From Galls to Nettles: An Online Natural Ink Learning Series
This online series will teach you the fundamentals of ink making. It's planned for the Northern Hemisphere, but everyone is welcome to join. We'll help you to build skills month on month as we move from autumn through winter and into spring's first offerings.
This workshop series is a perfect pairing to our 100 Days Outside programme.
What You'll Learn
October: Making Oak Gall Ink - 8 October 2025
Learn the classic technique that's been used by artists and writers for centuries. You'll learn how to find oak galls (or where to buy them if you're impatient), and how to make them into the same inks we use for our art practice at Princetown Press.
November: Making Ink with Tannin-Rich Plants - 12 November 2025
Discover which plants in your area can create beautiful, lasting inks and learn the extraction techniques that bring out an incredible range of oranges, reds, and blacks.
December: Ink from Kitchen Scraps - 10 December 2025
Turn everyday kitchen waste into extraordinary inks. Avocado stones, red cabbage, onion skins – your compost bin is full of creative potential.
January: Modifiers for Botanical Inks - 14 January 2026
Learn to adjust pH, add iron, and modify your inks to achieve different colours and improve lightfastness and permanence.
February: Ageing Inks – What to Expect and How to Deal with Older Inks - 11 February 2026
Understand how your inks change over time, spot the signs of natural ageing versus spoilage, and learn proper storage techniques.
March: Nettle Inks - 11 March 2026
Welcome spring with fresh nettle ink – perfect timing as these misunderstood plants begin popping up in the UK and beyond.
Recordings Available
Recordings are available for any session that you miss. This means you can sign up at any time. Each session builds loosely on the previous one, creating a comprehensive foundation in botanical ink-making that you can apply to your art, writing, or creative practice. You can start at any point, though. Wherever you start is exactly the right place.
Session 1: Introduction to Wild Colour
Start your journey with an introduction to our Wild Colour practice at Princetown Press. You'll get an overview of where and how we make our inks and our fine art practice.
Why This Series?
The darker months can be a perfect time to dive deep into new creative skills. While the days are shorter and the pace naturally slows, these monthly sessions give you something to anticipate, learn, and experiment with. By spring, you'll have a complete toolkit of natural ink-making techniques and the confidence to experiment with materials you find in your own environment.
At Princetown Press, we've spent years perfecting these techniques in my own artistic practice and teaching them to students worldwide. This series distils what we've learned into an accessible, step-by-step journey that takes you from complete beginner to confident ink-maker.
Perfect For:
- Artists wanting to expand their natural materials toolkit
- Calligraphers interested in growing beyond store-bought colours
- Writers interested in traditional ink-making
- Anyone curious about working with botanical colours
- Creative practitioners looking for new techniques to explore
- Those who want to learn at their own pace with recorded access
What time and for how long?
Each session will start at 7PM British time and last one hour. (If you're not in the UK, please use time.is to convert this time to your local time. Please also note that British time is not the same as UTC or GMT.)
There will be a few minutes of housekeeping, a 20-30 minute "lesson", a bit of time for Q&A, and we'll wrap up at the top of the hour.
How Do I Join Each Month?
These sessions will be offered as Zoom workshops. You will receive a link to join via email a few hours before each call. You will be responsible for setting up your own calendar entries in your preferred calendar system. You can create a recurring event for the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
Equipment You'll Need
You don't need anything on the day. These will be watch-and-learn lessons. Then, a few days after each webinar, you'll receive an email with the recording. You'll then be able to watch the lesson again and again.
Most of our recipes are kitchen safe, so you'll be able to use your own pots and pans and kitchen utensils. Most of the ingredients you'll be able to find in your kitchen, or outside, for free.
How Much?
£20 for the complete 7-month series. This includes live access to all sessions, complete recordings, and supplier recommendations.
Refund Policy
Our usual workshop cancellation policy applies, and a full refund will be granted if you cancel at least three days before the first workshop begins. Any cancellation fewer than 3 days prior to the workshop will receive a store credit good for 60 days. If you decide at any time the workshop series is not for you after the series has begun, you will be given a store credit for £20.
What If I Only Want to Attend One Session?
Please sign up for the full series. We think £20 for one session is still great value, and you'll receive the recording for the other sessions, which might be useful to you in future.
Want to Go Deeper?
If you find yourself inspired by these techniques and want hands-on guidance, I also offer intensive in-person workshops at my Devon studio. These full-day sessions provide individual attention, professional equipment, and the chance to work with materials you might not have access to at home.
All of our papers are recycled, and British where possible. We can provide you specific details on certifications each paper has, and the mill where they were made.
All of our papers are recycled, and British where possible. We can provide you specific details on certifications each paper has, and the mill where they were made.
- Delivery costs will be calculated at the checkout
- Free UK delivery on all orders over £30
- You can return your order for a full refund or exchange within 30 days of purchase
- Delivery costs will be calculated at the checkout
- Free UK delivery on all orders over £30
- You can return your order for a full refund or exchange within 30 days of purchase
This online series will teach you the fundamentals of ink making. It's planned for the Northern Hemisphere, but everyone is welcome to join. We'll help you to build skills month on month as we move from autumn through winter and into spring's first offerings.
This workshop series is a perfect pairing to our 100 Days Outside programme.
What You'll Learn
October: Making Oak Gall Ink - 8 October 2025
Learn the classic technique that's been used by artists and writers for centuries. You'll learn how to find oak galls (or where to buy them if you're impatient), and how to make them into the same inks we use for our art practice at Princetown Press.
November: Making Ink with Tannin-Rich Plants - 12 November 2025
Discover which plants in your area can create beautiful, lasting inks and learn the extraction techniques that bring out an incredible range of oranges, reds, and blacks.
December: Ink from Kitchen Scraps - 10 December 2025
Turn everyday kitchen waste into extraordinary inks. Avocado stones, red cabbage, onion skins – your compost bin is full of creative potential.
January: Modifiers for Botanical Inks - 14 January 2026
Learn to adjust pH, add iron, and modify your inks to achieve different colours and improve lightfastness and permanence.
February: Ageing Inks – What to Expect and How to Deal with Older Inks - 11 February 2026
Understand how your inks change over time, spot the signs of natural ageing versus spoilage, and learn proper storage techniques.
March: Nettle Inks - 11 March 2026
Welcome spring with fresh nettle ink – perfect timing as these misunderstood plants begin popping up in the UK and beyond.
Recordings Available
Recordings are available for any session that you miss. This means you can sign up at any time. Each session builds loosely on the previous one, creating a comprehensive foundation in botanical ink-making that you can apply to your art, writing, or creative practice. You can start at any point, though. Wherever you start is exactly the right place.
Session 1: Introduction to Wild Colour
Start your journey with an introduction to our Wild Colour practice at Princetown Press. You'll get an overview of where and how we make our inks and our fine art practice.
Why This Series?
The darker months can be a perfect time to dive deep into new creative skills. While the days are shorter and the pace naturally slows, these monthly sessions give you something to anticipate, learn, and experiment with. By spring, you'll have a complete toolkit of natural ink-making techniques and the confidence to experiment with materials you find in your own environment.
At Princetown Press, we've spent years perfecting these techniques in my own artistic practice and teaching them to students worldwide. This series distils what we've learned into an accessible, step-by-step journey that takes you from complete beginner to confident ink-maker.
Perfect For:
- Artists wanting to expand their natural materials toolkit
- Calligraphers interested in growing beyond store-bought colours
- Writers interested in traditional ink-making
- Anyone curious about working with botanical colours
- Creative practitioners looking for new techniques to explore
- Those who want to learn at their own pace with recorded access
What time and for how long?
Each session will start at 7PM British time and last one hour. (If you're not in the UK, please use time.is to convert this time to your local time. Please also note that British time is not the same as UTC or GMT.)
There will be a few minutes of housekeeping, a 20-30 minute "lesson", a bit of time for Q&A, and we'll wrap up at the top of the hour.
How Do I Join Each Month?
These sessions will be offered as Zoom workshops. You will receive a link to join via email a few hours before each call. You will be responsible for setting up your own calendar entries in your preferred calendar system. You can create a recurring event for the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
Equipment You'll Need
You don't need anything on the day. These will be watch-and-learn lessons. Then, a few days after each webinar, you'll receive an email with the recording. You'll then be able to watch the lesson again and again.
Most of our recipes are kitchen safe, so you'll be able to use your own pots and pans and kitchen utensils. Most of the ingredients you'll be able to find in your kitchen, or outside, for free.
How Much?
£20 for the complete 7-month series. This includes live access to all sessions, complete recordings, and supplier recommendations.
Refund Policy
Our usual workshop cancellation policy applies, and a full refund will be granted if you cancel at least three days before the first workshop begins. Any cancellation fewer than 3 days prior to the workshop will receive a store credit good for 60 days. If you decide at any time the workshop series is not for you after the series has begun, you will be given a store credit for £20.
What If I Only Want to Attend One Session?
Please sign up for the full series. We think £20 for one session is still great value, and you'll receive the recording for the other sessions, which might be useful to you in future.
Want to Go Deeper?
If you find yourself inspired by these techniques and want hands-on guidance, I also offer intensive in-person workshops at my Devon studio. These full-day sessions provide individual attention, professional equipment, and the chance to work with materials you might not have access to at home.
All of our papers are recycled, and British where possible. We can provide you specific details on certifications each paper has, and the mill where they were made.
All of our papers are recycled, and British where possible. We can provide you specific details on certifications each paper has, and the mill where they were made.
- Delivery costs will be calculated at the checkout
- Free UK delivery on all orders over £30
- You can return your order for a full refund or exchange within 30 days of purchase
- Delivery costs will be calculated at the checkout
- Free UK delivery on all orders over £30
- You can return your order for a full refund or exchange within 30 days of purchase
Customer Reviews
I am looking forward to the rest of the online course. I really enjoyed the first lesson and the great handout with all the information we have received.
I have only attended the first webinar in this series so far, but it was great! It was really informative and well-structured. Emma shared loads of resources and really cares about building a community amongst the attendees. I left feeling inspired and am eagerly looking forward to the next webinar!