As for those outliers, the Organics Studio Green Sepia and DeAtramentis Beethoven Sepia, those are playing fast and loose with the definition of Sepia altogether.
Both the Diamine and Leonardo are almost honey-colored and might be similar to Robert Oster Honey Bee, KWZ Honey or Franklin-Christoph Honeycomb. I’d describe the Stipula Sepia as a very red-orange brown and the Visconti and a reddish-ruddy brown. The two Kobe inks are deep coffee browns. DeAtramentis Standard Sepia Brown is a deep chocolate to me. I’m more inclined to describe any or all of these colors as being some other color: warm browns, cool browns, golden wheats, olive and plum. If you were to ask me, which of these colors were the best representations of “sepia” as defined by the previous section, I’d have to decline responding. Clearly, there are some wide definitions of “sepia.” These ink colors, when laid out next to each other, range from a greenish olive through yellow-browns (both warm and cool) in to warmer, darker browns into a plum. Unlike ochres and umbers which are named for natural pigments, sepia has become essentially a fancy word for brown. Or they might have chosen the word arbitrarily. As explained, depending on how the ink maker was defining sepia, or which specific species of sepia cuttlefish or region it might have lived (if they were actually trying to mimic squid ink) or if they were just using the word “sepia” to describe the color as being brown-ish may have determined how they arrived at calling their ink sepia. ( Yes, I know there are others.) The sepia inks show above all have “sepia” in their name. I picked these 17 as a good representation of the range of variation. (Warm and cool colors on color wheel via ColorPsychology) (Warm and cool grays via Wikipedia)Īfter a thorough scouring of online sources, I found more than 17 inks that had “sepia” in their name. Using tried-and-true fountain pen ink words like “shading ink”, or wet ink, dry ink, “sheening ink” etc will also help. Anything can help determine the color you are looking for.Īlso, being able to describe the color you are looking for with words like: warmer (more red, orange, yellow) or cooler (more green, blue), more saturated (brighter), less saturated (not so bright, duller, smokier) can help a lot too. If you have a photo, a clipping from a magazine, a bit of fabric (Yes, Mike Vanness’ latest polyester supersuit counts) or ribbon. This can apply to more than just sepia inks too. So, if you are on the hunt for your perfect shade of sepia, please help us help you by coming armed with more information than just a “good sepia.” Any pen shop owner (or clerk) will be much better able to help you, if you give them more information to go on. (Moses Harris’s The Natural System of Colours via Wikipedia) Not to mention that even original sepia inks would have had variations depending on where they were created and the diets of the cuttlefish, etc. Why does this make it so difficult to select a “good sepia” fountain pen ink? Well, representations of all of these different types of sepia colors are mostly seen in reproductions today and have faded over time or have been modified by digital means. (“Mr & Mrs Sepia, Cuttlefish Kingpins of Nebraska” via Photographic Print Toning on Wikipedia) Today, sepia toning is done digitally using a duotone process. All three of these processes were used on traditional silver print photos. Sepia is also the name given to the photographic toning process that creates a brownish tint to photographs and utilizes sodium sulfide, thiourea (or ‘thiocarbamide’), or polysulfide toners. It’s also the name of the color of ink derived from the cuttlefish (of the same name)’s ink (you know, squid ink?) used by many from the ancient Greeks and Romans up until the 19th century. What exactly is sepia? Well, it depends on who you ask. (Cuttlefish (Broadclub Cuttlefish) – Sepia latimanus by Jan (Arny) Messersmith (via Flickr) Similar problems occur when someone asks about a “good sepia.” They might even pronounce it differently. Someone else might think their coffee’s tangy roast with an astringent hint of lemon is more appealing than dark roast with a buttery finish. I might prefer a period drama over an action film. You might prefer a chardonnay over a merlot. Inevitably, everyone defines the characteristics a little differently. It’s like asking someone to recommend a good movie, book, bottle of wine, a brand of beer or the best coffee. This is inevitably a loaded question because sepia is a moving target. They ask me to help them pick out a “good sepia”. At every pen show I’ve worked, at least one person will ask about a particular ink color.
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