Journal

On the high moor of Dartmoor, late spring into early summer is a bleak time for colour collection. This is when I look to the hedgerows, ditches, and our back garden for colour. I've been carefully cultivating our backyard so that I have a ready-supply of dock, dandelion, and nettles. I'm sure our neighbours are thrilled with my gardening choices but no one has commented directly, yet. It has been reported that the root of the dock plant gives a lovely pink colour. They're also notoriously difficult to uproot thanks to an extremely strong taproot. I've not been able to...

Iron gall ink is a black ink made from oak galls, iron salts, and gum Arabic. Iron gall ink has been in use for thousands of years. It is considered permanent, and has been used for legal documents until recently. Oak galls are wasp incubation pods found on oak trees. Iron gall ink is also known as oak gall ink; however, technically you should include the word “iron” if it contains iron.  (I use both interchangeably, but I'm trying to be better.) History of Iron Gall Ink In use for more than 2000 years. Generally agreed to be the “standard”...

This is the sap from acacia trees. Gum Arabic helps: Keep the pigment suspended Makes the ink flow properly from a dip pen Helps stabilize black chemical compounds Without gum Arabic, you have a mixture that will separate and is difficult to write with. With gum Arabic, you have a stable, workable ink. (Thanks to Joumana Medlej for her elegant description of why we bother to use gum Arabic.) Basic recipe If you are working from lumps: In a saucepan, combine equal parts gum Arabic and water. Cook to dissolve. The final solution should be the consistency of double cream....

Chemical compounds are stored in plant cells. The colour-producing chemicals are called biochromes. The basics of extracting botanical colours In order to release these chemicals and make them available for ink, we crush and/or cook the plant materials in water to break down the cell walls. Once the chemicals are released from the plant cell, they become available to use as-is, or we can transform them to other colours by chemically altering their composition. Sometimes, simply exposing the biochromes to water, oxygen, and/or heat will transform them to different colours. Common biochromes and their sources There appears to be little...