Brown Fountain Pen Ink Comparison

Brown is a humble, unassuming color. Few people list it as their favorite color, but from giant sequoias to a perfectly prepared cup of tea, many of the world’s most beautiful sights are brown. As an ink color, brown gives your writing and drawings an organic, down-to-earth feel. Paired with cream or ivory colored paper, it gives your work an especially sensuous old-world aura.

Read on to discover our favorite brown fountain pen inks. After that, we’ll take an in-depth look at all our brown inks to see how they compare in terms of color, drying time, water resistance, and highlighter resistance.

Top Choices

Top Choices: Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi & Yama-guri

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi

Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri

For a fun and versatile medium brown, we go to Iroshizuku Tsukushi. Warm and reddish when wet, it settles down into a delicious milk chocolate color as it dries. Subtle shading evokes thoughts of cream swirling in a cup of hot cocoa. Like other Iroshizuku inks, it is free flowing and buttery smooth without being overly wet. It performs flawlessly on fountain pen friendly paper and notebooks, but Moleskine and copy paper users may experience feathering and occasional bleed-through—especially with wetter pens. Tsukushi has above-average water resistance. It won’t survive a prolonged soaking unscathed, but it should stay legible enough to copy your notes onto a fresh sheet of paper.

For more conservative settings—and those who prefer their inks dark and sophisticated—there’s Yama-guri. A deep chestnut brown with undertones of purple and greenish gold, its color is reminiscent of the traditional sepia inks used by artists and sailors since ancient times. Like Tsukushi, Yama-guri has above-average water resistance and is a joy to use on fountain pen friendly paper, but it can feather and bleed through Moleskine and copy paper.

And last but not least for those who like to display their inks, both of these gorgeous inks comes in equally beautiful glass bottles that are works of art in their own right.

Affordable Alternative for Students and Office Workers: Noodler’s #41 Brown

For those on a budget and who don’t get to choose the quality of paper they have to write on, we recommend Noodler’s #41 Brown. One of Noodler’s “bulletproof” inks, it is specifically formulated for use on normal copy paper. On copy paper, it dries quickly and is almost completely waterproof—great for protecting homework assignments and important meeting notes. And like most Noodler’s inks, it comes in a generous 3 oz (89 ml) bottle filled literally to the brim with enough ink to last all but the most prolific note takers a year or more.

There are a few concerns to keep in mind with this ink. Like other bulletproof inks, #41 Brown doesn’t perform as well on smoother paper like Rhodia. On such paper it becomes slow-drying, less water resistant, and more prone to smearing. It’s also a fairly wet ink, and in a wet pen it can still feather and bleed through more absorbent paper.

If you don’t want to deal with the drawbacks of bulletproof inks and don’t mind giving up water resistance, Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown is a brilliant choice. It works well with virtually any pen and paper combination—especially with wetter pens that can suffer from feathering with other inks. Brilliant Brown comes in a large 62.5 ml bottle, as well as a more modest 30 ml bottle. Besides its lack of water resistance, this ink’s only drawback is its love-it-or-hate-it bright russet color.

Permanent Brown for Important Writing: De Atramentis Document Brown

If you want an ink that will resist fading and shrug off spills for decades to come, we recommend De Atramentis Document Brown. It is one of very few fountain pen inks that actually meet the ISO standard for permanent ink, and it also scored the highest possible mark on the Blue Wool Scale for lightfastness. Unlike the vast majority of fountain pen inks, Document Brown can be left indefinitely on display under direct lighting without fear of fading.

Compared to other pigmented inks like Sailor STORiA Light Brown, Document Brown is faster-drying—about as fast as a typical dye-based fountain pen ink—and more smear resistant. (You can read more about the difference between dye and pigment inks in our Waterproof Fountain Pen Inks guide.)

Document Brown also makes a great choice for artists who want a brown ink that they can color over with other inks or watercolors without smearing or blending.

Energetic Brown for Dramatic Sketches: Diamine Ancient Copper

Able to shade from light rust red to dark brown-black depending on the concentration, Ancient Copper is a perfect ink for creating dynamic, eye-catching sketches and illustrations. It is very water soluble, making it great for use with blending and wash effects but less suitable for drawings that you’ll want to color over with other inks. Ancient Copper is also a fine choice for writing, but the bright color can be tiring to read too much of.

Ancient Copper does have one notable quirk—over time it can start to form a crusty buildup around the pen’s nib and feed. The buildup is completely harmless and shouldn’t affect your pen’s performance. Just wipe it off with a damp paper towel if it gets too unsightly.

Sparkling Brown for Special Occasions: J. Herbin 1670 Caroube de Chypre

Perfect for invitations and thank-you cards, Caroube de Chypre is a beautifully shading warm brown infused with gold sparkles and an enticing hint of green sheen. For the most dramatic sheen and sparkle, use it in a broad, wet fountain pen or even a dip pen. In a fine nib the ink is more restrained, showing a subtler sparkle suitable for everyday writing. Just make sure to clean your pen regularly if you decide to keep it loaded in your pen for more than a month or so.

Shades of Brown

Brown inks can be divided into five basic color groups, each with its own distinctive look and feel.

Medium Browns

The color of roasted coffee beans, luscious chocolates, and rich soil, medium browns are perfect for adding a hearty, organic feel to your writing and drawings.

Mild Browns

Lighter than medium browns, these mild browns are calm and unobtrusive. Use them to create a gentle tone or for sketching backgrounds that won’t distract from the main subject.

Gray Browns

Subtle and sophisticated, these gray browns are well-suited for school or office work. They’re also great for sketching as an alternative to black ink. These browns are the closest to traditional sepia inks, though nowadays people tend to associate “sepia” with golden browns, which we’ll look at next.

Golden Browns

These yellow- and orange-leaning golden browns give off a warm, vintage feel. Many so-called sepia inks fall into this category, but traditional sepia ink (made from the ink sacs of cuttlefish) is actually a dark, purplish-gray brown. When brown-toned photographs were first produced, they were called “sepia-toned” due to being a similar dark brown color. As they aged, however, these photographs faded to the golden brown color people now think of as sepia.

Russet Browns

The color of autumn leaves, faded barns, and old copper kettles, these red-orange russet browns give writing and drawings a distinctly rustic feel.

Performance Comparisons

Drying Time

Fastest-Drying Brown Inks

Fountain pen inks take longer to dry than other inks, so if you’re a lefty or take a lot of quick notes it’s especially important to choose an ink that dries quickly.

Noodler’s Polar Brown is by far the fastest-drying brown ink, drying almost instantly with most pen and paper combinations. It feathers badly, though, so we don’t recommend it unless feathering doesn’t bother you or you absolutely need the fastest-drying ink around. Our preferred alternative, Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown is an extremely well-behaved ink that still dries much faster than a typical fountain pen ink.

Other fast-drying brown inks include Noodler’s Rome Burning, J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil, Diamine Cocoa Shimmer, Diamine Raw Sienna, and De Atramentis Maria Montessori.

Click here to see the full results of our drying time tests, which we performed by drawing X’s with a dipped fountain pen and smearing them after 3, 10, 20, 30, and 60 seconds.
Click here to see the full results of our drying time tests, which we performed by drawing X’s with a dipped fountain pen and smearing them after 3, 10, 20, 30, and 60 seconds.

These tests were done on Rhodia DotPad paper with a TWSBI ECO 1.1 mm fountain pen. The thin strokes of the 1.1 mm nib are comparable to writing from a fine nib, and the wide strokes are comparable to writing from a broad nib. Rhodia paper is ink-resistant, and drying times on it are longer than on other, more absorbent papers. The exact drying times you experience will vary depending on the pen and paper you use, so the results below are best used for comparing the relative performance of the inks.

Ink	3 Sec	10 Sec	20 Sec	30 Sec	60 Sec

Water and Highlighter Resistance

Most Water- and Highlighter-Resistant Brown Inks

Most fountain pen inks will smear if they get wet or are highlighted. If you want to be able to highlight your notes or ensure that they can’t be eradicated by an errant spill, it’s important to choose an ink with good water resistance.

Each of the following inks are virtually waterproof: De Atramentis Document Brown, Noodler’s Polar Brown, and Sailor STORiA Lion Light Brown. Of these, we recommend De Atramentis Document Brown since it has the best balance of drying time and good performance on a variety of papers.

Three other inks that have great water resistance are Noodler’s #41 Brown, Platinum Classic Khaki Black, and Platinum Classic Sepia Black. #41 Brown is nearly waterproof and remains perfectly legible when wet, but some of its color can smear a bit. The Platinum Classic inks will lose their color when wet, but because they’re iron gall inks they will leave behind perfectly preserved dark gray lines. For more information on iron gall inks, check out our Waterproof Fountain Pen Inks guide.

All of the above inks also stand up very well to being highlighted, as do Diamine Raw Sienna, J. Herbin Lie de The, J. Herbin Terre de Feu, Noodler’s Golden Brown, and Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho.

Click here to see the full results of our water- and highlighter-resistance testing, which we performed by soaking the inks in water for 30 seconds, smearing them with a waterbrush, and highlighting them with ink and gel highlighters.
Click here to see the full results of our water- and highlighter-resistance testing, which we performed by soaking the inks in water for 30 seconds, smearing them with a waterbrush, and highlighting them with ink and gel highlighters.

These tests were done on Rhodia DotPad paper with a TWSBI ECO 1.1 mm fountain pen, Kuretake medium water brush, Stabilo Boss ink highlighter, and Monami Essenti Dry gel highlighter. The thin strokes of the 1.1 mm nib are comparable to writing from a fine nib, and the wide strokes are comparable to writing from a broad nib. Rhodia paper is very smooth and non-absorbent, allowing inks to smear more easily on it than on other, toothier papers. Because of this, you may experience better results than those below if you use a toothier, more absorbent paper.

Ink	Water (Soak)	Water (Brush)	Highlighter (Ink)	Highlighter (Gel)

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re sketching, journaling, or taking notes in a class or meeting, brown inks are a great way to give your work an honest, organic feel. Do you have a favorite brown ink? Let us know in the comments below!

Ink	Color Group	Drying Time	Water Resistance	Ink Highlighters	Gel Highlighters
	Medium Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Medium Brown	Average	Moderate	Average	Average
	Mild Brown	Average	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
	Gray Brown	Fast	Moderate	Good	Good
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Average	Average
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Russet Brown	Slow	Poor	Poor	Average
	Medium Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Golden Brown	Slow	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Golden Brown	Average	Very Poor	Good	Average
	Medium Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Golden Brown	Slow	Very Poor	Poor	Average
	Mild Brown	Fast	Very Poor	Good	Good
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Mild Brown	Slow	Poor	Poor	Poor
	Golden Brown	Average	Very Poor	Average	Average
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Golden Brown	Average	Very Poor	Good	Average
	Medium Brown	Fast	Poor	Average	Poor
	Russet Brown	Average	Moderate	Good	Good
	Gray Brown	Fast	Poor	Good	Good
	Mild Brown	Average	Very Poor	Average	Average
	Golden Brown	Average	Moderate	Excellent	Good
	Russet Brown	Average	Moderate	Excellent	Average
	Medium Brown	Average	Very Poor	Average	Excellent
	Medium Brown	Slow	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Medium Brown	Average	Very Poor	Poor	Poor
	Medium Brown	Slow	Excellent	Average	Excellent
	Russet Brown	Slow	Very Poor	Average	Average
	Golden Brown	Slow	Good	Excellent	Good
	Golden Brown	Slow	Good	Good	Average
	Mild Brown	Extremely Fast	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
	Golden Brown	Fast	Good	Excellent	Excellent
	Medium Brown	Slow	Good	Average	Average
	Medium Brown	Slow	Good	Average	Average
	Russet Brown	Fast	Very Poor	Average	Average
	Golden Brown	Average	Poor	Good	Excellent
	Medium Brown	Average	Moderate	Poor	Poor
	Gray Brown	Average	Good	Poor	Poor
	Golden Brown	Average	Good	Excellent	Good
	Gray Brown	Average	Good	Good	Good
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Average	Average
	Gray Brown	Average	Moderate	Average	Average
	Gray Brown	Average	Moderate	Average	Good
	Golden Brown	Slow	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
	Russet Brown	Average	Very Poor	Average	Average

Inks used in title art: Diamine Raw Sienna, Diamine Sepia, Diamine Rustic Brown, Diamine Shimmering Brandy Dazzle, Diamine Shimmering Caramel Sparkle, De Atramentis Document Brown, J. Herbin Café des Îles, Monteverde Brown Sugar, Noodler’s #41 Brown, Noodler’s Kiowa Pecan, Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho, Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri, Sailor Jentle Doyou, Sailor STORiA Lion Light Brown, and Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White Ink.

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SOURCE:https://www.jetpens.com/blog/brown-fountain-pen-ink-comparison/pt/929