How Ink Creates Shade and Sheen - Q&A Slices

[@wholehandedly]

Pretty good explanation of sheening. The phenomenon is called structural color - you see the same thing in bird feathers, oil slicks, disc media (like CDs), etc. Your average dull brown bird feather is colored by the same pigment as human skin. In direct light as the angle changes, you will see specular reflections of different colors off the surface of the feather that are different from the diffusely reflected brown of the actual pigment. When certain dyes dry in a thick enough layer, they do the same thing - create a physical structure allows for this more specular-like reflection. This is not unlike a puddle forming a mirror image, but it’s selectively reflecting certain wavelengths rather than all of them evenly as in a mirror. As far as what dyes are used in fountain pen inks for this effect, I have some hunches: Bright blues (e.g. Organics Studio Nitrogen or Colorverse Supernova) and certain blue-leaning greens (e.g. J Herbin Emerald of Chivor) that sheen red may be phthalocyanines - you’ve likely heard of phthalo blue and green. They are dyes commonly used in artists’ materials that exhibit the same behaviors and are the same hue. Darker and/or duller blues that also sheen red may be made from indanthrene blue (also called indanthrone or anthriquinone blue, commonly used as or in an indigo hue formulation). Bright reds with a gold sheen (you see this often in ballpoints, actually) may be azo dyes. And so on.

[@August3S]

Good explanation.

[@jrdavisphd]

Wonderful that Brian’s hair sticks up to imitate the figures on this shirt.

[@ashisheady8841]

To this day I still love your 'shady ink' video most.

[@pamk868]

Give us your latest top 10 sheening inks and shading inks please! Love your channel!

[@liveforlife2494]

My first bottle buy was Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise and I love the bit of hot pink/red sheen that appears sometimes. Diamine Holly has a RIDICULOUSLY insane sheen of a similar color, and for those lucky enough to have Lamy Dark Lilac, there's a lovely gold sheen that looks amazing!

[@Johan-vk5yd]

If you like shading you can get it from many inks not advertiseded as shading inks. 1.Dilute your ink as much as practically possible. 2. Use a wet nib on nonabsorbent paper like laser print paper. 3. Lifting your pen often and tilting your writing table towards you enhances shading too.

[@smirkingdevil]

Very informative. Thank you for focusing on this subject. My next ink purchase will been a sheen type.

[@HighWideandHandsome]

I'm still pretty new to pens and inks, but Sailor Manyo Yamabuki shades beautifully and has fast become one of my favorites.

[@octopusgoodness1909]

Shading inks can also have compounds in them that makes the ink stick to the tip of the nib more so that it is more concentrated at the end of a stroke.

[@apontutul]

Was in my mind since I picked up fountain pens last yr. Thank you for sharing

[@hurquill2053]

Always informative and entertaining. Thank you. May I add something about shading? Shading can also happen when I go slower on the downstroke and faster on the upstroke or it can happen when I apply a little more pressure on the downstroke and lighter on the upstroke. Even with pencil, if I apply more pressure on the downstroke and light on the upstroke it appears like there is shading. All of this takes practice and rhythm but the results are fun.

[@jrdavisphd]

This so helpful! Great shirts, gentlemen.

[@vergitube]

laser paper is awesome tip. and since i bought my lamy 2000 broad and inked it with pelikan 4001 blue black i have an awesome shading, so i also started to write non cursive just to have more shading :)

[@jagexja]

My dad's very old Pelikan 4001 red ink has a greenish sheen with a medium nib on Scrikss Inoxcrom 77 but does not have any sheen with a 0.2 EF Preppy. I guess wetness and molecular order while drying is key for sheening. Also you can see sheening on some bottles especially if they have some drops on them at one point.

[@gracehuang8571]

I’ve done something similar to Drew regarding shading. Sailor Seiboku shades consistently even on medium-quality paper, so I switched to writing in all caps just to get more consistent shading. It also sheens consistently on cheap Daiso notebooks. 10/10 recommend Seiboku

[@gutfinski]

I am sure Goulet Pen has had at least one customer bellyaching: “What is wrong with this new ink and pen? Some of the writing is washed out and some is very dark! Wah, wah, wah!”

[@Johan-vk5yd]

That’s me, forty years ago.

[@blakeward2]

I'm sure you've already done it, but a refresher on saturated inks without sheen and shade would be great. I want black, blue, brown without any of that ideally. Hard to find options.

[@eileenmatzold1953]

A lot of Kaweco inks

[@eleanorjlh]

Sheaffer Skrip inks IME have very little sheen or shade.

[@tomgidden]

Hngh... I'm not convinced by that explanation of sheening, to be honest. Refraction of the form described (more thin-film interference than refraction) would give a different color depending on the thickness of the sheen. I'm no chemist, but as I understood it, sheening comes from excess dye crystallising on the surface of the paper. A sheening ink is highly saturated with that dye. A dye like Gentian Violet is purple in solution, but mossy-green as a crystalline solid. Methyl Blue is a brilliant blue in solution, but the solid form is red crystals. When absorbed into paper, the crystal structure can't form and it's effectively held "in solution" in the paper fiber, with that corresponding color. However, if you saturate the paper or use a less-absorbent paper like Tomoe River, it pools and dries on the surface, forming the crystalline solid. That way, you get a blue ink with a red sheen (eg. Methyl Blue); or a violet ink with a green sheen (eg. Gentian Violet) It's pretty simple to mix up a vivid purple/violet ink that sheens green with Gentian Violet crystals bought from eBay… I've done it myself. (I don't know if Methyl Blue or Gentian Violet in particular are used in modern inks, but it wouldn't surprise me as the red-sheening-blue and green-sheening-purple that those two exhibit are classic combinations of ink.) You can also see this when Walden or Nitrogen dries around the thread of the bottle -- the crystals that form (and ruin carpet!) are the color of the sheen, not the ink. And, if you rub paper or skin on dried ink sheen, the transfer will be the color of the sheen, not of the "primary ink color"... it's the solid crystal dye transferring to your hand, not the solution. So, the range of sheening ink combinations really comes down to what dyes are safe and suitable to use in inks while still having this difference in color between their dissolved and crystalline forms. However, as I said, I Am Not A Chemist, or an ink maker for that matter, so I might be totally wrong on all this!

[@Gouletpens]

That sounds plausible to me! - Drew

[@randy25rhoads]

That’s what I’ve always assumed. Crystalline formations on top of dye-heavy dried inks.

[@ginathomas8039]

I see where you're coming from, but you wouldn't get the different-color-at-a-different-angle property if this were the case. Perceiving different colors at different angles isn't dependent on the amount of the product. So THAT property almost certainly comes from thin-film interference. I don't think there's any other way that phenomenon *can* be produced (I am mostly familiar with this via cosmetics, but it strikes me as more or less the same thing, just in different mediums). To be honest, what you're describing sounds like shading, not sheening. I think the basic definitions for sheening and shading provided in the original video are not entirely complete (sorry!). A sheen is something shiny (by the dictionary's telling, a "soft luster"). So a sheening ink would be one that has a shine or luster to it. Shading means to give something a darker color. So, then, a shading ink is one that presents one or more other/darker colors. In both kinds of inks, there are pigments/dyes that aren't stable in solution and, thus, separate (like oil and water) and create different colors.The heavier molecules sink to the bottom of the pool on the paper and are absorbed first; the lighter ones float around until they are absorbed and the ink is fully dry. This is why you get more color change in heavier flows of ink, the different molecules can separate more/have more time to do so. Both sheening and shading inks do this. Then: If the ink has separated into different colors and one of those colors is shiny, the ink is sheening-it doesn't have to look like a different color depending on the light (iridescent) necessarily. I would say that iridescent/pearlescent is a sub-category of sheening. If there's no shine, but still separation, it's a shading ink. Not a professional chemist, but has studied lots of it and specifically discussed inks in school. My knowledge gap is in inks and how people discuss them, haha. i'm pretty new to the fountain pen/ink world.

[@tomgidden]

Hi Gina... I'm definitely referring to "sheen", as used in Fountain Pen ink terms. The best examplar that comes to mind is J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor, which has: * shade: a base Teal color which shades with concentration from light to very dark; * sheen: reflective, almost foil-like; monochromatic crimson red, either there or not, varying brightness with angle; * shimmer: gold particles, mica or similar, pretty much the same as nail shimmer powder, but specifically a small particle size to avoid clogging. The shimmer color _is_ determined by interference, by thickness of the mica. This results in a heavy shade from teal to almost-black, an exclusively red/crimson sheen with rough but still largely directional reflectivity; and gold shimmer. However, the red sheen is definitely only red... it does not vary in color with angle; only brightness. In Fountain Pen ink context, shade, sheen and shimmer specifically mean those particular phenomena matching those colors in Emerald of Chivor. The particular demands of a Fountain Pen mechanism significantly limit what dyes can be used... and other than a few exceptions, no pigments. I'm fairly sure the emerald chicken uses the same sheen dye as Syo-Ro, November Rain, Skull & Roses, Sheen Machine, Maureen, Moonview, Robert Oster's many red-sheening-blues; plus a green non-sheening dye to turn the sheen dye's non-sheening blue color into the chicken's teal base. Changes in perceived color by angle is more interaction of the diffuse and specular aspects of their light reflection in varying amounts -- the base color is predominantly diffuse; the sheen is predominantly specular and the shimmer is almost all specular. That pretty much gives four different color factors that all vary on concentration, angle-of-incidence (relative to paper roughness), and the color of the light. If the shade and sheen colors were the same -- say, if a dye was the same color in solution as in solid form -- then it you wouldn't get any color variation with angle; just an extra monochromatic shininess. But even with a heavy sheener like Emerald of Chivor, OS Walden or OS Nitrogen, under white light you do only get one sheen color. And, if it dries around the bottle cap or thread, it'll result in crystals of the same color as the sheen. (I'm not completely sure of this, but I believe there can _only_ be one sheen color as two crystalline dyes in a non-separating ink won't crystallize separately in the same environment. I certainly haven't seen it.) You can also produce a sheening ink with a single fully-dissolved dye -- just mixing Gentian Violet with water and a tiny touch of surfactant makes a vivid violet ink with strong green sheen. I've examined that under a microscope and it's very clear that the violet areas are soaked into the paper fibers; the green sheen is a surface layer that can be scraped off to reveal violet underneath. That is totally in-line with the violet color of the pure chemical in solution and the reflective green crystal when solid. There are many violet/purple inks with green sheen, and I don't think that's a coincidence! It's difficult to make an well-behaving ink that will sheen AND shade with a single dye, but not impossible... it's a balancing act of dye concentration -- high enough to be able to saturate the paper to crystallise without turning the paper into pulp, but low enough to be able to shade between low and high dye absorption. I think a lot of inks that sheen and shade rely on a secondary dye at lower concentration to emphasize shading, with winding the primary dye up to 11 to give the sheen... it's easier that way. On the other hand, the more interesting multichromatic inks -- Sailor Studio, Troublemaker, etc. -- aren't very concentrated at all, and the changes in color are due to what is in effect shading plus a bit of paper chromatography on a tiny vertical scale. I really do not see any specifically Fountain Pen inks that exhibit thin-film interference (except that which gives shimmer mica its color); and I don't think it'd happen... very few Fountain Pen inks use pigments, and I can't think of any that use dyes that separate out… they just wouldn't behave well in a fountain pen. Now, when it comes to other forms of ink and paints, yes, totally, a whole bunch of physical properties can be used, including thin-film interference.

[@ginathomas8039]

@@tomgidden "* shade: a base Teal color which shades with concentration from light to very dark; * sheen: reflective, almost foil-like; monochromatic crimson red, either there or not, varying brightness with angle; * shimmer: gold particles, mica or similar, pretty much the same as nail shimmer powder, but specifically a small particle size to avoid clogging. The shimmer color is determined by interference, by thickness of the mica." I feel like this is what I said. Is this not what I said? lol. At least in terms of specifying sheen vs. shade. I'm not trying to be snarky, i'm just not sure if you're correcting/clarifying or elaorating or If I didn't do a good job of explaining what I was thinking. That said, it was my understanding that there are inks with different colors in them that don't have any shine/lustre. Perhaps that's where the disconnect is. "Changes in perceived color by angle is more interaction of the diffuse and specular aspects of their light reflection in varying amounts -- the base color is predominantly diffuse; the sheen is predominantly specular and the shimmer is almost all specular. " If I'm understanding you correctly (diffuse = translucent, specular = light reflecting), this makes sense. What I thought the Goulet chaps were talking about in their example ink was a more multichrome/iridescent effect, but going back and looking at it I can see that's not the case. I actually came down to the comments section because I was like "wait, it doesn't make sense that there's thin-film interference in these inks, cause you'd have to have fairly large pigments for that, and FP inks mostly don't use them." So I think what you're saying makes sense. Different dyes that let different levels of light through at different angles. More or less seeing through layers, rather than refracting light at the molecular level via iridescence. "If the shade and sheen colors were the same -- say, if a dye was the same color in solution as in solid form -- then it you wouldn't get any color variation with angle; just an extra monochromatic shininess." I trust your experience, as I pretty much have only ever written in black ink, haha. I'm also thinking about solutions in general and wondering (1) it wouldn't have to be shiny, would it? and (2) it would probably also be darker, no? "You can also produce a sheening ink with a single fully-dissolved dye -- just mixing Gentian Violet with water and a tiny touch of surfactant makes a vivid violet ink with strong green sheen. I've examined that under a microscope and it's very clear that the violet areas are soaked into the paper fibers; the green sheen is a surface layer that can be scraped off to reveal violet underneath." If the green can be scraped off, that sounds like it's a precipitate in the solution and thus not a fully-dissolved dye. Genetian violet is only green in its solid state, and if you can scrape it off it seems like it's just a solid that's stuck to the page, like glitter glued down. I think something I'm getting caught up on in your explanations is the use of the word "crystallize". This suggests to me a kind of chemical reaction that produces a new compound that has a crystalline form. I don't *think* that's what you're suggesting, but I am unsure. Another thought I had is that we haven't yet discussed how light and oxygen impact solutions' stability and dye stability. Plenty of things separate when exposed to light and oxygen. I wonder how much that plays into what we've been discussing. P.S. J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor looks absolutely breathtaking. I'm dding that to my wish list haha

[@craft-o-matic399]

@The Goulet Pen Company What ink is that in the photo for this video? It's beautiful! Thank you! Lisa

[@lamarrharding4776]

I recently bought your 8 sheening ink sample collection, and couldn't get colorverse Andromeda or quasar to sheen, what colors are they supposed to sheen? Also the Robert Oster tranquility and fire and ice didn't show any sheening. I tried them on RODIA, Clairfontain, Lazer copy paper. And nothing! The organic studio inks all hand very similar properties with my bottle of sheen machine from KWZ.

[@florencefortyseven]

Fun fact: KWZ Warsaw Dreaming has a BLACK sheen! 🖤. I don't really like the look of that mustard/gold sheen, it looks like an infection 😂. That's probably just my imagination.

[@AlcheonArt]

I need help:( I have a fountain pen in my collection that I really love, but i forgot to clean it the last time i used it (which was like 7-8 months ago) and now the ink in it is so dry that water doesn't flow through the feed to do the washes...what can i do? Let it soak in water?

[@Johan-vk5yd]

Soaking in water with a few drops of detergent solves most inks Intended for fountain pen use.

[@AlcheonArt]

@@Johan-vk5yd Thank you, i'll give it a try

[@JerryBearry]

When using very smooth paper such as the Clairefontaine Triomphe, do sheening inks tend to smear (by accident) and have terribly long dry times? I am considering the Diamine Oxford Blue. I recall Brian saying that the Diamine Majestic Blue is prone to smearing even after it's "dry."

[@gutfinski]

Actually, many non-sheening inks exhibit similar behaviors on certain papers. The reason seems to be that the paper does not absorb the ink. On most papers, the absorption of ink by the paper accelerates the drying process. When there is no absorption, the ink sits on the surface and takes much longer to dry.

[@ashisheady8841]

do sheen ink have oils in 'em?

[@wesdenham282]

Sheen appears to result from crystallization of the ink pigments on paper surface.

[@avgjoeshow4208]

First! Love you guys

[@coziii.1829]

You need to group your shade and sheen on your website and maybe rate them witch one you like .

[@LookingGlass69]

I know it's an old video but I hope you see this comment. What is the ink in the thumbnail?

[@Gouletpens]

Emerald of Chivor, by Jacques Herbin. - Drew

[@LookingGlass69]

@@Gouletpens thank you!

[@ChrisWMan1]

Sometimes it kinda sucks being left hand.

[@rangeldi]

Sheening has also something to do with oxidation of the ink.

[@ashisheady8841]

is it just me or parker quink does have a slight hind of red

[@ashisheady8841]

I think they sheen and shade because they are called so.

[@ashisheady8841]

@@grievuspwn4g3 of course.

[@georgekatsinis5224]

Call me a great basketball player.... I'm still NOT THAT!