On Winsor & Newton Inks and Feeling Betrayed

Wee! An inky pressie! They were from my Aunt who paid us a visit from the US. I had asked her a favor to find me a calligraphy book but when she couldn’t get hold of it, she got me inks instead. The packaging is so pretty! And the colors! I could just stare at the bottles. I had used Winsor and Newton before but for acrylic and oil. Had no complaints there, so I was eager to try these out.

I whipped out  my favorite Hunt 99 and my Rhodia Dotpad – its pages could beautifully handle any ink. Until…

Okay. You cannot know how incredibly SAD this got me. Like wallowing in grief, even. WHY?! With such pretty boxes and bottles, could you be like this?!?! I felt betrayed. I surfed and couldn’t find much reviews on the product, especially from calligraphers. I found them incredibly runny and watery. Almost worse like a fountain pen ink (which actually dip better).

On the Rhodia Reversebook it writes so much better. Minimal feathering, if ever there was any. The color sits brightly but not as solidly as I’d like. What looked nice about it though was the shading it gives. Using the orange bottle, it reminded me of sunset.

I decided to compare it to another orangey-red I had, which was from J. Herbin.

Personally, I think that whole product description of “they are formulated from a series of soluble dyes in a superior shellac solution.  These inks can be applied with brush,  dip pen or airbrush and are widely used by designers, calligraphers and artists as well as illustrators” is misleading. When I read “calligraphy” I immediately thought it would be able to stand alone for lettering. Browsing through the net, I realize that maybe they’re more suited for coloring rather than writing (at least for my taste).

I also tried it on Conqueror Laid, a brand of paper I use for the exercises during the workshops. I was still hoping, but half expecting failure.

It still had the pretty shading and I could go on about how pretty it is all day. Not much feathering – an acceptable level, I suppose. But just like the other pages, it bleeds through so heavily that it even wets the next page.

The knee-jerk reaction I actually had holding the bottle up (beyond the omigod it’s so pretty) was that the ink kind of looked too liquidy. But I wanted it to work. So wanted it to work, that I pushed the negativity away.

Very different from my bottle of green Calli ink.

Oh and the yellow. I so wanted yellow. When I clutched your box with a sunshine-y smile of my face I was visualizing writing bright notes and sending them off to friends. Now I’m sad. Just looking through the bottle, I knew it cannot be.

Conclusion:

I feel like crying. The ink colors are wide. They dry fast and bright. Even waterproof. They are drawing inks, not calligraphy inks. Though the product description says they are used by calligraphers, I don’t think it’s really for writing-writing but for coloring or shading in something (anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). I wouldn’t use this for lettering directly, but perhaps if I wanted to wash the background with color. Or maybe when I just want to play.

I now actually don’t know what to do with them, honestly. I can practice with them but I don’t like the idea of not being able to write on the back of a page. The pretty packaging is on display at my desk. I do like the little bottles. I’m half thinking of just draining the ink to another container and just use the bottles as my dinky dips.

Some had mentioned trying to air it out or adding gum arabic to thicken the ink. I’m so hoping either remedies would work, but I wouldn’t want to feel betrayed again.