I have been experimenting with making a water-based printing ink, using a recipe from printmaker Shannon Yost published by Natural Earth Paint. There’s a comprehensive list of ingredients including Nori (seaweed) paste, powdered minerals and gin. The gin is for preserving the ink. Honest. 😀

Measure 1 tablespoon of natural powdered pigment.

Add half a teaspoon of water and half a teaspoon of gin and mix it up with a chopstick.

Turn it onto a palette and add 1 teaspoon of Nori paste.

Mix it well with a palette knife.

Roll a small amount on a smooth surface (I used acrylic sheet) with a roller (brayer).
Stage One completed. Tomorrow I’ll look at trying out different types of blocks and different papers…….
I have put my series of drawings en plein air of ancient Welsh monuments on Artfinder. If you want to see more, please click on the image below or the Artfinder link at the top right of this page. This one is the legendary grave of Saint Elfys (Elvis) in Pembrokeshire, not for from the Presceli Mountains. Elfys? Presceli? Elvis Presley? Coincidence? hhhmmmm
Fascinating mixture gin and seaweed … or Seaweed and gin[haha] exellent Rosie.xx
😀
The tippling printmaker! Reminds me of Julia Child 🙂
I love the color. What is that pigment? Looks like some kind of yellow ochre, really beautiful.
What fun!
Yes, it’s yellow ochre 😀
I think it’s like that old Christmas pudding recipe. One for the pudding and one for the cook.😉
But don’t swallow the sixpence!!!!!
I still have some sixprences and thruppences passed down from my Aunt. Sometimes they even make it into the pudding.
Wow, they’re well old. I have some tiny silver sixpences on a vintage charm bracelet my mother-in-law gave me
Lovely pics, much enhanced by the bottle of gin on the table . Seaweed and Gin sounds like it should be an artisan bar in Whitstable , they’d go mad for it here!
HAHAHAHA Yes, it sounds very hipster, doesn’t it 😀
You sure it’s not for preserving the print maker?
Splendid photos of the enigmatic process!
I’m pretty well pickled anyway LOL 😀
haha!
‘For preserving the ink’… Hur Hur 😀
😀