enjoy!

I will have more of these simple mazes as I complete them.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens' October 2010 Ink Drop Finale

Here we go, the last of the series. This one uses the final two colors of the October Ink Drop, Private Reserve Orange Crush and Noodler's Beaver. I found that the Orange Crush had a similar smudging problem as the Pelikan Edelstein Sapphire. Again this was due to the longer drying time. This doesn't show up on the mazes I post on here very much, because I do a quick edit on them. I'd rather show you a solvable maze than show you the smudges. The Orange Crush was like drawing with a pen filled with two colors because of the extreme shading, even with my fine nib. I like the effect, others might be put off by it. The Beaver is a very good brown on the red side. So, here it is:

October Ink Drop Test Maze 3

The bottom line on the inks:

All of the inks are perfectly acceptable in my Fine nib pens. Even the smudging was more my fault than the ink's fault. For my picks it comes down to what will expand the range of colors and brands I have. Since all of my current inks are Private Reserve offerings, I am eager to buy something else. Color wise the Noodler's Beaver and the Diamine Pumpkin are the biggest departures from my existing palette. I'm leaning towards the Pumpkin, but it is a close call.

Well, I am happy to have finished October before November's Ink Drop arrives!

Next up, the start of my first real maze. This series of posts will last ... Never mind, I don't want to scare you off, so I'll keep that information to myself for now.

Jonathan

Goulet Pens' October 2010 Ink Drop Part Two

Here is the second test of the October Ink Drop inks. This maze makes use of three of the inks. One is Noodler's Red which was used in the first maze. The other two colors are Diamine Syrah and Diamine Pumpkin. I really like both of these colors and the ink behaved itself very well. In a fine point pen the Syrah looks close to Private Reserve Black Cherry with a bit more red in it. The Pumpkin is something I don't have anything close to. The luminosity on the white paper reminds me of one of my favorite colors, that is Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue. Of course the color itself could hardly be more different. It makes me want a big slice of pumpkin pie. Well, to be honest I normally do anyway.

October Ink Drop Test Maze Two

Now I have to run both of my pens dry before I can start the next test maze.