My Best Brown Ink

[@michaelweiler4276]

Diamine Chocolate Brown! So much underrated! A darker brown, but in the right pen (wet, with good flow variation, say, an Ahab) it comes out awfully good!

[@writerlywitterings]

Good point - another very underrated Diamine colour. They really are a stunning company!

[@RichardVillarreal]

I stumbled upon this video. I find myself enjoying De Atramentis Urban Sienna - Love the brown and the fact that its a document ink and won't wash away,

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks, Richard!

[@rdkylp]

My favourite is Diamine Ancient Copper. It looks really good with a fine nib.

[@writerlywitterings]

I like Ancient Copper too, although I think I prefer Autumn Oak - I really like softer colours when writing!

[@cliffordbaker4930]

Interesting to see some that I haven’t tried yet. My two favorite browns are Herbin Lie de Thé and Graf bon Faber Castell Hazelnut Brown, which has a lovely reddish undertone. Herbin’s Cafe des Illes is also nice.

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks for sharing! More for me to try!

[@lizpilgrim1]

I am on the hunt for more golden browns for my ink collection, so great video.

[@writerlywitterings]

Have fun!

[@nauci]

I think you would love Taccia Golden Wheat. It's darker than Honey and has more shading. My favorite brown is mixing those two together.

[@writerlywitterings]

Hmm. I'll have to look out. Taccia is still a new name in the UK, but I think I've seen it advertised recently.

I love Lie de Thé from Herbin. The colour is exactly like dark concentrated tea that has spilled over your paper. I love it! Your options are great too. I've grown fond of brown inks in recent times.

[@writerlywitterings]

Same here, Silvia. It wasn't a colour I expected to like (brown, I mean), but it has grown on me over the years. Just a bit more interesting than having everything in blue or black! And I love Lie de Thé too!

[@ianjackson5150]

I love Diamine Sepia. I have it in an Onoto Magna Classic with an 18ct gold medium nib and it is gorgeous.

[@writerlywitterings]

I love it in all my pens - even the fine Visconti gives stunning shading. It's a lovely colour!

[@semkoot8315]

My current favourite is Diamine Desert Burst from the guitar line. I love the colour and the way it shades!

[@writerlywitterings]

Diamine is a fantastic company - it's really hard not to like everything they make!

[@jamesaritchie1]

I'm looking forward to this one. I love brown ink, but finding just the right has been a problem. Many are to light and unsaturated, while others are so dark they may as well be black.

[@writerlywitterings]

Absolutely - and it does vary with nib and paper, too. So many variables ...

[@mellow-jello]

Currently inked up with Noodler's Brown #41, and is sort of a Goldilocks brown, not light, or too dark, midtones. Brown is a great FP writing shade, look forward trying out the 2 Pilot Iroshizuku browns, Tsukushi & Yamaguri, aka horsetail, and dark chesnut.

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks for that, Jimmy.

[@ichirofakename]

The one brown I use is Platinum Classic Sepia Black. Much darker than the browns you prefer.

[@writerlywitterings]

Yes, I tend to prefer less strongly coloured inks!

[@ichirofakename]

@@writerlywitterings To each his own, as they say.

[@LetsArion]

Have you ever tried J Herbin Lie de The? I think it has a lovely shade and I'm a huge fan of the brand's inks!! They're very easy to handle and have lovely and very natural colors. Vert de gris is one of my favorite greys and their Poussiere de lune is an incredible dusty purple.

[@writerlywitterings]

I haven't yet, no. I have some of their Poussiere de Lune, which I think is quite delightful. I do like their colours generally. They have the subtler shading which I really enjoy. Thanks for that!

[@LetsArion]

@@writerlywitterings just ordered a bottle lie de the and poussiere de lune. Will compare the brown to diamine ancient copper which I currently use for journaling. I can imagine both will look great on more ivory or off white paper! Excited to hear your opinion on it if you'll ever try it! And thanks for all the videos you put out Sir, they're so calming and fun and I always enjoy them in the evening with a cup of tea. Greetings from Germany!!

[@malcolmtaylor518]

Thanks for the video. I too like brown inks, especially for sketching. I prefer always to use thicker paper, particularly for sketching, and I think writing looks good on thicker paper. I rarely use handwriting papers, preferring artists pads or paper. Have used the Diamine deep dark brown when sketching.

[@writerlywitterings]

Sorry to take so long to respond - ill health and deadlines! I haven't tried Dark Brown - I'll have to give that a try. Just now enjoying Cross Black, which seems perfect for line and wash, with perfect dry time and no dissolving with watercolours. If you haven't seen them, take a look at Cult Pens new cahier notebooks - superb paper, quite heavy, and perfectly good (I find) for quick watercolour sketches.

[@0xss]

My favourite colour family! ❤️

[@writerlywitterings]

Mine too! I hope you enjoy the film!

[@pinkpandamiranda]

Lie de the really is so pretty. Will always be my favorite brown.

[@writerlywitterings]

I still haven't tried that - yet!

[@victoriaf1619]

Diamine Rustic brown and Akkerman SBRE Brown get my vote. Love the videos, very helpful.

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks, Victoria - I haven't tried SBRE's yet, but hope to before too long!

[@JBFire97]

I agree, the Sepia being my favourite too. Thanks as always!

[@writerlywitterings]

Good choice - and thanks for the comment!

[@tommarshall392]

I like Noodler's Walnut ink. The sepia in your comparison looks quite nice as well. My daughter has been on her own two years. It is nice when she visits but also nice when she goes home.

[@writerlywitterings]

Good to know! It's just strange having a spare bedroom again (not that she thinks of it as such!)

[@tommarshall392]

@@writerlywitterings same here. Though she got the hint when I started putting other things in the room. There is still one corner filled with her books--her last toe hold on the room.

[@humanfirst11]

@@tommarshall392 sorry for me asking this as I did not understand coming from a different cultural background, but you don't want your daughter to be in your house?

[@tommarshall392]

@@humanfirst11 LOL I love your question. It's not that I don't want my daughter in my house--I do. But she had completed university and a masters in Library Science. We do not live in town and her friends and social opportunities are in town and she does not drive. She needed a place of her own. I mentioned your comment to her yesterday, and she agrees getting a place of her own was the best thing for her. It forced her to move forward with her life.

[@humanfirst11]

@@tommarshall392 thanks, because now it makes perfect sense to me! ☺️

[@harisivakumar207]

To be honest, brown inks don’t speak to me since that’s not my preferred colour for day to day use, however, the KWZ Honey might speak to me to buy a bottle. - Alas, I bought my first brown ink, Waterman Absolute Brown (formerly Havana Brown), and after using if for a while, it’s an OK ink, with some spots of shading here and there, and colour variation. - It’s tricky to chose your own favourite shade of brown, but if I’m going with my gut, I may choose KWZ as my second brown to buy.

[@writerlywitterings]

The first brown I bought was Havanne from Waterman's. A really good colour, but I decided I needed a more red tinge, and now I like Sepia (as you might have guessed!)

[@witchyvicar]

My current favorite brown-ish is Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-Ho. The way the color looks in the bottle you'd think it was green, but then it's a yellow-brown wheat color. I love writing with it.

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks for that. I have to admit, I've only three bottlers of Iroshizuku, and all were gifts - costing five times as much as the equivalent Diamine makes them way out of my usual budget, sadly.

[@witchyvicar]

@@writerlywitterings yeah, there's that...but I'm kind of obsessed with them. Not that I'm not obsessed with Diamine, either! ;) (Writer's Blood is my current Diamine favorite.)

[@mellow-jello]

Currently inked up with Noodler's Brown #41, and is sort of a Goldilocks brown, not light, or too dark, midtones.

[@writerlywitterings]

Hmm - haven't tried that one. Yet!

[@brianexplores285]

Quite right about Diamine Sepia; very nice brown. Cheers!

[@writerlywitterings]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@ChuckHenryII]

My favorite is Diamine Tobacco Sunburst! Looks like you have some good ones there though!

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks Chuck, and sorry I don't have that one (yet) to review, I'll see what I can do.

[@shontoo6979]

Great ink name!

[@irvintepper5]

I currently love faber-castell cognac and diamine honey burst.

[@writerlywitterings]

Those two are gorgeous colours!

[@joeymaximus8146]

Hoping to see an appearance by KWZ Old Gold! There are some really good color options in the brown family of inks. Thanks again for taking the time to make these videos!

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks, Joey - although I'm sorry not to have any KWZ Old Gold! I'll see whether I can get some for a future video.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

Thanks for this review. Nicely done and helpful. I would add Diamine Ancient Copper to the list. Well behaved and it has good shading. Yes, Diamine is a good ink company, as you say.

[@writerlywitterings]

Glad it was helpful! I'll have to swap out some other colours for Ancient Copper now we're hitting Autumn!

[@SpiroHarvey]

Great reviews as always. I always figured that the Sepia inks would look more watered down, but that's quite nice. All the best for the packing and for your daughter in her new flatting life. :)

[@writerlywitterings]

Thank you! Cheers! The only other sepias I have looked at were from Rohrer & Klingner - but they were very dark and intense. I much prefer this!

[@redddraggon]

I really like Noodler's Walnut.

[@writerlywitterings]

Not tried it, but I will try to get hold of some. Thanks for that, James.

[@senerhayat]

Quite late to the video (just popped up on my feed), but wanted to chime in. The JH Lie de The is probably my favorite brown ever, closely followed by Diamine's Tobacco Sunburst. The former is a bit reddish and pops more, and the latter is a bit greenish and a bit more subdued. I wanted to like KWZ Honey but every time I used it it caused flow problems, dried up or something else happened which made me want to flush it immediately. Maybe my bottle was problematic, I don't know. I can't really get on with KWZ inks and their thick-ish consistence. A distant third favorite is Diamine Chocolate Brown, which in a fairly wet nib feels like actual chocolate flowing from the nib lol

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks for that. I haven't ever had any ink flow issues with KWZ, but I have to admit I find it a little ... well, dull, really. The one I'm really keen on just now is Lungo from Dominant Industry, which is a lovely coffee colour on the page.

[@darrengibson8787]

Hello Michael I very much enjoy your videos and I have just downloaded Rebellion's message which I am looking forward to reading. I have just this week taken delivery of a fabulous fountain pen - the Opus 88 Omar demonstrator and I can highly recommend it. I also got 2 inks from Ferris Wheel Press both of which are quite lovely, Moss Park Green and Goose Poupon. They have some fabulous colours and worth checking out if you have not yet encountered them. Cheers!

[@writerlywitterings]

Wonderful! and thanks for the suggestions. I have an Opus 88, which is a wonderful pen - practical, huge reservoir and very smooth writer, but I have to admit I haven't tried Ferris Wheel Press yet. Thanks!

[@archivist17]

I will be watching this with interest, as I have not yet been convinced to buy any brown ink.

[@jamesaritchie1]

Have you not tried buying samples? You really have to see an ink out of your own pen, and on your own paper, to judge it properly. I usually just buy the bottle and hope for the best, but samples are the cheapest way to do this.

[@archivist17]

@@jamesaritchie1 Yeah, I've bought samples of other colours, but, having grown up in the 70s, I have a complex, and not very fond, relationship with oranges and browns. If Michael identifies some nice looking inks (and we seem to share a lot of tastes in that direction), I'm prepared to give them a go.

[@writerlywitterings]

I think that shows alarming approval of my tastes, to be fair! Hopefully you'll like one or all of the four I bring up today!

[@archivist17]

I missed the premiere, but caught up now. Much food for thought.

[@klass078]

Does anyone know if Robert Oster makes any browns comparable to the Diamine dark brown? Brown inks are what got me into fountain pens! They’re the best

[@writerlywitterings]

Sorry, I've no personal experience with Oster's inks!

[@apontutul]

Thanks for sharing

[@writerlywitterings]

My pleasure!

[@ilananl1004]

Seeing your choices, i think you might like terracotta as well. I thought i liked darker colors more but for some reason terracotta is the ink i want to keep writing with. Had some oxblood left in a pen that i thought was terracotta so i didn't bother to clean it out before filling and that was a nice discovery, added a touch of dark to it. So.... Diamine terracotta. It's one of the anniversary inks in the triangle bottles. I'd be curious how you might like it. I missed Diamine Syrah in your ink comparison videos. Would be nice to see that compared to the other reds. Thanks for making these enjoyable videos! I'll be trying one of your books for the first time. Which one would you recommend i start with?

[@writerlywitterings]

I'll see if I can find some terracotta. That sounds really interesting. I did review Syrah - in fact it's one of my favourite reds! I'll see if I can do a second review of it before too long. Thanks for the idea. As to books - it's so difficult. I'd suggest you take a look at www.michaeljecks.co.uk/titles.html where there is a description of the different series. For war, Fields of Glory; for crime, Templar's Acre or The Last Templar; for humour, Rebellion's Message; for modern spy, Act of Vengeance. Sorry, but I've written a lot of books!

[@amandabernsen9174]

Brilliant review, thanks. I love browns myself (but I am mad for colour, whatever it is, as long as it's gorgeous!). Interested in the paper comparisons as well. I don't know who the dummy was that voted this down!

[@writerlywitterings]

You and me both - on the browns, but also who voted it down! There's always one guy who dislikes what others folks put up, though. I'll live!

[@amandabernsen9174]

@@writerlywitterings I don't know whether they dislike it or just do a drive-by thumbs-down on whoever seems to be enjoying life too much! : )

[@writerlywitterings]

@@amandabernsen9174 I like that! You've given me the first chuckle of the evening - "drive-by thumbs-down" will appear in a book before long!

[@amandabernsen9174]

@@writerlywitterings Heh heh! Very good!

[@Outandaboutwithpoggy]

Very interesting as usual Mike

[@writerlywitterings]

Cheers, Mike!

[@ybach64]

Can I thank you for your review of the Filofax pad with dividers, I have purchased one and really like it as a practical notepad. I’ve been using Diamine oxblood which I like as I’m a fan of browns. I was going to try Red Dragon but after this review I may try Sepia. Any suggestions or further reviews on brown inks would be welcomed. Cheers.

[@writerlywitterings]

Glad it was helpful! I'll be glad to investigate other browns too, when I get the chance.

[@ybach64]

@@writerlywitterings Thanks that would great. I do understand time is short and I appreciate the reviews.

[@jamesaritchie1]

I think of Oxblood more as a dark red than a brown, but it is a very good ink. Don't let anything stop you from trying Red Dragon. It's far and away my favorite dark red ink, and the only one I don't mind using for letter writing. I go through a LOT of it.

[@ybach64]

@@jamesaritchie1 Thanks James.

[@writerlywitterings]

@@jamesaritchie1 Red Dragon is about my favourite red - I use it whenever I feel the need for a good, dark red colour (editing and redrafting). I like Oxblood too - but Writer's Blood is winning me over!

[@diegocatalanoferraioli6557]

Brown is actually one of my favorite colors, that I prefer to use on ivory-tone paper. Any suggestion for one that is somehow water resistant? One of my favorite is MB Toffee Brown, but it smear immediately with few drops of water. I lost some work this way. Then I found that Iroshizuku Tsukushi is better behaved with water. Any suggestion?

[@Richard_Barnes]

Check out De Atramentis document brown. I don’t have it but it’s a superb colour from the video’s I’ve seen and it conforms to ISO 12757 part 2 for archival quality and EN71-3 👍🏻🙂

[@writerlywitterings]

I've also heard good things about a Noodler's ink - I think "Tobacco"? - which should be pretty robust.

[@diegocatalanoferraioli6557]

@@Richard_Barnes thanks Richard! I will look for that ink.

[@ChuckHenryII]

Also there are the Platinum Classic Khaki Black and Sepia Black. KWZ Also has a few iron gall browns that should do the trick. Rohrer &Klingner has a few document/pigment inks too to look into.

[@diegocatalanoferraioli6557]

@@ChuckHenryII I’ll search for these too! Thanks!

[@Su-means-Dee]

Hello! May you please tell me the merk of your fountain pen? Thank you

[@writerlywitterings]

Hi - I always used a TWSBI Go with a 1.1mm stub nib for all my tests. That way the ink was always tested like-for-like. Hope that helps.

[@nauci]

OMG THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE MORE MEET ME IN ST LOUIS!? This is the greatest news I've heard in 2021 🤣 Lovely video; thank you so much!

[@writerlywitterings]

I hope so too! It's been delayed, I think, but I hope they'll have it out soon!

[@nauci]

@@writerlywitterings I'll have to make space for the 6 bottles I immediately want to hoard. Where do you find news for this?

[@writerlywitterings]

@@nauci I wrote to KWZ and asked!

[@nauci]

@@writerlywitterings I won't spam them with further inquiries but I hope they know I'm just going to sit here and vibrate with excitement until its release 🤣

[@bigdhav]

Have you tried "Pending sands" by PurePens? It's very good for shading!

[@writerlywitterings]

I'm talking to Pure Pens about some of their inks, and hopefully I'll be able to test some before long.

[@krzysztofbeker4428]

Hey, what do you think about Herbin Lie de The?

[@writerlywitterings]

It's not one I've tried. I like J. Herbin generally, but they are quite expensive in the UK.

[@jamesaritchie1]

Diamine Sepia is just a little too light out of my nibs. It always looks great when other people use it, but from my nibs it's very light and washed out. I have three brown inks that are all trying for first place. They are Diamine Ancient Copper, Waterman Absolute brown, and Montblanc Toffee Brown. I'm also fond of Diamine Warm Brown, and Iroshizuku Yama-guri. I use all these inks, but out of the first three, I change my favorite about every other week. I kind of believe they are all my favorite, depending on the pen and paper I'm using. I have several brown inks, but there's one I haven't yet tried, even though I own a bottle. It's Hebin Encre Brune Parfum Cacao, which, if Google translator is correct, means Brown Ink, Perfume Cocoa. have opened it, and it does smell like Cocoa. I need to clean some pens before trying it. I already have three times as many pens inked as I can deal with. Sometime this weekend.

[@writerlywitterings]

I haven't tried half of those! I do like Ancient Copper, although I tend to go for Autumn Gold (because I do prefer the softer colours, as you know). I do like J. Herbin inks, but haven't tried many. What I do fancy is more of the smelly inks - I'd like to have a go with (I think) Rohrer & Klingner's coffee-scented ink. That would be good first thing in the morning!

[@jamesaritchie1]

@@writerlywitterings I'll add sit and sniff a bottle of KWZ all day. To my nose, it smells like the best vanilla ever, with a hint of something else good that I can't identify. I've never been big on scented inks, and I've bought only one ink because it was scented. It's De Atramentis Lilac. I grew up in a housie that had a huge lilac bush in the front yard, and my favorite time of year was when it bloomed. Our entire property was filled with the scent of lilac. I think this explains my love for purple inks of all shades. De Atramentis got it right, both in color and in scent. This is the only non-business ink that I keep in a wet pen at all times. Even when not using the pen, I'll uncap it ever so often, just to sniff the nib. Weird, but true.

[@writerlywitterings]

@@jamesaritchie1 Very sensible, I'd say. It's always really good to have smells that remind you of happy times. Works for me. When I was young we used to come to Devon every Easter to spend time at a farm near Axminster. I loved those holidays. However, it means that the true smell of holidays now for me is the smell of cow pats!

[@bbankhead9576]

Would these inks, work for stamps?

[@writerlywitterings]

I think that they would, with the proviso that you usually need waterproof inks for stamps by the nature of them. However, I think that various stamp companies would be able to help you there. When I looked at stamps, I used this firm, and they have loads of coloured inks as you can see: www.stampsdirect.co.uk/inks.html

[@greyareaRK1]

My first Moleskin agenda was brilliant. I could even do light watercolours on it. Every Moleskin since has been rubbish. Shame. I'm using SBRE Brown and Diamine Golden brown. Both are good shaders, but I like the darker shading looks of the KWZ Honey. The sepia seems a bit too flat for me, though I like sepias generally. Have you tried iron gall inks? I love the effect, but it's a controversial topic.

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks, John. I have got a few iron gall inks, mostly from Rohrer & Klingner, but I have to admit that I prefer not to have them inked, purely from an excess of nervousness about staining my pens or damaging the nibs with build up of crud. Not that I've ever had it, but I'm an anxious sort of guy when it comes to my pens!

[@daytonagreg8765]

Your favorite browns for SKETCHING???

[@writerlywitterings]

Yes, I rather like sketching in a decent brown, especially when I'm watercoloring. The brown with sepia or similar colours can wash into the paints and create a rather pleasant outline without standing out as starkly as a black would.

[@brianexplores285]

They say that Montbanc James Purdy & Sons is quite fine. Exceedingly expensive though.

[@writerlywitterings]

Yes, I tend to stick to affordable ... it goes with making a living from writing, sadly!

[@jamesaritchie1]

That's one of only two expensive inks that I bought strictly because of thee name. Best side by side bird guns ever made were James Purdey and suns. Just unbelievably well made and beautiful. You can still find one on the market occasionally, but they cost a LOT of money. Anyway, that was instantly one of my favorite inks for writing letters, and for keeping a journal. It does look kind of brown, which I guess it should. It's supposed to look and smell like single malt scotch. I won't say how many bottles I have of this ink. I will say that at eighty dollars a popo, I probably should have bought one bottle. But Montblanc has a habit of discontinuing their special edition inks, and I loved this one so much I just couldn't take a chance. I also took a chance on Montblanc Wood and Tobacco scented ink. It turned out the be the best gray ink I've found, though I'm not crazy about any gray. I do love the smell of it, too. Those inks completely wrecked my ink budget for six months., especially since I bought multiple bottles. I went way, way, way over budget. My wife was NOT happy. But getting evicted and sleeping on the street wasn't all that bad.

[@humanfirst11]

How do you like the Diamine burnt sienna and raw sienna compared to sepia?

[@writerlywitterings]

The Raw Sienna is a greyish brown that is quite pastel to my eye. It seems less pigmented, somehow. Burnt Sienna is much more deeply coloured, with a glorious rich redness to it. It's kind of a more butterscotch red. I'd say Sepia is mid-way between the two, being more light brown than Raw Sienna, and more on the pale orange spectrum than red, if that makes sense.

[@humanfirst11]

@@writerlywitterings that helped a lot, thank you!

[@johngrubb007]

Great reviews. I love my browns. The ones I have are Noodler's Whaleman's Sepia (my favorite ink all around), Stipula Iron Gall Sepia, Monteverde Joy Sepia, and Krishna Inks Vaikhari. They are all darker, for the most part, though than the inks in this review.

[@writerlywitterings]

I do like darker inks too - especially Verdigris and Sepia from Rohrer & Klingner. Their iron gall ink, Scabiosa, is a gorgeous dark brown too.

[@baroquer]

I am not "old" Just older than before

[@writerlywitterings]

Ain't that the truth. Although I think I'm rapidly getting quite old now ... I certainly feel it!

[@TheRealJanKafka]

The 'e' in 'Tomoe' is pronounced. The word is To-mo-ay, not To-mo.

[@writerlywitterings]

Didn't know that. Thanks!

[@gregaldworth1200]

Great taste in a watch...

[@writerlywitterings]

Many thanks!

[@aws9709]

Where do you get noodlers ink in the UK

[@victoriaf1619]

I get mine from pure pens or Amazon

[@writerlywitterings]

Pure pens do it, but so do this lot: www.pelikanpens.co.uk/collections/noodlers-bottled-ink

[@aws9709]

Thanks

[@redddraggon]

@@writerlywitterings They're the same company :D

[@writerlywitterings]

@@redddraggon Oops! I didn't know that!

[@hisham56hamilton50]

Please Mr Jecks !! No body see those colour variations U talk about in Handwriting ! Camera is too weak for that .Please you have to use Swashes . Thanks for nice talkshow.

[@writerlywitterings]

Ok next time