Review: J. Herbin Vert Olive Fountain Pen Ink

Bottle of J. Herbin Fountain ink on a windowsill.



Ink a dink a bottle of ink the cork fell off and you stink! (I've always wanted to use that in an ink review..... )



From the J Herbin website:

"J. Herbin is the oldest name in pen inks in the world. M. Herbin created “The Jewel of Inks” in his shop on the Rue des Fosses Saint-Germain in Paris in 1700."

"Each bottle of 30 ml has an integrated pen rest. They are known as “D bottle pen inks. The “D” refers to the old French unit of measure “la Demi Courtine”.

* 30 beautiful colors!
* Non toxic and pH neutral
* Lightfast
* Water based
* Flows smoothly and is fast drying
* All natural dyes



Like several of the other Herbin inks I've tested, this one is free flowing and smooth. Loads of shading, and not heavily saturated. Using this ink on bright white paper (like Clairefontaine) kind of makes my eyes go wacky. I like it much better on an off-white (like the Exacompta Sketch Book shown above, or the Pen & Ink Sketchbook shown below) While I enjoyed drawing with it, it's not a color that I would want to use to write with on a regular basis. It's too light for my tastes.

The mantra "Gate Gate Para Gate Para Sam Gate Bodhi Suvaha" is for momentum. To be ready for that next thing...whatever it might be. (Gate is pronounced "Ga-teh")



The quote above is from the book, "Yoga, Power and Spirit" which gives an easy-to-read interpretation of the Yoga Sutras.

Herbin inks run $8.75 per 30ml bottle at Pear Tree Pens

See a good article on Pentrace where I think they did a great job demonstrating the Herbin colors.