Natural Ink Making - Basic Techniques, Recipes, Safety + Supplies

It’s been five years since I began learning about the magic of natural ink making. This journey has had its evident challenges, but mostly, it’s been incredibly fulfilling to learn how to create color with nature itself. If you are interested in reading about how I got started, check out this blog post. I share what led me to explore this new medium, some important mindsets for approaching nature as an art material, and the undeniable meaning it has brought to my work.

In this blog post, I’ll be covering some basic techniques, recipes, important safety practices, helpful ink supplies, and a bit about foraging for your own color.

I’m also excited to announce that I’m starting a new 30-day challenge! Follow along on my Instagram for all the beautiful nature-made content.

Let’s dive right in. What are the elements of ink? Well, it’s really quite simple—the basic formula for creating a natural ink is:

Plant Material/Color + Water/Oil + Binder = Natural Ink

Plant Material/Color gets suspended in Water/Oil, creating a color extraction usually with the use of heat/fermentation. Then, a binder is used to hold the two elements together, much like a natural glue, creating a Natural Ink.

Let’s break down each of those categories in depth:

Plant Material/Color

Plant material can be anything from food waste like onion skins to flower petals from your home garden. The materials that are widely available to you are the true beauty of this process because so many things produce vibrant, pigmented color. I challenged myself to create Natural Inks for 30 Days earlier this year. It was a fascinating, rewarding, and eye-opening experience. Check out the magic [here].

One of the biggest reasons I’ve transitioned to creating art with natural ingredients is to discover a sustainable and earth-friendly practice. This involves many hours of research on which materials are non-toxic and which can be sustainably harvested from the region around me. It’s important to be knowledgeable about the toxicity of plants, especially if your ink studio is your home kitchen.

Natural colors can be extracted from plants, minerals, fungi, lichen, wood bark, roots, food waste, and many other materials. Certain variables in each plant’s structure make it reliable and lightfast, which has to do with how resistant it is to fading when exposed to light. The more experimentation and research you do, the more you will learn about the molecular structure of plants and how to extract rich color for the best results. Typically, plants that are high in tannins produce the richest color. A tannin is an organic compound found in trees and plants that can be used as a natural mordant or a color darkener when mixed with iron. Furthermore, color pigmentation can vary based on plant type, time of year harvested, cooking time, and fixatives.

With all this said, I’ve always embraced an intuitive and experimental approach to color extraction. I’m not one to follow recipes strictly, and I am totally okay with that. I’ve learned ink basics, and now I’m further falling in love with the discovery of new plants. I love that living color changes with time and light. I love that it has a mind of its own. The ever-changing aspect of the ink-making process is what I find the most rewarding.

Here are some plants I’ve loved experimenting with:

Food/Scraps/Herbs: Avocado Pits/Skins, Beet Scraps/Skins/Roots, Pomegranate Skins, Black Tea, Hibiscus Tea, Coffee Grounds, Onion Peels, Purple Cabbage, Turmeric, Sumac, Spinach, Rosemary, Mint, Lavender, Sage

Berries/Fruit: Blueberries, Blackberries, Currants, Gooseberries, Rosehips, Wild Grape, Pokeweed Berry, Elderberry, Buckthorn

Flowers/Leaves/Plants: Fireweed Leaves, Rose Petals, Iris Petals, Dahlia Petals, Marigolds, Chamomile, Coreopsis, Camellia Leaves, Woad, Weld, Goldenrod, Yarrow, Cosmos, Indigo

Roots/Bark/Nuts: Madder Roots, Willow Bark, Oak Galls, Fruit Tree Bark, Walnut Husks

Water/Oil

After you’ve selected and confirmed the identification of a plant you will be extracting color from, you will be suspending the color in what is called a vehicle. The term vehicle essentially refers to the liquid from which the color will be extracted. This can be water, oil, alcohol, or gel, depending on the type of creative application you will be using the ink for. The amount of vehicle, desired temperature, and cooking time duration will vary based on the plant itself. Typically, delicate leaves, flowers, and berries can produce vibrant color within minutes of being under heat, whereas hardy materials such as roots, bark, nuts, and pits take days to produce pigmentation.

I do research on recipes if I haven’t tested a particular plant’s cooking process before. I can generally get a good sense of cooking time and ingredients needed by referencing existing recipes. While results vary even if you follow recipes precisely, I prefer to simply do color tests during the cooking process. About every 10-15 minutes, I dip a natural fiber paper strip for a few seconds into the liquid and let the color dry before deciding if more color needs to be extracted. On each strip, I like to note the cooking time and the type of plant I’m extracting to keep track of records.

Binder

Once you’re satisfied with the color intensity, you will need to filter out any plant matter using a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter. Doing a thorough straining process will help you avoid bacterial growth/mold from spreading into your ink. Once the ink is strained and you are left with liquid magic, you will need to use a binder. This is what binds the extracted color and liquid together, much like glue. My favorite natural binder to use is the liquid form of Gum Arabic, which is hardened sap from Acacia Trees.

Preservative

To seal the deal, I add a preservative to prevent any bacteria from spreading into the ink. You can use any antimicrobial essential oils available to you. I like to use a few drops of Wintergreen Oil. It is recommended that you store your inks in either a cool place that doesn’t get hit with sunlight or in the refrigerator.

Now that you are familiar with what variables create an ink, let’s dive into a basic recipe and the tools you’ll need.

Safety

For all ink-making tools, it is recommended that you either use second-hand/thrifted items or things you don’t use for cooking any longer. This will ensure that no plant residue/ink ever accidentally causes you harm. Depending on the plant material, you may need to utilize a ventilated room, open a nearby window, or work outdoors during the extraction process. I cannot emphasize enough to always be certain that you’ve properly identified a plant and its properties before you begin. Wiping down all cooking surfaces and keeping a sterile environment is crucial not only for your own health but also for avoiding bacteria from spreading into your ink. All tools, including bottling jars, should be sterilized or run through the dishwasher before and after use.

Tools

You can create an ink with just a few simple household tools—stainless steel pot, wooden spoon, and a strainer. As you experiment, you may want to gather a few other handy tools such as a mortar and pestle, funnel, potato masher, tongs, rubber gloves, stainless steel bowls, muslin, and a good assortment of well-sealed glass jars.

Materials: Plant Material, Water, White Vinegar, Salt, Gum Arabic, and Wintergreen Oil

Basic Recipe

Step 1: Choose your plant material for ink making. Confirm plant identification, properties, and toxicity.

Step 2: In a stainless steel pot, add your plant material and fill with enough water to cover the surface of the plant material itself. Usually, for one cup of plant material, I use two cups of water.

Step 3: Bring plant material to a boil. Then add 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt. Boil for a few more minutes, then turn down the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally. At this point, I usually test the color intensity with paper strips every 10-15 minutes.

For berries, flowers, and plants, cooking time is usually 15 minutes to 2 hours. For hardier materials such as pits, bark, and nuts, cooking time can be multiple days—beginning with a 1-hour boil, then letting the plant material cool/chill in the pot overnight and repeating the process the following day for another hour until the desired color is achieved.

Step 4: Once your desired color is achieved, remove from the heat and let cool.

Step 5: Filter the plant material using a fine mesh strainer. You may need to repeat the filtering process again if you can still see plant particles floating in the ink.

Step 6: Pour your ink into a sterilized jar and then add two drops of Gum Arabic and two drops of Wintergreen Oil.

Voila, magic in a bottle!