Plant and Ink

Create a rainbow of vibrant, natural inks from the plants and flowers around you.

Plant-based inks are richer in colour than synthetic inks, producing a wide range of tones and unique, stunning visual results; extracting and storing these inks ready for use is made simple in this beginner-friendly book. The 27 seasonal plant ‘recipes’, which yield 49 colours of ink, are ordered seasonally, to accompany you through the creative year.

Discover:

• Warm yellows from daffodils in spring;
• Rich reds, pinks and indigo from poppies in summer;
• Light blue and mint green from sage in autumn;
• Warm orangey-browns from hazel in winter.

Each recipe contains a guide to the plant used, the lightfastness of the ink created, written step-by-step instructions for extracting the ink, and beautiful visuals to illustrate the colours available; handy tips are also included for working with plant-based ink.

For artists who like to work with different mediums, the book also includes guides to creating pigments from your plant recipes, then using different binders to create oil paint, egg tempera, watercolour, gouache, chalk pastel and screen-printing ink.

Plant and Ink is an invitation to embrace sustainability, to see the world around us in vibrant colour and to create with love and attention. Whether you’re an experienced artist or a curious beginner, this book will open your eyes to the creative possibilities that nature has to offer.

Book Contents

Preface: My love for ink and nature
Introduction: The history of paper and ink
Discovering nature
What is ink?
Handy to keep in the house
Bottling ink
The basis of plant-based inks
Three golden rules for working with plant-based inks

DYE PLANTS / TUTORIALS
Madder,Woad, Weld

INK / TUTORIALS
Spring - Bracken, Cow parsley, Gallnuts, Daffodil, Tulip, Black hollyhock
Summer - Tansy, Dahlia, Goldenrod, Hibiscus, Poppy, Elder
Autumn - Birch, Privet, Horse chestnut, Saffron crocus, Sage, Walnut
Winter - Grapevine, Alder, Hazel, Holly, Red cabbage, Rose

My journey to plant-based printing

PAINT, CHALK AND PRINTING INK / TUTORIALS
Pigment
Lake pigment
Oil paint
Damar varnish
Oil colours
Egg tempera
Watercolour paint and gouache
Chalk pastels
Screen-printing ink

PRODUCTS AND RETAILERS
Product information
Useful addresses