I know that we are not the only people suffering because of the weather. I have many friends on the East Coast who have only JUST gotten their power back on after the horrible storms, and we in the Mid-West, have had some Unbelievably HOT HOT days this past week or more. Here in the US, we also just celebrated our Independence Day on the 4th of July.
In honor of both the holiday & the blistering heat, we bring to you some red hot ink reviews (I know, groan for the cheesiness, right?).
As a college professor, I have graded my share of literally thousands of papers. I don’t use red ink, because of the negative association many students have… red ink = bad grade. I do use red ink in my pens when I send holiday cards, leave notes for Brian or my kids, or when I just want a shot of color – often in black pens.
Noodler’s Widow Maker – a nice deep rich red. A little darker than what we might think of as Fire Engine Red, in my opinion. This is nice and intense, but definitely not orange-y. I could see this on Christmas cards, or Valentine’s Day love notes, for sure. Even in a fine-nib pen, this still shows as a gorgeous rich color.
Noodler’s Widow Maker
Sheaffer’s Red. Classic Bright red. This has a hint of orange that really makes it pop. It’s not an obnoxiously bright color, but if inks could talk, this would definitely be yelling “Look at me!!”. Absolutely a stunning contrast in a black pen. Sheaffer ink is also a good value, so you get a lot of red for your money.
Sheaffer’s Red
Noodler’s Tiannanmen Red is a deep darker dried-blood red. I would definitely consider this to be a darker red than the Sheaffer’s, and a little more brick red than the Noodler’s Widow Maker (what a great name!). A pretty shade, but perhaps a little more muted or subtle than the 2 listed above.
Noodler’s Tiananmen Red
Rohrer and Klingner Morinda – R & K ink is pretty new to us, and I confess, I like it a lot. Nice bottles, pretty colors, and ya gotta love the names!! Morinda is a brighter, less intense red, a little on the orange-y side, but definitely NOT orange. A lighter, less intense color, it does still show up as red and not pink or orange, even in my fine nib pens. A page of handwritten text using Morinda looks really lovely on both bright white or ecru paper. I could see this for holiday cards as well, or just for every day. A very pretty shade indeed.
Rohrer & Klingner Morinda Bottle
Rohrer & Klingner Morinda
There are hundreds of ink colors to choose from, and dozens of different shades of red. The few mentioned above caught my eye, and matched my mood at the time, but would I use any of them – that might be the better question………. Actually, I would! Would you??
Drop us a line, share your thoughts & experience, or if you’ve never tried any of these, feel free to try a couple of ink samples.
See you next week for another review.
Lisa & Brian