*of the ones I have and can afford! Any comments saying ‘oh you didn’t try this ink’ and such pedantry will require an automatic forfeit of sending me that bottle of ink, for free. 😛
Not done a equipment review for quite a while – over the last few years I’ve been trying out carbon inks aka nano-particle inks – special inks that work in fountain pens that are permanent, waterproof and usually lightfast. I recently bought some Platinum Carbon Black and was rather disappointed <spoilers!> so thought I’d finally do a side-by-side comparison with the five inks I have that are all black, with examples and my views on each.
Most reviews I’ve seen have been from a writer’s standpoint, whereas keeping with the nature of this blog, this will be from a watercolour or ink artist standpoint, where people are wanting inks to do watercolour or washes over the top.
Paint it black!
- What are Nano Particle Carbon Ink?
- Black is (not) the colour..
- Examples
- Rohrer & Klingner Sketchink ‘Lotte’ Carbon Ink
- Platinum Carbon Black Ink
- Rohrer & Klingner Dokumentus Carbon Ink
- De Atramentis Document Carbon Ink
- Hero 236 Carbon Ink
- Other inks
- Summary
What Are Nano Particle aka Carbon Ink?
Firstly a few basic bits about fountain pens: although they use ink, unless it’s a very special pen they cannot use standard India or Chinese inks as the particles of shellac or carbon are too large and will clog the pen. Most fountain pen inks are dyes which avoid these problems as dyes are liquid chemicals rather than particles suspended in a liquid…but those are not lightfast (they fade in sunlight), nor waterproof or permanent.
Not a major problem for the majority of fountain pen users, but it is important issue for artists who need to use water-based media with ink, and artists who need truly archival lightsafe pieces for sale. In my case it’s both of those, but also working outside I can get drenched by rain/leaks and don’t want everything in my sketchbook to start running everywhere (it has happened!).
So we have some special pigment inks with tiny (nano) particles of carbon that are all those things. But there are many types, price ranges and fancy bottles even within that. And there are ‘hybrid inks’ like Noodler’s which are a sort of special paper-reactive dye. I didn’t test because a) it’s American and hard to get here b) not always waterproof, depends on the paper c) not a nano-particle ink and d) I have had a bad experience with Noodler’s pens, so why should I spend more on their inks?
(Oh and EDIT: e) Noodler’s is run by a alt-right-winger who put the literal ‘Jews With Horns’ anti-semite trope on their ink bottles and has done it twice? – so that’s a massive NOPE from me. Boycott Noodlers, don’t buy their products).
One of the issues with nano inks is the fact they are waterproof and permanent – so if a pen dries out (like my Noodler’s Ahab did – grr) it’s A Big Problem…so clogging is a risk, and then it might be hard to remove the ink as unlike dye ink, it won’t wash away. In my experience very few pens have ever dried out – vintage pens seem to cope just fine, as does Platinum Preppy’s and Monami Olikas although the latter can hard start (translation: it need several tries to make a mark).
One Hero pen I lost with Hero ink in it for a while and didn’t use did clog but happily after a soak in roTring Pen Cleaner came back fine. So rotate your pens, don’t leave these inks in pens unused for a long time…
These inks are usually described as ‘Document’ or ‘Archival’ inks – usually meant for signing important contracts, wedding registries, etc – an ink that can survive being wet, not wash out, and last a long time for legal reasons. But artists can use them too.
Black Is (Not) The Colour
Your science teacher was partly right when they proclaimed boldly ‘Black is not a colour!’ – even as you waved your black sharpies at them in defiance. Yes they were referring to the light spectrum rather than Dylon-ing your keks into goth wondrousness, but black in the paint/dye sense is actually a very dark colour. So a very dark blue (aka blue black), extremely dark red, snakeblack dark purple (back to goths again) etc.
This isn’t usually visible when you just write in pure ink, but when you wash with water before the ink is dry you get a colour tint so to speak. I’ve indicated what these inks seem to lean towards – some are more neutral but mostly they have a cool or warmer shade to them.
Examples
So here are the examples I created on good paper (the Artway 50% recycled Flat White 250GSM Mixed Media sketchbook I use regularly) and shitty paper – some cheap copier paper. Rather than use different fountain pens which wouldn’t be fair as I don’t have five identical FP’s, or go through the faff of refilling and emptying one pen, I used my Zebra G Titanium nib in my excellent Tachikawa Comic Pen Nib Holder, Model 40. Both are much recommended.
I wrote the name, did the traditional S-curves, a hatched black box, some varies strokes and a wash – and then on the good paper did some strokes after to show how the lines and ink spreads into an existing wash.
So hence the rather spidery writing, dip pens aren’t really made for writing, but I also wanted to overload the paper and saturate it in blobs, to see if we got bad feathering. And on the shitty paper we did – surprisingly both Sketchink and Carbon Black feathered a lot on that paper – R&K Dokumentus did slightly and the De Atramentis Document romped home with the title, surprisingly since it’s such a ‘wet’ ink.
I scanned both of these as I didn’t trust cameras to keep the same white balance, and I could then match them in Lightroom. Also scanning tends to exacerbate the issues with tinting that aren’t really obvious to the naked eye.
I have no idea why R&K Dokumentus looks so red on this? I put R&K initially down for a more blueish tinge but red it is!
Real World Examples
Here are some real-world examples, with some new work! The two Inktense pieces side by side show the issues with the Platinum Carbon Black vs R&K Sketchink – I had to go in and supplement the Carbon Black with Inktense ‘Ink Black’ for the Iron bench and railings, something I didn’t need to do with the Sketchink drawing bar some of the distant trees.
Basically Carbon Black just evaporates if you wash it, rather like Sketchink but I expect that of a cheaper ink. The marks are darker though, you can see them poking through the Inktense washes, but it’s far from double or triple better.
And some ink wash examples, you can see here dramatically the tinting colours of the washes. I think I’ve toned down the Sketchink here. Carbon Black comes out a vivid chocolate brown if you scan it, it works here for the image of the filter beds which are that colour anyway, but rather surprising.
I double checked – I didn’t desaturate the Hero ink image, yes it IS that grey! It is a wonderful neutral grey.
Because I’ve never used De Atramentis Black solo in a drawing (not sure why, I think I got it for mixing with the parallel pen pieces) I’ve included a bonus image from an ink I’m not reviewing because it’s a bit hard to get. Some black inks are actually very dark green!
And so to a mini-review of each ink – prices are in UK pounds and are from a few places – Cult Pens (remember the SPRING10 code if it’s still going), Pure Pens, eBay, Aliexpress and The Writing Desk – shop around. And always remember Tim’s Mantra: Newsletter sign up, Coupon Code, Google Shopping, Amazon, Ebay, eBid, Multibuy, Free shipping…there’s always a cheaper way to get something, just gotta dig for it. Even if you have to pretend your birthday is tomorrow or that you’re really a new customer, honest *cough*.
Rohrer & Klingner Sketchink ‘Lotte’ Carbon Ink
I have to be transparent – this is the ink I use nearly all the time in my pens, even though I have dallied with other inks…so I might be a bit biased. But I am up for challenges to the crown, if they are better or cheaper. Sketchink is a series of 10 coloured inks that although not marketed as such, are intermixable in my experience. They are really fast drying, one of the fastest drying here, so be warned: don’t leave pens uncapped and unused for long.
One down side is they tint in washes to a weird sort of purple – this is less obvious on paper but very clear in scans. And I don’t use cheap paper, but in the Shitty Paper Test above, it was one of the worst for feathering. And it’s not the blackest black here. But it’s a good compromise given the speed of drying, the lightsafeness and the price.
| Size bottle | 50ml |
| Tint/wash colour | Purple |
| Drying time | Fast |
| Price (UKP) | 7.50-8.75 |
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| One of the cheapest, fast drying, pretty black | Purple wash, not as black as some, feathers on cheap paper |
Platinum Carbon Black Ink
And now the challenger! I got a deal on this ink as Cult Pens is doing a Spring code (SPRING10) which is combinable (stackable) with it’s current reduction, so got each for under £15. This ink seems to be really popular with sketchers and artists, but I’m not really sure why. It’s a bit blacker than Sketchink but not more than 2 times blacker given the price. And when used in a wash it just seems to disappear?
I was hoping for something deeply black that would also wash better but actually in the examples above I ended up having to use Derwent graphitint’s own Ink Black paint to supplement it. It is one of the fastest drying inks here – as fast if not faster than Sketchink but maybe not faster than Dokumentus. it dried as light as Sketchink, which I found odd given I’ve seen examples at places like Jet Pens where it seems blacker? Also not found of the prominent brown tint in the wash, like it’s Thee Ye Olde Worlde Inke.
Also surprisingly did really badly on the Shitty Paper Test. As much feathering as Sketchink. Uh-oh.
The bottle does has a really nice contraption for helping you fill your pen though. I like that. But is it more than twice as good as Sketchink? My answer is firmly no. I wish I’d just bought one….I do think the cachet of a cool Japanese brand, the ‘premium’ price and nice filler bottle is what is swaying people, but practically and economically, especially when cheaper inks are similarly black and wash as nicely, this isn’t worth the extra.
| Size bottle | 50ml |
| Tint/wash colour | Raw Umber / chocolate brown |
| Drying time | Fast |
| Price (UKP) | 18-19 |
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Fast drying, neutral tint, really useful fill contraption on bottle | Very expensive, not as black as it should be, feathers badly on cheap paper |
Rohrer & Klingner Dokumentus Carbon Ink
I’d almost forgotten this one – it’s a really nice ink from R&K who make Sketchink, but an ink that is ISO approved for lightfastness, and is very fast drying, yes even faster usually than Sketchink (although as always that depends on weather conditions, paper etc). It’s VERY black, the blackest black of inks I’ve used and against the supposedly blackest ink of Carbon Black it’s no different.
The wash came out a strange sort of red but only on the copier paper, not sure why. In my practical experience, it washes similarly to Sketchink but darker.
This ink is a clog risk though, I have had some issues with it, so do not leave it in pens for the length of time you can get away with Sketchink or Hero. I am sure it used to be cheaper too, but seems to have gone up since Brexit. I might get some more of this, and sell my extra bottle of Carbon Black?
| Size bottle | 50ml |
| Tint/wash colour | Crimson reddish tint |
| Drying time | Very fast |
| Price (UKP) | 16-20 |
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very fast drying, very black, good on cheap paper | Pretty expensive, used to be cheaper, can be more of a clog risk, can scan to a red shade, or is that my scanner? |
De Atramentis Document Carbon Ink
I really don’t care what ink bottles look like. I mean like Henry Ford my inks are every colour as long as it’s black (although I do have coloured inks in the Sketchink and DeAtramentis range) and I am very focused on functionality and price. But these bottles are nice, very 1930’s, a bit like Carbon Black’s although no fancy filling device. This range is marked as intermixable, hence why I have the coloured versions so I can mix custom colours for my Pentel Parallel Pens, although now Sketchink has the orange and red, I now use that as it’s cheaper.
And this aced the cheap paper test, which I was surprised at, I’d have thought such a ‘wet’ expensive niche ink would have feathered like crazy, but it was the best.
The washes act very much like watercolour, and it’s pretty black. Slightly slower dry time in my experience, but not as slow as the next ink. Like Dokumentus I should use this ink more, I’m nore sure why I don’t – cost I think (keeping it ‘for best’), but given that ink doesn’t last forever, I should use this.
| Size bottle | 45ml |
| Tint/wash colour | Slightly sepia/brown, very neutral |
| Drying time | Medium/Fast |
| Price (UKP) | 11-13 |
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| One of the blacker inks, intermixable, nice washes, doesn’t seem to clog, best non-feathring on cheap paper | Quite watery/wet for an ink – not tried it in an eyedropper, wonder if it would gush out? |
Hero 234 Carbon Ink
This is the cheapest ink on the list – but not the least, not at all. I’ve done lightfastness tests with most of the inks listed here, and this one had no issues at all. I use it in my Hero 395 pens, and it’s very fluid/wet but very black, and good to use. The major downside is it’s drying time – think continents moving before this dries, it’s not an ink for a quick sketch on a cold wet day. Also talking slow – you can usually only get it from the slow boat from China via sites like Aliexpress…and that means a long wait.
That said, you can usually get multibuy and coupon bargains there, just remember that you might not find it under ‘Hero 234’ – Aliexpress’s search is terrible. It seems to be currently available on eBay for cheaper – but tbh that’s probably me not finding it on Aliexpress. Search for ‘fountain pen ink’ or ‘black ink bottle fountain’ and scroll down and look for the picture. Beware there is blue, blue-black and red as ‘234’ in a similar bottle, check it’s the one with the red diamond with ‘234’ in it first. That’s the black one.
Like ink bottles (although this is attractive) I really don’t care about smell, but some do, and this has that classic ink smell, not heavily so, but it’s there. And washes can be a bit harder with this ink, there is a knack to it, but it doesn’t seem to wash into nice gradients in the same way as other inks without a lot of coaxing. And sometimes you get some speckling or sheen, almost like glitter but not? As if there are larger particles in it, but I never see them when washing. Slightly worrying so maybe don’t use this with important or vintage pens.
That all said – that price! You can get two or more of these for the price of one Sketchink bottle, or 3-4 for one bottle of Carbon Black. If you write a few paragraphs in a journal once in a while that might not be important, or do the odd drawing once in a while – but for a working artist regularly going through buckets of ink, that’s not minor. Then again, just make sure you have time to let it dry.
| Size bottle | 50-60ml? Seriously every seller varies! |
| Tint/wash colour | Varies – totally neutral grey on good paper, slightly brownish on copier paper |
| Drying time | Slow |
| Price (UKP) | 4-8 via Aliexpress or eBay |
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Cheap! Works well in Hero pens, doesn’t seem to clog, lightsafe | Difficult to get a nice transition with washes, slow drying, slow boat from China, bit smelly, slightly strange sheen/speckling sometimes |
Other inks – Koh-I-Noor Document ink is good, very green/black if you can get it cheaply and can find it – but warning: I have never used it as a fountain pen ink. It used to be around £2-3, and now harder to get because of Brexit, but those in Europe should be fine as it’s a Czech brand. It is also lightsafe and a good cheap ink, the fact that it’s a bugger to find is why I didn’t review it – and not sure where my ink bottle is anyway! I think I was nearly out of it…
EDIT: seems someone is selling it on eBay for £3 that UK and isn’t 3-4 weeks delivery from Czechia, Amazon is more like £6 with that long delivery…so it is available, well about as available as Hero ink.
Summary
Now given this long journey, I wish I could say ‘use THIS ink!’ and be done with it, at least for myself. But as always, it’s a matter of compromise.
If money was no object – Dokumentus, Carbon Black or De Atramentis would be my go-to inks, as they are very similar, especially De Atramentis and Carbon Black. Sure Carbon Black is like Dokumentus one of the darker inks, I think Dokumentus is darker actually used neat yet Carbon Black washes nicer without that weird reddish/purple tint (I am used to it now so maybe I am making allowances), but De Atramentis is almost identical to Carbon Black at a fraction of the price! And De Atramentis works on cheap paper without feathering.
Carbon Black is actually 4th out of 5 on this list I think. It’s a good ink, but given that price, only apart from Dokumentus’s sometime weird washing issues does it really stand out. It’s disappointing for such an expensive ink. Not the blackest, might be the fastest drying although it’s close, that very chocolate brown wash like you’re in an episode of the Sullivans, it’s a bit meh really.
But £12 is still a lot for a bottle of ink for me, so Sketchink and Hero 234 (and indeed Koh-I-Noor if I could find it reliably here) come into play. Sketchink isn’t as black, but it’s still pretty black, and washes really nicely if with a reddish/purplish tinge and dries fast. Hero is cheap as chips and has so many drawbacks but actually is a workable ink, if you allow for those. The biggest bargain definitely, along with Koh-I-Noor if you can find it.
So I think rather boringly, it’s back to the status quo with a proviso, I think I’m going to use the De Atramentis ink for a bit and give that a go, and yes, avoid overpriced Platinum Carbon Black. And maybe dig out my bottle of Koh-I-Noor and try it in a cheap FP.
So the search for the perfect carbon ink goes on….
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