Plant and Ink: Make Your Own Plant-based Ink - Softcover

Rosema, Judith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1800923104 ISBN 13: 9781800923102

Publisher: Search Press, 2025

Synopsis

Create a rainbow of vibrant, natural inks from the plants and flowers around you.

Plant-based inks are richer in colour than synthetic inks, producing a wide range of tones and unique, stunning visual results; extracting and storing these inks ready for use is made simple in this beginner-friendly book. The 27 seasonal plant ‘recipes’, which yield 49 colours of ink, are ordered seasonally, to accompany you through the creative year.

Discover:

• Warm yellows from daffodils in spring;
• Rich reds, pinks and indigo from poppies in summer;
• Light blue and mint green from sage in autumn;
• Warm orangey-browns from hazel in winter.

Each recipe contains a guide to the plant used, the lightfastness of the ink created, written step-by-step instructions for extracting the ink, and beautiful visuals to illustrate the colours available; handy tips are also included for working with plant-based ink.

For artists who like to work with different mediums, the book also includes guides to creating pigments from your plant recipes, then using different binders to create oil paint, egg tempera, watercolour, gouache, chalk pastel and screen-printing ink.

Plant and Ink is an invitation to embrace sustainability, to see the world around us in vibrant colour and to create with love and attention. Whether you’re an experienced artist or a curious beginner, this book will open your eyes to the creative possibilities that nature has to offer.

About this title

About the Author

Judith Rosema is a botanical artist, illustrator, multi-disciplinary creative and sustainable entrepreneur. She trained at an art academy in the Netherlands, where she specialized in graphics (lithos, lino prints, wood prints and etches). Afterwards she started her career as an artist and has exhibited her work in the Netherlands and Belgium.

In 2009, concerned by the suffering inflicted on the planet, Judith decided she no longer wanted to work with materials that harm our world, so began to experiment with plants and flowers found by roadsides, exploring their dyeing properties.

In 2017 she founded Het lnkt Atelier (The Ink Atelier), a sustainable company which focuses on the production of botanical inks, and organizes workshops, courses and group trips.

Judith lives in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

Visit her website at www.hetinktatelier.com

From the Back Cover

Create a rainbow of vibrant, natural inks

Plant-based inks are richer in colour than synthetic inks, producing a wide range of tones and unique, stunning visual results.

Extracting and using these inks is made simple in this beginner-friendly book from botanical artist Judith Rosema. The 27 plant ‘recipes’, which yield 49 ink colours, accompany you throughout the year, from the warm yellows of spring daffodils to the rich browns of hazel in winter.

Each recipe contains a guide to the plant, the lightfastness of the ink, step-by-step instructions and beautiful images.

The book also includes guides to creating oil paint, egg tempera, watercolour, gouache, chalk pastel and screen-printing ink, to make the most of your pigments.

Edition details

• Publisher: Search Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1800923104
• ISBN 13: 9781800923102
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192