J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage
07/03/2009J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage (wild ivy) is a true green and a bit brighter than the sample below. It is closer to ivy than spearmint with the blue component stronger than the yellow. The result is a mid-range color that won’t offend your non-green friends but would make a pleasing substitute for red or a useful complement to medium blue ink for a two-color project.
In addition to the test page pictured, I used Lierre Sauvage in an Apica 6A10 journal but to mixed results. Same pens as below but the wider nib produced some mild feathering and lines that had a soft appearance. The more narrow nib did not produce noticeable feathering but the color was considerably less intense. In fact when I used the Lamy EF a few days later, I noted in my journal how well suited the ink, pen, and paper were for each other. Scratch tests on a variety of papers produced good results though some softness on poor quality copy paper and the like.
That mild feathering observed in the Apica seems best attributed to the combination of a free-flowing ink with a somewhat absorbent paper. The ink just followed the paper fibers perfectly unlike the clean lines it produced on Rhodia where the performance was stellar.
Shading with a wide nib is excellent on Rhodia but less apparent with a fine nib. In fact the nib makes such a difference that the sample below could have been made by two different inks. And that makes J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage an inky bargain.
J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage
An Inkophile's Blog 
Ooo- pretty. I love a good green ink and Herbin has some great ones.
Thanks for the review.
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What a lovely ink, and a great review! I can’t believe I’ve not tried this one yet as Herbin is my favourite brand.
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Just don’t let No. 4 Cat get into it when you do acquire a bottle. It would not be a good match. 😉
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😆 Too right! I won’t even be able to hide it on a high shelf – No. 4 Cat’s taken to climbing them and sitting on the tops of open doors! 😉
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This just shows me that if I want to write about ink again, if I ever get a chance, I really need to try to find a good objective way to talk about colors, like putting the same color test sheet in my pictures or something. In my review I definitely felt the ink had a stronger yellow component. I guess I didn’t say that outright but I felt it at the time! But for sure I totally agree with you about it being a good complement in a 2 color project.
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The second photo of Lierre Sauvage in your review does look more yellow than mine or possibly even more yellow than your first image. Weird, eh?
Your color test sheet is a good idea especially if you use the same scanner or camera each time. Hope you have the opportunity to write more reviews soon.
BTW I love your pastel green Esterbrook. That is one of the coolest pen colors ever. 🙂
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Mine was quite saturated coming from my Parker “51” Special (not sure of the nib size, will have to ask Ryan Roossinck about it since he worked on it for me when I found it.). So saturated that it looks almost black on my Rhodia Mousepad. I was quite disappointed with that, but your pics have given me hope to try it in another pen.
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In a free-flowing pen, it could show more depth of color though the “51” isn’t known for that characteristic. If Ryan adjusted it for flow, that would explain the more saturated color.
I’ve tried Lierre Sauvage in additional pens since my review and found it to be more chameleon than I’d previously thought. The subtle color produced by a dry-writer suits me best but it can get very dark in some pens. I rather like little surprises like that so it’s performance is fine by me. Do let me know what Ryan says. Now I’m curious.
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[…] J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage […]
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[…] J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage is less yellow and might be considered the truest green of the bunch. It shades less and offers more consistent coverage than Kelly Green. […]
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