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!).

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!

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.

Herbin Rouge Opera

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

Private Reserve Arabian Rose

Take a brilliant rose, deepen it down just a shade or two, soften it with a trace of grey, and you have Arabian Rose

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

Diamine Oxblood

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

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!)

De Atramentis Coffee

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

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.

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.

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.)

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.)

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.

Private Reserve Blue Suede

A Take a brilliant rose, deepen it down just a shade or two, soften it with a trace of grey, and yoiu have Arabian Rose

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.

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!

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....

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 Sequoia

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