How to make ink from plants See Slow Lane Studio's recipe for creating a lake pigment first Jun 23, 2020 · Have you ever wondered how ink was first made? How did the ancient civilizations make those beautiful colored inks? What were the pigments and dyes used in making inks? Many of the colorful dyes that were used by ancient civilizations came all from the natural world. Of course, some sources would have better results than others…but there are even many plants of trees growing in your surrounding area that could have potential as a pigment or dye for ink making. Test by dipping a strip of paper in the pot. It’s not so different from natural dyeing really. Step 1 The Main Ingredients in your Ink. With a dash of citric acid to the warmed ink, it maintains true to color. The first known inks appeared in China in the 23rd century B. You can use the same dye plants but just create a really strong dye b… Explore the fascinating world of homemade ink with our guide on how to make ink. Milling is an ability you get when you learn Inscription. Oct 20, 2021 · Dark purple dahlias, for example, can produce green ink! How to Make Natural Ink From Plants and Flowers Okay, enough beating around the bush. In today’s digital age, the art of making homemade ink may seem like a lost craft. pH levels measure how acidic or basic (alkaline) a substance is on Welcome to our third monthly seasonal natural ink challenge, this time using the ubiquitous stinging nettle. Now although I found Jun 9, 2025 · To make ink, begin by selecting a safe plant and chopping it into small pieces. Below you can find a quick overview of which herbs converts to which pigments and which pigments converts to which inks. Jul 25, 2025 · Discover the art of making natural ink using foraged plants and kitchen scraps through a detailed tutorial. Put plant/ vegetable materials into the pot, and add water, vinegar and salt. Store bought items can also be use to teach these lessons. This creates eco-friendly, homemade ink. How to use binders, preservatives, and modifiers. Aug 14, 2020 · This is a perfect DIY project for gardeners and artists, including kids! Collect your favorite colors from your garden and backyard (or your spice cabinet and refrigerator) and get ready to make natural ink. With this article, I hope you will be too! Jan 5, 2022 · Making the Ink! Ink is a liquid or paste that contains colored pigments and is used to write or draw on to a surface to create a design. Jan 8, 2019 · Pokeberry ink is relatively easy to make and creates a gorgeous pink-purple color that's ideal for dyeing fabric, painting, and practicing calligraphy. Jan 4, 2025 · “My journey into pigment extraction began with a simple curiosity: I wanted to learn how to draw vibrant colors from plants to use in inks, paints, and dyes. Dec 2, 2021 · Make Natural Organic Paint From Dyes & Ink One of simplest ways to teach kids how to make paint, dye, or ink is by creating the pigments from fruits, plants, and locally-sourced colorful foods. Today I'm exploring ink making by making some handmade ink from natural materials and ingredients with help from a book by Jason Logan: A Forager's Guide to Natural Inkmaking. e. Simmer 1 cup of fresh or 1/2 cup of dried plant material with 1 cup of water for 20 to 30 minutes, adding a mordant if needed. Creating your own ink at home is both fun and environmentally friendly. The process of taking plants and turning them into colour is wonderfully versatile, fun, and environmentally sound. Let’s learn how to make natural ink from plants! Materials You’ll Need Leftover flower petals Mortar and pestle Small container to hold the ink Paintbrush Pot Boiling water Step One: Mash Your Flower Aug 10, 2025 · Using other thickeners such as guar gum would help with the flow of the ink, but would not ‘glue’ the ink to the paper. Historically, people made ink out of a variety of things such as plants, animals, or minerals that they could easily find near their home or trade for in their community. From natural ink from plants and green ink made with grass to color-changing invisible ink and flower petal ink, there's something here for every art and craft enthusiast. Inks made from such mixtures would easily cause letters to fall from the parchments over time. Jun 2, 2023 · By making natural ink from plants in your garden, you'll add a personal touch to your artistic expression while adopting environmentally-friendly practices. Learn how to make botanical paint from oak galls and iron, and use any dye plant, like coreopsis flowers, as well. Covering plant identification, growing, extraction, and processing. Nature has long been a source of pigments and dyes made from natural materials. There are instructions for both Apr 12, 2022 · This is a reference guide to help with the herbs to pigments to inks aspects of Inscription. Indigo, with its iconic hue, seemed like the perfect starting point. Not only is making homemade ink a fun and creative DIY project, but it also allows you to customize the colors and textures to suit your artistic needs. Turn your kitchen into a DIY ink lab with easy, step-by-step instructions on how to make 20 different types of homemade ink. There are several different methods for Oct 21, 2023 · Super Natural Ink… now available for you Want to get your hands on some of my handmade super natural ink? Since I make these inks by hand in very small batches only when the ink-making plants are in season, there is a limited amount available. Making homemade alcohol ink is also an option, providing a cost-effective alternative for art. If you can’t find a nettle, try yarrow, spinach Make Ink from Acorns Create your own ink from acorns and other foraged plants, such as tree cones, oak galls, walnuts and bark. Includes tips on growing it from seed, caring for the mature plants, harvesting, and processing the leaves for indigo. Sep 26, 2023 · How to grow Japanese indigo and extract pure indigo pigment from its leaves. Enabling you to work with hundreds of different plants you can grow, forage, or purchase. Apr 22, 2018 · Thanks to Frédéric Boyer giving a course at BazArt I am now inspired to make natural, homemade, eco-friendly plant-based ink, paint, pigments and charcoal. No matter where you live in the world, my tried and tested recipes will guide you to create beautiful inks. Jason Logan is a Toronto-based ink maker who uses natural ingredients to make different inks. Get it before it’s gone! Nov 30, 2020 · Making your own homemade watercolor paint and ink is a great way to create a mindful art practice by connecting with nature. Check out a few exmaples of inks below: Carbon Ink – was made of soot, glue and water Apr 16, 2025 · In a hands-on tutorial from the artist-run Oxygen Art Centre in Nelson, British Columbia, Jaymie Johnson demonstrates how kitchen scraps can become vibrant, color-changing botanical inks. This beginner's guide includes techniques, recipes, safety tips, and must-have ink-making tools. Experience the magic of creating something beautiful and practical from freely available, natural resources. Some materials need more time than others. Forget expensive trips to the art store and wasteful packaging— discover new materials for art making from items in Aug 14, 2023 · This DIY watercolor paint tutorial is fascinating and fun. We'll show you how! Learn how to make natural inks & watercolour paints from plants with this simple step-by-step tutorial and guide. I take the students on a nature walk around the schoolyard, backyard, vegetable garden, or food market to observe the color in living and nonliving matter. A lot of times I like to DIY my own paper from grass or in this case leaves. The method will work with any kind of dye plant, but it’s particularly effective with a tannin rich dye stuff like walnut husks, due to the high tannin content. Homemade ink is free from harsh chemicals found in Oct 8, 2024 · Learn how to make your own ink from oak galls, berries, and charcoal, and explore the rich history behind natural ink-making. May 26, 2020 · Before I teach students how to make natural dye, paint, or ink, I want them to understand where the natural materials that make the pigment come from. Turning to natural inks is a great way to reconnect with nature. Published in 2018, the book includes a guide to foraging for plants (and pieces of metal) that you can use to make ink, about 90 pages of recipes, and a final section on how to tes Feb 24, 2020 · Giving white flowers tonic water or fluorescent ink instead of water makes them glow in the dark under black light. Every time I make paper from plants, I'm left with This video shows viewers how to make your own ink using natural or botanical matter like red cabbage. By simmering red cabbage leaves for several hours, Johnson extracts anthocyanins —natural pigments that respond dramatically to pH levels. Using natural ingredients like berries, charcoal, and gum arabic, you can produce various shades and consistencies. Indigo is a stunning and natural blue dye that you can use for fibers, cloth, wood, and even handmade soap. Here are four methods to make glowing flowers. ” While reading about indigo dyeing for fabric, I also discovered how the technique could beautifully lend itself to creating anthotypes, connecting the world of The Foragers: How to make medieval ink from Oak Galls What Are Sugar Plums? How to make real Victorian sugar plums Making Medieval Ink // iron gall waterproof black ink Nov 8, 2021 · In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make the ink and how it can be stamped on fabric and paper. This video is created by Jaymie Johnson. These early pioneers created ink using fine carbon particles and natural pigments combined with plant gum to acts as a binding A great source of ink-making plants can also be from your kitchen. The process of making flower petal ink is quite simple and can yield beautiful colors– you can even experiment with using different foraged blooms from the backyard, now that spring is bringing color into season. Jun 10, 2025 · With these four easy recipes, you can make your own black, brown, or blue ink at home using basic materials. Milling can be used to mill 5 herbs for 2 - 4 pigments, then you use the pigments to turn into inks. Working with metals, acids, a Jun 1, 2016 · We recently came across a recipe for ink made from flower petals, so naturally we had to try it for ourselves. Shimmer and stir as needed until you reach the desired colour (30 mins - 1hr). Gain insights into essential tools, preservation techniques, and a month-long exploration of creating DIY botanical inks. A lake pigment, linseed oil and elbow grease are needed to start making your plant-based printmaking ink. , and do-it-yourself recipes for using plant extracts as alternative ink were still being published centuries later, in books such as The Household Cyclopedia of General Information Oct 5, 2022 · Plants high in tannins typically make great sources of ink which are usually a light to dark brown: oak galls, acorn caps, some leaves (birch, willow, rose), bark. Making natural ink and dyes is all about playing around with colours. However, there is a growing trend of people rediscovering the joy of creating their own ink from natural ingredients. Flowers are already beautiful, but have you ever wanted to make glowing flowers so you could see them in the dark? All you need is a bit of basic chemistry and biology to make real flowers glow. Hi, my name is Cory and I'm an artist that uses nature as a medium. C. May 14, 2020 · Arts How to make your own ink from foraged spring plants Even if you're confined to your own backyard, hundreds of colours are waiting to be bottled Sep 5, 2024 · To make ink using natural ingredients, combine water, gum arabic, and natural dyes like berries or charcoal. Subscribe to Your Morning for the latest: http://bit. Included tables and some farming paths. Apr 3, 2023 · Discover process for making natural ink and a recipe for Turmeric Ink by Jason Logan, author of Make Ink: A Forager's Guide Jan 6, 2023 · How to make natural Ink If using fruits or vegetables, slice the materials into smaller pieces. Once you get the desired colour, cool it down, then Jan 19, 2025 · Spiderwort flowers make a lovely ink. And not only that, but the process of extracting color from plants became something much deeper for me—something that felt like a return home An introduction to four techniques for making inks and paints. Jan 6, 2023 · How to make natural Ink If using fruits or vegetables, slice the materials into smaller pieces. Jun 5, 2019 · Easy DIY tutorial to make botanical, natural plant-based inks with avocado, walnut, tea, flame of forst etc. Starting with Oct 12, 2022 · Making natural ink is all about exploring and connecting with your landscape and capturing its colors in a bottle! Jul 28, 2015 · 5 Natural Ink Recipes Make your own colored inks from plant materials to use in art and craft projects. What You Need: 1. : wild fruit, berries, leaves, grass, flowers Oct 6, 2020 · Natural Ink Making Journey I didn’t set out to become obsessed with making ink. You will be amazed at the ink you can create from plants in your own backyard. One of the best things about natural inks is that nearly anything in nature could be experimented with to create inks. Learning Nov 30, 2020 · Making your own homemade watercolor paint and ink is a great way to create a mindful art practice by connecting with nature. Get step-by-step instructions, essential tools, and ink preservation tips. This activity can get messy but the process of experimenting with different materials is worth it! Here’s how to make your own natural ink. Aug 29, 2012 · We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Gather up supplies and ingredients Plants (fresh, frozen, or dried) Muddler Fabric pieces or fine strainer Pot (that you don’t mind possibly getting stained) Watercolor paper (regular paper can’t handle liquid ink, I prefer the more textured and absorbent cold press type) Paint ☆ making natural ink was really something i wanted to try doing, and finally here it is! for the record, i am not an expert at this. Making natural ink is a highlight of TerraTime for both children and adults. Jul 15, 2024 · Discover how to make natural ink with foraged plants and kitchen scraps. Sep 30, 2021 · Can you make ink from plants? For hundreds of years, plants have been used to color inks and to dye textiles in both commercial and domestic settings. It started as a curiosity—one of those quiet, lingering thoughts in the back of my mind: Can I actually make my own ink from nature? Turns out, the answer was yes. Oct 26, 2020 · The idea of making my own inks from the flowers and berries that grow in my garden and in local fields and hedgerows really appeals to me … May 24, 2017 · Did you know that you can make your own fabric printing inks with things you’ll find in the nature? Learn how to make your own DIY natural fabric printing ink with fruits, such as sloe berries and bilberries, and vegetables, such as red cabbage and onions. The “ink” is a thickened dye which has the consistency of a paste. ly/2hX11GFmore In this chemistry science project, extract plant pigment and use paper chromatography to compare pigments to color molecules in markers. May 18, 2023 · A quick guide to making your own natural pigments and dyes from flowers and plants for eco-friendly arts and crafts >>. Shimmer and stir as needed until you reach the desired colour (30 mins – 1hr). Red Onions Skins, Beetroot Peelings, and even the slightly bad/stale/bruised fruits (grapes, berries, etc) can be a perfect excuse to make something good out of. Oct 6, 2025 · How Many Types Of Homemade Ink Can You Make? Transform your kitchen into a DIY ink lab with step-by-step instructions for making 20 types of homemade ink, including plant-based inks, green grass ink, color-changing invisible ink, and flower petal ink. May 9, 2025 · A 30-day exploration of natural ink making can enhance the process, teaching how to create inks using plants, kitchen scraps, and foraged items. How To Prepare Fabric For Printing I used cotton fabric for the print samples. Nov 6, 2022 · Make Ink: A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking is a beautiful guide to making your own inks written by Jason Logan. i read a couple of blogs Learn how to make beautiful natural inks from items in your home and garden. You can make a good ink from any tannin rich material, I tried the following; Nov 4, 2020 · Explore 30 days of natural ink making! Learn how to create DIY botanical inks using plants, kitchen scraps, and foraged materials for stunning natural colors. Once you get the desired colour, cool it down, then Jun 8, 2019 · I’ve been making an exciting foray into the world of natural paints and inks. Don't forget to share your masterpieces with the world, inspire others and continue to explore the limitless realm of creativity. 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