According to Logan (2023), natural ink isn’t that complicated.
You can throw almost any pigment-rich
base ingredient into an old pot with vinegar and salt, boil it up for an hour or two, add a couple of drops
of gum arabic, and voila—you have an ink. It is surely easy to make an ink. Every plant that you think has
pigmented colors can be extracted and produce ink out of it. Artists often try to reproduce the rich
colors of nature in their work. DIY project using plants and other natural ingredients to make ink takes
that process one step further—by showing you how here are some processes from different natural ink
makers wherein you can capture many beautiful shades from Nature in every artwork or masterpiece
you are destined to make.
Once you start making ink, the world never quite looks the same. Learn how to gather natural materials
—leaves, berries, bark, moss—and transform them into rich, kid-friendly hues. The base recipe comes
from our friend, Jason Logan, who showed us how he makes and uses natural inks (Stewart, 2022). Think
of ink as any coloured water that’s permanent on paper. All the recipes will make 2 cups (480 ml) of ink,
or about eight standard 2-ounce (60 ml) bottles. Logan tried to be as exact as possible with quantities,
but keep in mind that the final amount of ink you make will depend on how long you cook your ink and
how much liquid your foraged material might contain. Your goal should not be a set amount of ink but
rather a color and consistency that feels right to you. If your ink is too thin, keep cooking; if your ink gets
too thick, add a bit more water. Unlike a fine French sauce, it’s pretty hard to “ruin” an ink. And
sometimes a very faint ink, if collected from a very special plant, can become a favourite (Logan, 2023).
For Martha Stewart Editors (2022), her process is also influenced by Jason Logan. According to them,
there are only seven (7) simple steps to create ink!
Here are the steps:
Step 1: Gather your materials, many of which can be found at home or outside in the backyard.
Step 2: In an old pot, add leaves, flowers, or berries, water, salt (1 dash per cup), and white vinegar (1
teaspoon per cup). Heat, keeping just below bowling.
Step 3: Cook for at least an hour or until water takes on a deep, rich color. Use a strip of paper to test
your color.
Step 4: Place a coffee filter inside a funnel, then the funnel inside a wide-mouth glass jar. Pour the water
slowly into the top to filter the ink.
Step 5: In a glass bottle, add gum arabic (one part to 10 parts ink) and a whole clove or a drop of
wintergreen (as a preservative). Pour ink into the bottle, leaving some space at the top. Close with a
tight-fitting lid.
Step 6: Name and label your ink.
Step 7: Use ink in arts and crafts projects.
With this process, you can create 100% natural ink. You don’t have to buy expensive inks that are
chemically processed which is not really good for the environment.
On the other hand, Classink investigated and focused more on how to produce ink with just one
sustainable material and thought of a process that shows effort and determination to produce ink
without harming the environment. Here is the process that Classink did to create the most flexible and
natural ink that you could ever have. You can follow these if you want!
But first, you must prepare your materials:
Madre Cacao Leaves
Gum Arabic
Yes, Classink only used 2 materials to create natural ink. Aside from its few materials, it also used a
process that is way simpler and easier.
First, pick fresh madre cacao leaves from your backyard. This plant, especially in the Philippines, is very
famous and it grows everywhere. Looking back, in most of the Filipnos’ childhood days, they used the
madre cacao leaves to play as their money or skewered it to make it look like a barbeque or snacks on a
stick, or create a loud boom or sound by putting the leaves above your fist (where the hole is) and slam
your other hand on it. It is just funny remembering those days but who would have thought that those
leaves could be used to make an eco-friendly material?
Next, after gathering the leaves, boil it for a few minutes in order to make the leaves soft. After boiling
it, Classink smashed the leaves using a mortar and pestle to extract the natural juice of the leaves. You
need a lot of force and patience to do it. We used this method because usually, some of the processes
used by other natural ink makers cook the leaves for a longer time. Looking at the duration of processed
time, it takes a few numbers of hours to achieve the desired color and consistency of the ink. Their
process is consuming too much heat and even gas and is not really a good idea for us since as much as
possible, our idea is to make a product that could not somehow affect the environment. So, Classink
thought of another process in which you do not use heat and gas too much but rather, human force and
effort instead.
The next steps are just similar to the other. Where you put ½ teaspoon of gum Arabic, mix them well
then put them into a jar or refill it with your green highlighters.
Creating inks from leaves may seem out of the blue and is really complicated. There are some
ingredients that are far from our usual sight. However, Classink still gave it a try
and when making it, it was very satisfying and enjoyable at the same time. Making ink is not just literally
making a pigmented liquid out of pigmented materials. It is a way of embarking on an activity that
showcases your creativity and passion. Besides, the thought that it is made naturally, it also gives
fulfillment knowing you created a product without harming our nature. Exploring the beauty of nature is
one of the most fulfilling activities that you could ever do. “Making ink is just one more way to enjoy the
beauty and excitement of our natural world”, stated Jyotsna (2019).
Madre Cacao has a lot of uses specifically in medical field. Usually, they use it as
skin repellant, used to rid dogs of fleas and ticks and cattle, of ticks, and for
decreasing the infections from tropical warble fly. Whenever it is used for medical,
they crashed it and extract the juice, and produce a green juice with fetid smell
and has viscosity that could pass as an ink. We tried to write the extracted juice on
the paper using a stick, it produced a pale looking writing ink so we dig in more
into it: experimented and researched. Gliricidia sepium (Madre Cacao) contains
chemical compounds suitable for making inks. Phytochemicals such as alkaloids,
flavonoids, steroids, and tannins are found in the ethanolic stem extract of
Gliricidia sepium.
References:
Jason L. (2023). Making Natural Ink: a Basic Recipe.
[Link]
Martha Stewarts Editors. (2022). How to Make Natural Ink at Home.
[Link]
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Jyotsna. (2019). Natural Plant Inks. [Link]
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