A water-based ink for ink-jet recording enables the expression of sharp text and lines in high density black, and the formation of a high quality gradation image in which the graininess is reduced in a black image of medium to high lightness. The inks include a color ink (A) and a color ink (B) each of which independently has a lightness index L* according to the L* a* b* calorimetric system of about 60 or less. The color ink (A) and the color ink (B) satisfy the following expression (I): about 120.degree..ltoreq.|.alpha.-.beta.| about .ltoreq.240.degree. (I) wherein .alpha. is the hue angle of the color ink (A) and .beta. is the hue angle of the color ink (B). The chroma C* of a hue obtained by the combination of the color ink (A) and the color ink (B) is about 30 or less.