My bottle of Diamine REGISTRAR’S ink arrived today (thank you, GOULETS!) and I managed to squeeze a quick try-out sketch:
I was especially interested in REGISTRAR’s waterproof qualities and it did not disappoint. I washed over the drawing with a heavily loaded brush of diluted Talens ECOLINE. The faint traces of bleeding can be seen on spots where I originally applied ink the most, going over the same spots with multiple strokes to create deep shadows. As I did not wait much for ink to dry completely, I find this to be a very good result. The bleeding is not significant or disturbing and could be used even for the effect . The simple direct lines held admirably well. Some traces of shading can be seen in lines, but as the iron gall ink tends to darken by oxidation, it might lessen with time. The ink is surprisingly blue in the bottle, almost azure against the light, as compared to the deep dark gray that finally rests on paper.
Another thing of importance, which pushed me to order it, is the complete absence of feathering. Even on the cheap newspapers it holds it’s own and runs nowhere. The example shown here is done on Fabriano SCHIZZI 120gr for which I already stated my preference – it caused Platinum CARBON BLACK and Pelikan BRILLIANT BROWN to feather, but not this one. Nice.
It is not as bomb-proof as Platinum CARBON BLACK. Hell, that ink could handle a smaller scale nuclear attack. But REGISTRAR’s held very well. This is just a beginning of a series of tests, but the initial impressions are favorable.
NOTE: The second part of testing Diamine REGISTRAR’S can be found HERE.