Wintergreen oil (available from
baldwins.co.uk) or whole cloves
Glass containers with tight-fitting lids
Self-adhesive labels
Large bowl
Fine-mesh strainer or colander
Funnel
An old coffee grinder (optional)
Coffee filters
Glass dropper bottle
Litmus papers
Rubber gloves and some rags for
a clean-up
1 Sterilise your materials: put clean bottles,
dropper, caps, and utensils in a large
saucepan. Add enough water to cover all
the equipment, making sure there are no
air bubbles. Bring the water to a boil and
boil rapidly for five minutes, then turn off
and allow the water to cool completely.
2 Next, prepare the base colour ingredient.
For berries: crush using a potato masher;
add 120ml water and 450g berries. Then
skip to step 4. For rocks, charcoal or other
dry pigments: grind 30ml of the material
Adapted fromMake
Ink: A Forager’s
Guide to Natural
Inkmakingby Jason
Logan (Abrams).
Photography: Lauren
Kolyndown to the finest dust using a mortar and
pestle or similar. Add 660ml water and 2
tbsp gum arabic. For nuts, roots, or leaves:
combine 480ml water and 120ml of plant
material in the pot as is.
3 Now to intensify the colour. Put the base
colour ingredient into a large, old
saucepan. Add 2 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp
salt. Heat to just below boiling and cook for
at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until
you have an intense ink colour. (Dip a strip
of paper into the coloured water to test.)
Remove from the heat and let cool.
4 If you have large pieces of plant matter,
like roots and leaves, first strain the liquid
over a bowl through a colander. For further
filtering, place the small end of a funnel
into the mouth of a glass container and line
with a coffee filter. Pour your strained
liquid through the funnel slowly. The coffee
filter should remove smaller particles
– particularly important if you plan to use
the ink in a pen.
5 To fix the colour, add gum arabic as a
binder only after your ink has reached your
desired shade. For each 60ml bottle of ink,use about 10 drops of gum arabic. If you’re
using a dry pigment as a base, you’ll need
to use more binder (usually 1 tsp per 60ml
bottle). If you plan to use your ink for a pen,
try to limit yourself to just a few drops of
gum arabic for each small bottle (more
can gum up the pen nib).
6 Bottle your ink and add a few drops of
wintergreen oil, or 1 whole clove, to each
bottle to keep the ink from going mouldy.
7 Now test it: a single drop of natural ink on
paper will develop a lot of subtleties as it
dries, often intensifying as it evaporates
and darkening toward the edges. Another
level of variation emerges as you test the
ink using various tools: ink droppers, pens,
nibs, brushes, and even sticks or feathers
change the effect of the ink – as do
different paper stocks.
Maker’s note: While less intense than
chemically produced ink, ink-making can
get messy and can stain clothes, worktops,
and wooden spoons, so having rags, soap
and kitchen towel nearby can help keep
you and the non-ink-making members of
your household on friendly terms.Kitchen table alchemy:
almost anything from
the natural world can
be used to make ink
THINK (^) | WEEKEND PROJECT