03 August 2012

On Ink Reviews

I have never reviewed any ink on these chronicles. The reasons are multiple:

-- I tend to value ink price over the rest of features, and that depends highly on the market, as I have already pointed out in previous chronicles.

-- I am not picky with inks. Of course, I have favorite colors, but this is a very personal choice. My wonderful green might be horrible to the eyes of the next guy. And performance is more important than color.

Clean, fluid and stable. Those were the three properties Spanish ink company Sama advertised for its inks in 1926.

-- Ink performance is dependent on several factors. At the end, as any pen user knows, the triad pen, ink and paper is the eternal golden braid of writing performance. On the analysis of a pen, in contrast to that of an ink, there are some features (filling system, pen design and dimensions, etc.) that are independent of the other two components of the trio—ink and paper.

-- Reviewing an ink implies the definition of many a standard—set a pen, and a nib, and a selection of paper. But those might not be available to everybody. And that particular combination of ink and pen might result in a poor performance that would improve with another pen.

-- Last, color rendition in a screen is, to say the least, a complex issue, and a proper calibration must be performed by both the author and by the reader of the blog. Actually, nonetheless, the problem is prior to that--the perception of the color changes with, among other factors, the light under which we see what we wrote. What color temperature do we choose as the standard? Sunlight at noon in Madrid is very different to that in Glasgow.

In summary, these are some of the reasons behind my reluctance to review inks. But there might be some exceptions in the future.

Platinum GlamourSailor Sei-boku 青墨

Bruno Taut
July 29th, 2012
etiquetas: tinta

3 comments:

Bana Sıkça Yaz said...

Dear Bruno,

I understand your concerns about making ink reviews. However, colors nearly never can be conveyed truly. Actually those reviews are giving idea about the inks. Therefore when I decide to buy an ink, I am trying to read as much as reviews I can, so that I could have an idea about this ink, in the most closest way.

So, I am looking forward to read your reviews in the nearest future.

Cheers,

Okami said...

All the reasons you listed are why ink reviews are my least favorite post to write. But I know that people want to read them and they can be useful. So I will continue to muddle through the reviews that I do and I look forward to reading yours.

Bruno Taut said...

Thanks, Okami and Write To Me Often, for your comments. I wonder, in view of your words, what do people look for in those reviews. Maybe you could write some post on this!

Thanks for passing by!

Cheers,

BT

Post a Comment

Your comments are welcome and appreciated.