Enter the World of Wildcrafted Color
“Let the ink do its thing…As much as possible, I try to get out of the way of the materials and appreciate the surprises that naturally result.”-Jason Logan in “Make Ink”
I read recently that “the land is filled with enchantment. Magic has been woven into it over the ages, repeated over generations, but we often miss what's hiding in plain sight.”
Same earth, shifted sight.
Entering the world of foraging and ink-making has changed the way I see the world. There is no doubt a touch of magic and a communing with material with every batch of ink, a co-creation with the earth.
One plant can express multiple different colors. They show you how they blend, feather, and furl on paper and how they change with time and air. Some inks are even multicolored.
To play with these inks is to connect with the land and her magic, and experience wild color.
These ink sets are designed and created with everyone's inner artist in mind--as well as what's a) sustainable and b) lasts for at least a year.
After much thought and creative visioning, I began releasing ink sets on an annual basis. Believe me when I say this is a labor of love, connection, and attention to detail. Many inks are made with plants grown from seed or are perennially in my garden. Others are foraged ethically. All are processed, bottled, and packaged with love, landscapes in bottles.
The 2025 Ink Sets
Ingredients
So what's in these bottles? Mostly water, with the pigment from the plant/material, a dash of white vinegar (pulls the pigment from the plant structure), a dash of alum (helps with colorfastness and is kitchen grade), and 2-3 drops of gum arabic to help thicken the ink (from the acacia tree). The copper oxide ink in the rainbow brights set is a mineral/metal from copper piping that was oxidized in a jar with white vinegar and water.
Safe Storage/Handling
Though they're all made with minerals, salts, vinegar, and water (safer then many other art supplies), they're best suited for folks school-aged and up. These inks should not be ingested, and care should be taken to store the inks in a safe place away from small children in a cool, dry place.
Permanence
Some inks are more ‘lightfast,' aka permanent, than others. This depends on the properties of the ink source, i.e. black walnut is lushly filled with natural tannins that hold its color. Many of the inks have alum (kitchen grade) to maintain the color. It's definitely color science/chemistry. Many also change color as they dry, over minutes to hours to days, so what you paint on is not how it will look when dry. They're also UV sensitive, sunlight will alter the color of most.
Remember, this is wild color that will keep you on your toes! The inks ask, “did you see what I did there?”
Paper
Oh, these inks love a good paper. I do recommend a thicker paper to accommodate painting with them. You could use heavyweight mixed media paper from any art store, or if you're serious about paper, I love the Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress pads. Experiment with different papers!
Shake It Up
Always remember to shake each ink bottle before opening and painting/writing!
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Wild Ink Sketches
All
- All
- Uncategorized
- Art
- Art media
- Gift Card
- Home/Office
- Original painting
- Studio Sale
Quick tip on display of ink sketches:
Avoid displaying in direct sunlight, unless you would like to see how the colors change over time. The glass is acrylic, not UV safe (such glass would make these sketches much less accessible).
With love from my kitchen lab...
X Alicia
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