Jacques Herbin is one of the stationery sector’s more notable characters. He started his sealing wax business in Paris in the latter part of the seventeenth century and his world famous brand continues to this day.
Les Couleurs de Paris is one of several beautifully packaged Herbin collections that each feature five wax capped 10ml bottles of fountain pen ink. Others include the: Wine Inks Collection; 350 Year Celebration Collection; and, 1670 Collection.
This particular collection comprises a range of inks in deep and vibrant colours allegedly inspired by landmarks and features of the French capital and birthplace of Jacques Herbin.
The colours are: Grey – the roofs of Paris, Blue – Rue de la Verrerie, Red – Moulin Rouge, Green – Paris Metro, Yellow Ochre – Eiffel Tower.
From my swatching tests over the years, Herbin standard inks are very stable and flat. No shading, no chromo and no sheening. Which makes them ideal for mixing and painting with – and I just couldn’t resist it! See the colour wheel below. I used the red (MR), blue (RV) and yellow ochre (TE) for the wheel and just look at those fabulous hues created! And if you look at the rectangles below that, you can see that the grey (TP) and green (M) also make interesting colours when mixed with the other three.
I loved the mixed colours so much that I thought I’d create a Toulouse Lautrec inspired poster to showcase the little beauties. So hands together for the alabaster French waiter in the Jane Avril poster.
If you fancy a bit of mixing fun, this limited edition collection is available from Cult Pens: Couleurs de Paris and you can download my colour wheel templates by clicking here.
Tests conducted and art created on Bockingford 200lb rough and Seawhite Cartridge Paper papers using a Zebra G dip pen nib and art discount watercolour brushes.
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HEY! If you’re interested to know more about how to use fountain pen inks in more creative ways – whether it’s simply to observe their chromatic behaviours, or, to recreate one of my swatch cards, or, to learn how to use them in watercolour painting, illustration and calligraphy, why not check out my online course or, even better, sign up for a workshop?
FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART 