Lexington Grey: A fountain pen ink review and demo for artists.

[@sharonkatz4451]

I'm finding this Lexington Gray to be a lovely, pinkish grey that has a Whistler kind of feel to it. Thanks so much for posting this, it was due to your very thorough review that I bought the ink. Btw, I noticed in the online workshop on Sunday that you mentioned you also sometimes use a 50% dilution of Noodler's Black. When would you use one over the other? Thanks!

[@mkompan]

Lexington is probably my favorite ink, useful for so many things. That said, a dilution of Noodler’s black works equally well. Why use one over the other? For the reason you mentioned: Lexington grey is not neutral, and has some color in it. Sometimes you want your drawing to be completely monochrome.

[@Cyriljayant]

This is beautiful demonstration. Actually I have this ink and I am using it for writing. One of my favourite inks From Noodlers !! Thank you this share!!!!

[@mkompan]

Thanks! This ink is well known among fountain pen enthusiasts, but not well known to artists. I'd like to change that.

[@starr-starr]

Thank you!

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome!

[@MarioPacchiarotti]

I just bought this ink (following you I was tempted eheheh) and testing on watercolor cotton paper. First results with arches confirm it is wp even on pure cotton (using a vac mini actually very very dry, advice to make it wetter?). I also like the color, and to me if it is less visible in my mixed ink watercolor paint it's a bonus, I can ever add more to fix some point where I need more value.

[@mkompan]

Glad I got you to try it! It does pair very well with watercolor, and to this day is my go to ink for testing pens, and many other drawing purposes.

[@sharonkatz4093]

Thank you for this excellent intro to an ink that will be a great addition to my collection, especially for cross hatching which I love to do since taking your online workshop. Do you also use the 50% concentration in a pen? Does you prefer it with a finer nib or a medium/broad nib? Looking forward to the upcoming online workshop on drawing the head!

[@mkompan]

You’re very welcome, Sharon! I do often use it diluted in my pens and it works great. I tend to use finer nibs for most of my work, but it works perfectly in all nib widths, and best of all, it’s one of the best performing inks in flex pens. Thank you for signing up to the workshop!

[@sharonkatz4093]

Can I request a course? I’d very much like to take one on sketching with pen and ink. To cover quick sketching from live observation, i.e. out of doors and in coffee shops etc . I seem to get overwhelmed with the details and struggle to focus on first impressions that caught my eye. Thank you!

[@mkompan]

@@sharonkatz4093 that’s an interesting idea! I’ll have to think about how organize a class like this.

[@crimson35124]

have you ever experienced any clogging/staining with lexington gray in your TWSBI? i’ve only ever used safe conservative inks in my TWSBI, saving all the stronger inks for my konrad

[@mkompan]

I haven't had any clogging issues with Lexington Grey, not I my TWSBI's or any other pen. TWSBI's in particular seal very well, and are very easy to clean, so I wouldn't hesitate.

[@EdahaniWanYahya]

Great video, thanks for sharing! I wonder if the ink would behave the same on 100% cotton watercolor paper?

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome! I’ve used this ink on 100% cotton watercolor paper, and it works great.

[@EdahaniWanYahya]

@@mkompan thanks so much!

[@KanemiX3]

thank you, I think I should get another brush for value variety. I use the carbon ink for line art and lexington grey as tone they work great together! I have never use the Lexington for line art before, do think the lexington grey will clog up my pen easily?

[@mkompan]

You’re welcome! Lexington Grey won’t clog up your pens. Just take the same precautions as with your carbon ink, by flushing your pens occasionally.

[@hannahskoonberg]

I just got Lexington grey for drawing and I agree it's great. I think it would be great to find a sepia ink with similar properties. Any other favorite inks you would recommend?

[@mkompan]

A number of people have left comments on my other videos recommending Rohrer and Klingner sketching ink, and I’ve seen that they have a Sepia. These inks are waterproof and very popular. D’atrametis has a brown document ink that is also waterproof. I have quite a few inks at this point, but not many waterproof ones. I’m very curious about the Rohrer inks and will have to try them.

[@hannahskoonberg]

@@mkompan Interesting. I was looking into the Rohrer inks. I feel like the ink needs of sketch artists are really different than your average fountain pen user so it's challenging to parse the reviews.

[@mkompan]

@@hannahskoonbergThat's really what prompted me to start posting more fountain pen info. There are tons of videos on fountain pens for the general user, but not so many for artists.

[@mementoetsy9916]

Do you think it´s safe (no clogging/staining) to use this ink on a pilot Custom 74? Or should I use it in a cheaper pen?

[@mkompan]

Yes, perfectly safe. Just flush every three weeks or so.

[@gunsmokeandghouls]

I've heard mixing the Lexington Gray with Heart of Darkness makes the black more water resistant. Have you tried that?

[@mkompan]

I haven’t tried that. Curious to know what the advantage would be. What have you heard?

[@ciannacoleman5125]

Heart of Darkness is about 95% waterproof once dry. Noodler's Black is 100% so I'm not sure what advantage mixing it would have on the water resistance front

[@jemini7353]

May i know the mixture ratio of water and ink inside the water brush?

[@mkompan]

I believe it was three parts water to one part ink. I premix my washes in a little jar, which allows me to test the value before putting it in the water brush.