The Wild Ink Challenge + Workbook
I’d thought I’d make it easier on you to combine the entire Wild Ink Challenge into one blog post. You can break this challenge up into weeks like I did, shorten, or lengthen the challenge. It’s completely self paced and up to you how you take this challenge on!
Be sure to download a copy of the free workbook here that goes along with the challenge.
Week 1
Welcome to week one! This first week is all about collecting the material you are called to work with. And I say “called to work with” because I truly believe if you listen, nature will call to you. It is sometimes just a whisper, other times it can feel like a SHOUT! I have had many plants ask to work with me- just be open to what you hear. Take some time this week to notice the plant or nature specimens that you are surrounded with outside. You’d be amazed at what you can find in your own backyard. Don’t have a yard? No problem. Walk your neighborhood. How many times have you seen weeds growing in between cracks in the sidewalk? I have found you can make ink from just about any plant. If it has a color, you can make ink with it!
Your Assignments for this week:
Go on a few nature walks. This doesn’t have to be a time-consuming task. I personally LOVE a good long wander but we all don’t always have the time. So walk around your yard, your block, down your street. Wherever you go, just take notice of the plants around you. While you are walking, find at least 3 plants/bark/berries/roots you’d like to work with. For this challenge, you’ll only be making 1-2 oz of ink so roughly 1-2 cups (give or take) of your specimen is all you need. Be sure you are practicing ethical harvesting practices. Only take what you need, and leave the rest. In my research, the general rule of thumb, is to harvest less than 5% of the specimen and be sure you are harvesting from numerous plants and sites. If there isn’t enough to work with-then leave it for another season. In the book, Braiding Sweet Grass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, she talks about leaving a gift to the Earth in exchange for your harvest. This can be in the form of another plant (Robin often talks about leaving tobacco behind as is done in the Indigenous Culture), a prayer, or simply a ‘Thank You’.
Now it’s time to identify and do a little research on the plant/bark/berries/roots you’ve selected to work with (or perhaps what has selected you). There are plenty of reference books and apps to help you along in your search. Oftentimes a quick Google search can be sufficient too. I personally like to know the Identity, Medicinal Uses, and Spiritual Uses + Meanings. A few of my reference books include: The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants by Andrew Chevallier; The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh; and The Encyclopedia of Bach Flower Therapy by Mechthild Scheffer. I also use the app ‘Garden Answers’. It’s a handy app where you can take a picture of your plant and it will match it to their database.
Go ahead and take a photograph of your plant material for future reference. If you’ve collected enough material, it’s a fun idea to press a sample as well in a flower press, or a large book works well too. Once you’ve made your ink, it can be hard to remember what the original specimen looked like.
Next week’s assignment is to actually make the ink. So, you can save your specimens in the fridge if they are fresh, dry them by hanging them upside down in a dark room, or just wait to harvest until closer to ink making time. This week is really all about observing and researching.
I found dried Sumac Berries during a nature walk and have always wanted to learn about this plant.
Week 2
Oh boy! It’s now time to DIVE IN and make some ink! I have done a lengthy how-to blog post over at Mother Earth News on the steps I take to make my ink. You can read the full post here . Please note- there really is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to do this. The only advice I’d really like to give is to watch your pot as it boils because once you are down to the bottom of the pot, the water will boil dry fast! This has happened to me before- I just simply added more water to the pot and boiled it a little more. You may lose some of the intensity of the color but it’s not that big of a deal. *Also- please know what plants you are using and if they may emit any not-so-good for you fumes. You may want to have the vent on, or make your ink in a well ventilated area (or outside). Any suspicions about toxic plants- I would just stay away and pick something else.
Your Assignments for this week:
Make ink using the plants you harvested from Week 1 (plants can be fresh or dry)
See how many colors you can get from the plant material. From your batch of ink, while it’s still warm, divide it into 3 separate containers and add 1tsp baking soda to one, 1tsp citric acid/lemon juice to another container, and vinegar to the last container. Do they change the pH levels and shift the final color at all?
Bottle your inks. I personally like to use 1 or 2 oz Amber Dropper Bottles. Be sure to label your bottles with the plant specimen. I use masking tape to do this for easy removal and I add a drop of color to the tape for a visual reference too. You can find these bottles on my Resources tab on my website. Mason jars, baby food jars work well too for this. Be sure to preserve your ink- all that info is in the blog post on making ink.
Create a color swatch of each color along with any variations you made in Step 2. Be sure to label each swatch with the specimen, any pH shifter you added and the date you made the ink. Believe it or not- different plants make different colors depending on the seasons!
Create an Art Page with your new ink. I like to make a Herbarium page of sorts to include a photograph or pressed specimen, what the different meanings and uses are, and include small color swatches of the inks I was able to make.
My three color swatches: adding baking soda + citric acid to color shift. Try adding a rusty nail, vinegar, alum powder to further shift the pH and resulting colors. I originally did this challenge in February and noticed my colors were very subdued, much like the winter palette. Different plants + seasons will give a wide variety of hues in your colors. Nature is magical!
Week 3
Now it’s time to PAINT! It’s finally time to get down and CREATE. I love every step of this process but my most favorite is putting ink to paper and seeing what happens:) What I have found with working with inks is that less really is more. I don’t work the inks too much- when that happens I usually end with a pile of brown poo. The beauty of this process is really in the leting go. Letting go was so freaking hard for me when I started. I wanted to control EVERYTHING in this process. But the more I worked the inks, the more I manipulated where they went, the more I forced the inks to do what I wanted them to do, the uglier the painting got. And what I noticed over time, is if I just let go, the beauty, the magic creates itself. It’s so much like life, don’t you think? The more we strive, and hustle, grind, and force what we want, often times the worse the results tend to be. So use these next 2 weeks to just let go. It may take a few days to develop this, but keep at it. This challenge isn’t about creating a masterpiece. You may not even walk away with a piece of art you’d like to hang on the wall, but you will come out of this with more peace, feeling more connected to yourself, your intuition, and to nature.
*You’ll want a workspace to work on this week. I work in my Grandma’s old secretary, she was an artist as well, so I like to think she would be happy I’m using her furniture in this way. Be sure to protect any surface from ink or water spills. Also have a cup of water and paper towels handy to clean up any spills. Too much liquid on the paper could cause it to run and make a mess. Watercolor paper is best for this process. Buy whatever brand is within your budget. I like to buy the larger pads of paper and cut them down to size. I like my photography art BIG, but my ink works small, go figure.
Your Assignments for this week:
Put ink to paper. Experiment. My personal go-to method is to wet the watercolor paper first, then apply the ink into the puddle, allowing the inks to disperse into the water as they see fit and then allowing the piece to dry once I have added as much ink as my intuition tells me is enough. Depending on how concentrated your inks got, a little ink can go a long way.
Play. Try using 2 colors at a time, then 3, then 4, and so on until you’ve used all the colors you’ve created into one piece.
Observe. What is your favorite color combo? How do the different inks mix with one another? Are there any natural textures in the dried ink? Notice if you struggled in the letting go aspect. How did that piece turn out? ‘Better’ or ‘worse’ if you tried to control the outcome too much?
Remember to relax + let go. No overthinking. Just put ink to paper. There is no right or wrong way. You don’t need to share any of your pieces with anyone, much like writing in a journal, this can be a personal experience.
Feel free to try different brushes + techniques in applying water and/or ink to paper.
Some finished work. I love making marks with wet brushes in varying sizes, applying water to paper and then dropping the ink in the puddles of water, watching as they mix + mingle between themselves, often creating new colors!
Week 4
This week is all about more painting and playing. Maybe week 3 felt like a warm up and now you are ready to dive deep and get to work? Maybe you are feeling more confident in how your inks work and are ready to explore even more? How are you feeling? Have you been able to let go during your painting sessions? Have you been able to lessen your control over the final outcome?
Assignments for this week:
More painting.
Review + reflect over the work you’ve created the last 2 weeks. What did you learn about this process? Besides learning about the plants you choose to work with, did you learn anything about yourself?
Did you find that the less you did with your inks (meaning you let the inks do their own thing) the more you liked the final results?
If you are done with the challenge and are ready to discard any unused ink you can always discard into your compost pile or garden. OR if you’d like, I encourage you to keep going! Maybe choose more plants to work with. Your inks can last longer if you store them in the fridge. I will be sharing additional ways to use your inks so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so I can share when those articles go live!
A finished piece I created with Japanese Maple, Red Leaves found on the ground, + Rose of Sharon
Wrap Up
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me in this Wild Ink Challenge! It is an honor to share this space with you. I’d love to see any work you’ve created if you are willing to share. You can email it to me at sarahhartmorgan@gmail.com or if you share on the socials be sure to tag me and use the hashtag #wildinkchallenge or #wildcraftwithsarah so I can share on my channels as well! If you’d like to share with me but wish to not share with the world, I completely understand so just let me know. I’d love to hear what you thought of this challenge so feel free to send me an email!
Sarah
