...a bottle full of thoughts

is written on the catalogue CD from Galerie Jansen I received today.

Are there already enough inks available today? One might think so, especially when seeing the 250 different inks in my "ink - closet". But many of those inks are no longer made, like Parker Penman and lots of nice Pelikan ink colors. Whenever I start chatting with German pen colleagues, they state that they don’t know where to find all those different inks (they might like).

Some years ago Herbin inks and inks made for Bethge were distributed in a few stores but recently it seemed that those disappeared also. Most stores even don’t carry the complete lines of Waterman, Sheaffer and Parker inks (I had a tough time finding a bottle of Waterman Blue Black recently and ended up with Florida Blue after four stores). It’s almost a miracle to see the complete set of colors from the Pelikan or Montblanc ink series.

Luckily there is a source of ink which should not be overlooked. Similar to Terry Johnson from Private Reserve inks in the US, there is one person in Germany making everybodies ink dreams come true.

Dr. Franz - Josef Jansen is a friendly guy running a gallery in Miltenberg am Main, Germany for asian art and everything to make a calligrapher‘s heart jump, including a huge variety of self made inks.

Under the name DE ATRAMENTIS the Tintenmanufaktur Jansen (ink manufacture) not only offers traditional handmade fountain pen inks, but also a lot of special or scented and ancient inks as well as indian inks, made after recipes from different eras. Many special series, dedicated to "teacher and pupil", "cities", "holidays" and even mystical themes like "witches, sorcerers and demons" are being offered.

Also individual inks are mixed upon request with special labels.

If you already have everything you need, how about a bottle of real saffron ink or purple ink which should be one of the most exclusive inks?

When I read a small article in a magazine some years ago, Jansen started offering his inks in triangular (cake piece shaped) bottles, of which 8 bottles will form a whole circle (or cake), so I ordered my first load of inks thinking this would look nice on my desk.

Following is the first part of the review of the inks I got (Dr. Jansen seems to be a very creative person, so he kept changing the names of the inks. Luckily he provided a list with how the inks I have are called now. I’ve listed the original new and old names and also a translation of this color.Gelb (Yellow) is a very light lemon yellow, which is almost impossible to use in a fountain pen for writing. But this ink is almost the basic (color wheel) yellow and therefore perfect for mixing as it doesn't’t have any green or orange-red tones in it.

Orange / Gelb – Orange (Orange / Yellow Orange) seems to be the brightest orange I have seen with nice yellow tones and great intensity.

Rot (Red) is exactly the kind of red ink I don’t like (similar to Montblanc Ruby Red or Lamy Red). I guess this light and slightly washed out red belongs to every selection of ink colors.

Feuerrot / Mohnrot (Fire red / Poppy Red) on the other hand is a really nice and unique medium red color, slightly darker and towards a cherry red with good color and intensity. This red can be used instead of the regular reds with no problems of looking to dark or to pink.

Dunkelrot / Bordeauxrot (Dark Red / Bordeaux Red) is another nice dark red with brown hues. It is similar to Private Reserve Black Cherry but has better intensity and is slightly more red. Definitely better in terms of color than Parker Penman Ruby or Montblanc Bordeaux Red. I have found this ink to be pretty "thick" which is no problem in pens with good ink flow, but might cause some skipping in pens with already bad flow.

Magenta / Pink (Magenta / Pink) is a true vibrant magenta color. This pink is similar to Waterman Pink but Galerie Jansen Magenta has better intensity and is slightly darker.

Violett / Purpurviolett (Violet / Violet) is an intense true basic medium violet with better intensity than Sheaffer Lavender but lighter and less blue than Waterman violet.

Indigoblau (Indigo Blue) stands alone as an unique dark blue with purple hints and good intensity. It is very similar to Private Reserve Midnight Blue (which is a true dark blue) in terms of darkness, just on the purple side. Aurora Blue is similar in color but not nearly that dark. Cross Blue Black is slightly more purple and less intense. Indigoblue looks very nice written but also requires from my experience a pen with good flow.

Blau / Königsblau (Blue / Royal Blue) is again one of those colors I don’t like that much, but is a nice basic royal blue with purple tint and compares to Rotring Royal Blue, but has better intensity. Montblanc Royal Blue is slightly darker and more blue.

Himmelblau (Sky Blue) is a light medium turquoise blue color leaning slightly towards the turquoise, good intensity.

Türkisgrün (Turquoise Green) is a darker medium turquoise green. Color is somewhat similar to Waltraud Bethge Cool Colors Turquoise but is more towards a true green and slightly darker. Intensity can be compared to the much more blue Private Reserve Blue Suede. Great color for everyone thinking Waterman Green is to dark or Montblanc Emerald Green looks to washed out,

Grün / Bambusgreen (Green / Bamboo Green) is one of the few medium green colors, which neither look too washed out or going towards the blue - green colors, nor does it look like a dark or olive green color. Galerie Jansen Green is a true medium green with better intensity than Herbin Ivy Green. Private Reserve Spearmint is of similar darkness and intensity but has more yellow tones, while Galerie Jansen Green looks more like a lighter version of Private Reserve Sherwood Green. Galerie Jansen ink is one of my favorite regular greens and the perfect ink for somebody searching for a true medium green and is a great substitute for Parker Penman Emerald.

Dunkelgrün / Tannengrün (Dark Green / Fir Tree Green) looks like a dark "british racing green" type of color somewhere in between a "normal" dark green and a true olive green, less intense than Private Reserve Avocado but similar to Bethge Reed Green.

Braun (Brown) is a light medium golden brown color with slight orange red tones (similar to Pelikan Brilliant Brown but lighter), a very nice medium brown color.

Dunkelbraun / Sepiabraun (Dark Brown / Sepia Brown) looks a little bit like Rotring Brown which is a darker brown with gray tones. No visible red tones at all and fits in the same category like Sheaffer Skrip Brown.

Schwarz / Nachtschwarz (Black / Night Black) looks actually slightly green (like most black ink have some colored aspects) with OK intensity.

Do you already think this is all? Well, then keep your eyes open for the next part of Galerie Jansen inks which is coming soon with lots of other in colors.