Recently, I was sent a sample of J. Herbin Orange Indien ink to review. Karen, from Exaclair Inc., sent me a sample along with a sample of Vert Empire (review here) and a small Rhodia pad. I had only asked for the Orange Indien and was pleasantly surprised to find those extras in the package as well.
I’ve only used one other J. Herbin ink before, Lierre Sauvage. It is a beautiful green, one which I’m quite fond of and is of high quality. I was not sure what to expect from the Orange Indien but after using for a few days in several pens I can say I’m very pleased with its performance and especially its color. The only thing I’m not happy about with this ink is that unless you clean the pen out VERY well it will take on the tint of the previous ink in your pen. I flush my pens several times, until the water comes out clear, before I put in a new ink and Orange Indien still changed colors on me. If this happens to you I would suggest only using this ink in a brand new pen and reserving that pen just for orange and yellow inks.
One thing I need to make a comment on is the bottle. Not that it has any influence on the review of the ink itself, but it’s just such a nifty design. I really like the integrated pen holder but I think the execution is poor. The seem in the middle doesn’t provide a stable rest and is barely large enough to suit a Parker “51″. The other downside is that the bottle is a little shallow. Trying to fill my Vanishing Point nibs will start to become a problem once the ink level has dropped just from 2-3 fills. There are ways around this problem, but none of them are very convenient.
The first writing sample I conducted was on Clairefontaine paper.
Next is a writing sample on Rhoida.
As was expected, the ink performed about the same on both papers, which is to say very well. And just for fun I decided to see how the ink performed on a Piccadilly pad, which can have a problem with feathering. Unfortunately, Orange Indien feathered too, which isn’t all that surprising as I’ve only been able to find one ink that didn’t feather on Piccadilly and I can’t remember what it was.
Click on any of the pics for very large resolution scans.
Great color and wonderful review. Thanks for using so many different pens!
The color varies so much from one pen to the next that I first thought you were comparing orange inks from other manufacturers. That Levenger Arborea really makes this ink stand up and demand attention. From your VP, the color is almost sepia. Quite a range of oranges from one bottle.
The shading with the Arborea is very artistic. I think, however, that my favorite color of this ink came from your “51″ Special. I think I’ll twist your arm into sending me a postcard so I can meet this ink in person =)
Herbin bottles do look great, but I agree with the depth issue. Premium ink so small bottle? As you use up the ink it gets rather frustrating. Thanks for the review!