Empire Ink Set - Empire Ink Set

Empire Ink Set for Professional Artists

Each empire ink set gives you four pre-mixed value stages in a single box. The graywash ink system is transparent black in clear carrier, cool-toned shadows that heal crisp. The whitewash adds a small amount of white for semi-opaque milky greys. The blackwash system runs darker, with higher pigment and zero white, for deep realism and blackwork shading. Every ink bottle is batch-weighed and colour-matched in Neenah, Wisconsin using EU-certified pigment dispensers. You open the cap, load the tube, and the tone is where you left it last session.

What's in a Four-Stage Empire Ink Set

Each set includes Xtra Light, Light, Medium, and Dark, four separately formulated inks, not dilutions of a single base. The stages give you reproducible tonal steps from highlight to shadow. Graywash is transparent and heals blue-cool. Whitewash goes in like a wash but heals like soft opaque grey. Blackwash is pigment-dense for dark illustration and portrait work. All three systems of Empire ink in Canada work with the same tattoo needles and tips, machines, and techniques, your choice depends on the tonal range the piece needs.

Inks Empire Artists Actually Use

Empire Inks was built by Colt Brown, a black-and-grey portrait tattooer who needed pre-mixed washes that didn't shift between batches. The vegan tattoo ink formula uses traditional fine-art pigment families, Classic Black, Vine Black, Mars Black, Ivory Black, Titanium White, named the way oil painters name them. Team Empire includes portrait and realism artists working daily with these tools. The brand's tagline is "Fine Art First." That's the framing, limited palette, deliberate technique, reproducible results.

Graywash Ink vs Whitewash vs Blackwash

Graywash is black pigment in clear carrier, transparent grey that layers like watercolour and heals in cool tones. Whitewash is graywash with a small amount of white added, semi-opaque, milky grey that covers more and heals softer. Blackwash has higher pigment load and zero white, dark, slightly warm, built for shadow-heavy realism and blackwork gradients. Inks graywash series is the founding product. Whitewash came next when artists kept adding white into their caps. Blackwash is the newest, flagged "New!" on the site, and priced higher to reflect the pigment density.

Single Blacks and White for Mixing

Beyond the wash sets, Empire makes four single blacks and one white. Classic Black is cool, medium viscosity, all-purpose. Vine Black is warm, thin, slightly transparent, lining or can be thinned further into custom washes. Mars Black is thick, slightly warm, opaque. mag packing for large areas. Ivory Black is Empire's darkest solid saturation, no transparency. Titanium White is their only white. twice the pigment, undiluted with water. All five are stocked in 2 oz and 4 oz. You can run an entire black-and-grey portfolio from these bottles.

Tattoo Ink Built in a Sterile Facility

Every Empire ink for tattoos is manufactured in a 100% sterile environment in Neenah, Wisconsin. The facility uses EU-certified pigment dispensing equipment to weigh, blend, and colour-match every batch. That certification refers to the manufacturing machines, not REACH compliance, Empire Inks are made for the North American market. The consistency claim is batch-to-batch reproducibility. You dial in Medium graywash at the start of a session, and it stays Medium when you reorder six months later.

Empire Ink Set Options at Eikon

Eikon stocks all three four-stage wash sets, graywash, whitewash, blackwash, plus all twelve individual stages if you need to restock a single tone. We also carry the four single blacks, Titanium White, and both 2 oz and 4 oz sizes across the line. The graywash and whitewash sets are $80 CAD. The blackwash set is $79 CAD, with individual stages at $54 CAD versus $40 CAD for grey and white washes, the price reflects higher pigment load. Mid-tier specialist pricing for wash-focused supplies. Same-day shipping across Canada when you order before 2 PM ET.

Who Empire Ink Is Built For

Portrait tattooers. Black-and-grey realism artists. Anyone working in a limited tonal palette who needs consistent value steps without mixing from a single black on the fly. The Empire ink white wash series gives you reproducible gradients. The single blacks give you viscosity and warmth options for lining, packing, and shading. The white is dense enough to mix or use straight. Empire isn't a broad-spectrum colour line, it's a grayscale specialist. If your work lives in shadow, highlight, and the tones between, this is the ink set that covers it. Shop the full range and add the bottles your portfolio needs to your cart.