Review: J. Herbin Lie de Thé Fountain Pen Ink

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

Not long ago I started exploring brown pen options in the post Brown Pen Battle. Now I add for consideration a fountain pen option:  J. Herbin's Lie de Thé (Tea Brown) ink.

J. Herbin offers some gorgeous, brilliant, and intriguing colors, and Lie de Thé is no exception.  I found it to be a very pleasing brown tone that seems to dance between all its constituent colors so that sometimes I see more green or yellow in it and sometimes red.  The above strokes were made with a brush;  I've also loaded the ink into my Pilot Penmanship and Hero M86 Chinese Calligraphy Pen, shown here with a couple of comparison colors.

 
Of course, the J. Herbin inks are not waterproof, and therefore are not going to be ideal for all uses. Still, oh man, what a lovely color.  

My only other brown-ish ink right now is Noodler's Antietam, which is actually more of a red than a brown. It's an extremely beautiful color that I've tried to use as if it were brown but the red can easily overwhelm a drawing or clash with watercolors that get added later. This J. Herbin brown, on the other hand, is beautifully balanced.  It works great as a brown that can play nice with most other colors, adding rather than competing.  It doesn't demand the spotlight but it's willing to step up when needed. 

Here you can see that the color works gorgeously both for line and with added water. There is no watercolor used in this drawing - just the Lie de Thé and a waterbrush, along with a gray brush pen for the distant buildings (see my next review, up soon.)  

There are so many beautiful colors of ink to use, but a well-balanced brown gets special points for versatility.  This ink is gorgeous on buff paper and white, with water and without, with added colors or on its own. If you're looking for a water soluble brown ink to sketch with, that will work for a lot of subjects and a variety of styles, the Lie de Thé will not disappoint.

Review: Pilot Acroball 3 Color Multi Pen

The first time I used the Pilot Acroball, I loved it.  From the smooth, clean lines to maybe the best grip in the business, my love for the Acroball hasn't waned at all since that time.  In fact, I keep one within reach at all times, and find myself going to it more frequently than my Jetstreams.  So when JetPens started carrying the Acroball 3 Color multi pen, it was a no-brainer order for me.

The multi pen version is just as great as the single barrel originals.  The ink cartridges write just as well, and the grip is identical.  But you know what?  I can't get into ballpoint style multi pens as much as their gel ink counterparts.  The is really nothing wrong with this pen at all, but I prefer the single barrel Acroball (and Jetstream for that matter) much more than the multi pen.  This isn't the case at all with my gel ink multi pens.  I like them as much, if not more, than the single cartridge versions.  Why is that?

I don't have a great answer, but for me, I think it boils down to my writing form.  Ballpoints lend themselves to a looser, more flowing writing style, and the wide barrel doesn't allow me to write as cleanly.  But I don't seem to have this issue with wide barrel gel ink pens.  I don't know if I am making any sense at all (I am writing this while watching Tosh.0 so my brain has shut down), but I have noticed this for a while.  My ballpoint multi pens just don't get a lot of use despite being nice pens.

Click here for the XL review.

Brown Pen Battle

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

 It can be hard to find a good brown pen for sketching.  While there are a lot of beautiful brown fountain pen inks, they aren't waterproof (with perhaps one or two rare exceptions).  When buying a disposable brown pen, it can be hard to predict the color - they range from rusty orange to ashy sepia, and the color on the label or even the pen cap is often no clue to the tone of the ink.

While my collection is by no means exhaustive, this examination includes several of the most common and most recommended brown pen options.  

The Candidates

• Pilot Hi-Tec-C .03 Brown


• Uni-Ball Signo DX Brown Black


• Zebra Sarasa Clip Tea Brown


• Copic Multiliner Sepia


• Pigma Micron Brown 05 (product site) 


• Pigma Micron Sepia 05 (see above)
  

Visual Comparison

In the line tests above, I pressed harder for the bottom three lines - you can see it clearly in the case of the Pigma Micron 05 Sepia.  Note that some pens showed no variation based on pressure.

Like many Pen Addict readers, I'm a big fan of the Pilot Hi-Tec-C despite it seeming to be waterproof only on certain papers.  At least when it runs, it runs in an attractive way which is usable for art.  Note that the almost purplish hue of the Hi-Tec-C brown turns to something like burnt sienna when wet. I love these colors, though of course since it isn't waterproof I often don't choose it for sketching.  Also see Pen Addict's Hi-Tec-C review for a writing sample in blue-black.

The Zebra Sarasa had some conspicuous problems while I was making the comparison chart above - it wasn't giving a consistent line.  Since Pen Addict's reviews show good consistency with this pen,  it may have been a rare glitch.  I went through several test pages before it worked itself out, but now that it has I like this pen a lot and it allows for more line variation than most of the other options.  I drew the more distant towers here lightly to imply distance - it's subtle but you can see the difference.

  

The Zebra Sarasa also does very well with water - I'd say it's totally waterproof. The "tea brown" color is nice and rich. All in all, a very good pen for sketching.

The Uni-Ball Signo DX in Brown Black is very consistent, has good ink flow, and is also almost but not entirely waterproof.  On some papers, a little surface ink can pick up when the ink is still relatively fresh; you can see a slight cast here as I went over it with a waterbrush.  The line isn't pressure sensitive at all, but like I said... consistent.  I really like this one as a writing pen, actually.  Without pressure sensitivity or a particularly rich tone it's not my favorite for sketching but is a fine pen albeit with some body issues (I agree with Pen Addict's assessment).

I had trouble with the Copic Multiliner in sepia.  It's very pale, and the tone isn't strong or beautiful enough for me to want to use it for adding color.  I really want to like it, since the Copic Multiliner is built to last - metal body, replacable tip, refillable - what's not to love? The Pen Addict agrees.   This sepia (which is far from what I would call sepia) is the weak link in their collection, and I look forward to reviewing some of their other colors here soon - I've enjoyed those much more.

The Pigma Micron in brown performed very well though I've only found it in their 05 size, which is larger than I'd like, and I prefer less of a yellow cast. Still, totally waterproof and a good pen.

The Pigma Micron in sepia is much darker, but it's a tone I found very visually pleasant.  It's a shame that once again I only had a larger tip (05) available for testing.  See Pen Addict's thoughts on the smaller 03 size.  

The Final Verdict

If it were even halfway waterproof, the Hi-Tec-C would have made it to the top due to its lovely purple-leaning tone and versatile line.  Instead it is relegated to "special use" but can't be a primary tool. The Pigma Micron in sepia serves well as a warmer substitute to a black line.  As a truly brown pen, the nice rich tone of the tea brown Zarasa won me over - that's the pen I'm grabbing when I'm laying down a brown line with some watercolors and want the line to sing.