Old watercolor sketch

 Last night I was going through a box of stuff and found this little tree (about 6 x 9") that I did while playing with some watercolors.  I can't remember when I did it, but I think it was two or three years ago (Don't be misled by the date at the bottom, I put that on last night as an approximation.)  I had been searching for this, but couldn't find it and thought I must have given it away.  It's small and not sophisticated or great in any way, but it's one of the few things I've done with watercolors in decades and I liked the result.  I have been wanting to try watercolors lately, or use inks or acrylics for watercolor effects.

How to Make Black Walnut Ink (re-post)

The information below is a re-posting from my other blog, from nearly six years ago.  I decided it would be better suited to this blog, since this blog is explicitly about art and only art.

Homemade Black Walnut Ink (originally written 11-8-2007)

I recently began making my own black walnut ink for use in drawing. There are various recipes around the Internet, and all of them are similar.

This is a long process, but most of the time is devoted to waiting. Very little of it actually involves doing something.

The basic process for making black walnut ink is this: Get rotten black walnuts, husk and all. Boil the heck out of them. Strain the mess and use the brown juice for drawing or writing. That’s all there is to it, really, but I’m always game for elaborating…

Step 1. Find your walnuts. Black walnut trees are fairly plentiful here in Louisville, and that seems to be true for much of the eastern half of the U.S. In October, one can spot the green, leathery, round fruit (usually just a little smaller than tennis balls) on the ground or getting ready to fall. One doesn’t use them when they are green, however. Gather the blackest, rottenest, gunkiest ones you can find. If there aren’t any that are black and icky, gather the green ones. Gather the entire fruit. The small, hard shell with the nut in the center is a non-essential piece for the ink. What one needs is the leathery rind. Just pick up the whole thing.

Newly gathered walnuts. Eat 'em? Naw! Get back, squirrels! I'm an artist!


(Warning: Black, oozy walnuts will stain hands and clothing, so use some caution.)

Step 2. Put them in a plastic bag and let them rot. The green ones will turn black over a few days or weeks.

(Another warning: At any step in this process, one can set all these walnuts aside. They are already rotten; it’s not like putting one’s ink-making on hold for days or even weeks will ruin the batch. If you store the walnuts outside, however, critters will be drawn to them. Squirrels will tear open bags and gnaw on pots.)


I refer to the walnuts in disgusting terms, and they are pretty gross. They get slimy and moldy, and you’ll probably find all kinds of strange little bugs living in them. Don’t worry. It all cooks down to the same brown sludge. Except for those little pale brown beetle larvae. They stayed shiny and intact even after hours and hours of boiling. If the ick factor is too high, just remember that you must suffer for your art. So must those with whom you share your kitchen.

Step 3. After they are black, put them in a large pot for which you don’t have any great affection. I used a large aluminum pot that we use very infrequently. I was surprised that, after I was done, the pot cleaned up very well; other sources, however, say that their pots and pans can become discolored. Stainless steel or enamel-coated pots seem to be the general recommendation, but my aluminum one worked just great.

Cover the walnuts with water and let them soak for at least a day. The longer they soak, the better. My first batch soaked for a day, and my second batch soaked for several days. I plan to make a third batch which I will allow to soak for several months.

(Another warning: The walnuts, water, and ink all have a high capacity for staining anything they come into contact with. This includes kitchen counters, fingernails, dishes, wooden spoons, and your clothing.)


Step 4. Dismantle the walnuts. Tear, mash, and break them up. The more little pieces one can get, the better. Remember, the rotten, black pulp material is the stuff that turns the water into ink.

With my first batch, I tore them up before I soaked them. With my second batch, I didn’t really break up the husks until they were cooking. Step 4 can kind of be inserted anywhere in the soaking step, or early in the cooking step (Step 5.)

Use this water, which at this point has started to turn black from the walnut juice, for the next step.



Step 5. With the walnuts still covered in their (now-blackened) water, put them on a medium-low heat. Let them simmer for a long time—hours. If the water gets too low, you can add more. The goal, though, is to let it slowly cook down.

Periodically, dip a brush into it and test the liquid on some paper to see how dark it is. Once the liquid is as dark as you want it, your ink is nearly done. It has probably cooked down quite a bit by this point.

The smell of the boiling walnuts is distinct, but not especially strong or unpleasant. It reminded me of rotten logs and damp forest.

Step 6. Let the dark brown mess cool for a while, and then strain it. The best method I’ve found so far is to stretch an old pair of nylons over a glass or plastic container, and pour the walnut sludge into it. Squeeze the sludge in the nylons to get as much liquid out of it as you can. Empty the walnut crumbs out of the nylons into the garbage (or your hedge, or compost heap, or your neighbor’s porch) and repeat until you’ve strained all the liquid into your container. Your container should now hold ink, free from all but small bits of sediment. This sediment, which will settle at the bottom of jars, shouldn’t be a problem.I tried letting the muck drain through coffee filters. I don't recommend it. It was painfully slow and messy.
A page from my sketchbook, where I was testing and playing with the walnut ink.

Straining the ink. I put an old pair of nylons over the opening of a large plastic can that pretzels came in. After I filled it partially with walnut sludge, I pulled it out and squeezed it over the glass bowl. By the time I was done, the glass bowl was nearly full of the ink.





Step 7. You might want to add a preservative, since the ink can grow mold. The best recommendation I’ve heard so far is to add a small amount of denatured alcohol (add it so that it constitutes 5% of the ink). Salt would also work, but salt can lead to corrosion in metal pen nibs. Vinegar also can retard mold and bacterial growth, but its acidity renders the ink non-archival.

Optional: Most black walnut ink makers recommend the addition of gum arabic to improve the ink’s flow.


Results so far:11-8-07: After a couple of batches homemade black walnut ink, I am unsatisfied with the ink’s darkness. I tried taking a couple of jars and boiling them down further, and the ink did become more concentrated. The ink also became a little thicker and didn’t flow as well. This might be where the gum arabic would come in handy, but I haven’t bought any yet. A 2 ½ jar at the art store runs about twelve dollars. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t be making my own ink! Heh heh. I may try buying some powdered gum arabic on Ebay.

Even though the ink isn’t as dark as I’d like, it still is pretty nice. I think I might be able to make the next batch darker by letting the walnuts soak a lot longer—months, instead of days.

I am also running a lightfastness test with the ink on the dashboard of my car.

I will edit this post periodically as I learn more.

2-7-2012:  I guess I should add another update.  A couple of months ago I made another batch of ink from walnuts that I had sitting in a pot in my garage for about two years. Or was it three?  Anyway, they were sitting covered in water for a very long time.  I've read that there are chemicals in walnuts that discourage mold growth, and that must be true, for there was no mold in the walnuts. (Then why does the ink grow mold, I wonder?)

       These walnuts had also been soaking with some old nuts and bolts to add some iron content, on the theory that it would darken the ink.  I don't kow whether it was this iron, or the age of the walnuts, or a combination of the two, but the ink came out noticeably darker than previous batches.

6-27-13: Another brief update.  I am still using ink from previous batches and have not made any ink since that mentioned in the update above.  But to elaborate on the above point, I recently had four drawings side-by-side: three done with the newest batch of ink, which had very aged walnuts as well as rusty metal added to the mix, and one drawing done with an older batch that had not sat around soaking as long and which had not metal in it.

   The first three were brown, but were more of a charcoaly brown, whereas the the one had more of a burnt sienna appearance.

   My goal had been to make a darker ink, but comparing them, I think I actually like the browner one more.  It just has a more vibrant feel.

Sycamore & Butterfly Bush

 Both of these are walnut ink on paper.

Lunch break sketch 6-18-13

I sat on a tree stump and drew for a bit. I think some little wasps had nests in the stump (that, or it was their hunting ground), but I remained unstung.

Lunch break sketching

Sort of hot, but I was in the shade and there was a little breeze. I ate some mulberries and swatted some flies.

School banner completed

Last weekend I had a moment to snap a photo of my completed painted banner hanging in place.

Plum Creek

 Another drawing with black walnut ink, my first landscape (not counting foliage seen in house portraits) since...I don't know, last year sometime.  This is 10 x 14 inches, done with a combination of brush work and dip pens.

Large school banner

I was asked to paint a banner for general school use, but to have it done this week so it could be used during the graduation ceremony on Friday.  School staff looked into having a vinyl banner professionally printed, but several factors weighed in to the decision for me to have a try with it.

The property director had buckets of paint with the school logo’s colors, plus a huge 12 x 27 foot wall hanging that had been painted with a (very large) young woman’s face, floating clock faces, and swirling stars against an ethereal background.  The tag on the back said “LVAA – ‘Night Songs.’”  I don’t know what it was used for, or when, but the property director—who also works for LVAA—has been using it as a drop cloth and furniture cover.

I cut/ripped off a 5 x 20’ strip to paint.  First I primed it in blue, then used a builder’s angle and chalk to mark off lines on the fabric, then used an overhead projector to draw the images and lettering, then used a combination of house paint and tube acrylics to start filling it in.

I was going to add some colored stars, but Kim thinks I should stop here, so next I need to touch up the primer to hid chalk and scuff marks, and use fabric glue to hem it.  Last will come a few grommets.

I just hope I can take that duct tape off the wall without ruining the wall paint.

I knew this would take a lot of time, but the amount of time vs. the complexity of the design is a little …well, dispiriting?  It’s the size of the thing that has really gobbled my time.  I can’t claim to be much of a sign painter or a graphic design person, so all the effort to get lettering straight and make things look somewhat clear and “polished” isn’t what I’d call second nature.  Plus, in this age of digital design, using house paint and an overhead projector on a huge piece of taped-up third-hand fabric feels a little barbaric.  It’s funny, though: when I have a paint brush in my hand and some paint to slop around, I feel pretty content.  I can’t help but wonder how it would feel to work on a landscape this size.  Well, OK, maybe I’d prefer about ¼ this size.

Watermelon carving

I did this as a centerpiece for a fruit table at an elementery school art show.

Black walnut ink house portrait

Here's my most recent, completed a few days ago.  It's black walnut ink on Bristol paper, 11 x 15 inches.

Details:

It made me want to draw more trees. I totally dig trees.

Pen and ink house portrait

 Here's another, finished late last night.  This one is 6 x 9 inches on cold press watercolor paper. This is a pretty house and it was pleasant to draw.

House portrait progressing

I am working on two commissions right now, one in walnut ink, and this smaller one in black and white. I'm satisfied with how this is developing and hope to complete it by the end of the weekend.

Creekside art

I had some time to kill in Taylorsville while the girls attended a birthday party. Luckily, Waterford Park was nearby. I broke out the black walnut ink and sat on the rocks for a while. It was a gorgeous day.

Group Show

 

 

Last Friday was the opening for the group show "Springtime in Kentucky" at Leslie H. Spetz Custom Framing & Gallery.  I had my most recent race horse drawing on display, and I received some very nice comments on my work.  I especially enjoyed meeting some of the other artists.  I had a nice conversation with painter Robert Halliday (http://www.bobhalliday.com/), whose acrylic bridge paintings I've admired whenever I've stopped by the gallery.  He has some great watercolors on his web site. I had a very nice conversation with Erin Moreschi, whose large close-up floral oil painting caught my eye the first thing I walked in the door.  I spoke with Pam Ludke and told her how much I've enjoyed seeing her small oils and acrylics.

 

There were some good photos by Deb Larr, and I really admired the photos by Ted Tarquinio (http://tltoutdoorphotography.com/about.php).  I don't normally have a big interest in looking at photos, but these were great.  I found some attractive on a human-interest, crowd-scene level, and many of the others were just wonderfully put together with a great sense of light and color.

Tree mural...done?

 Well, I'm calling it done.  I can easily rattle off five things I'd like to change or work on some more, but I am done with this section of the mural. I think I got it to a state where it looks attractive and the family I am painting it for can be very satisfied with it; I will only work on it some more if they tell me otherwise.

Happy Easter!

Steven Walker - paintings at B. Deemer Gallery

I went to this gallery opening for a painter, Steven Walker, on Saturday after I saw it mentioned on Facebook.  I was struck by the guy’s landscapes.  I took my daughters to B. Deemer Gallery on Frankfort Avenue, and we enjoyed the paintings and got to watch him paint a little.  Today I decided to look him up online, and found his blog, and then laughed when I saw the third photo down—that’s one of my daughters and me by the front door.

Steven Walker's blog


I didn’t realize our photo was being taken because we were trying to get out of the way of the door.  Looking back, I was dimly aware that there was a young lady taking a lot of photos.

I appreciate many different styles of artwork, but this is the way I personally want to paint. I’ll have to go back to get another look at his work in person.

"Horse & Jockey 3" pen and ink

I put some finishing touches on it yesterday, and I think it's all done now.  This is on 11 x 14" cold press watercolor paper.

For some reason, my favorite parts of drawings like this are the large shaded areas (in this particular drawing, it's the horse's coat I like best.  Just one big area of cross-hatching. I love it. Why? I don't know. Probably the same reason I enjoy the flat drive through southwest Indiana or all 14 minutes of Nick Cave's "Babe I'm on Fire.")

If you think the man in front looks sort of like me, that's because it is.  In my original reference photo, I didn't like the man's pose, so I posed myself in my living room and had my daughter stand on the couch (so she'd be at eye level) and take some photos of me to use as reference.

Next up: two more house portrait commissions.

Too many interests

I really like pen and ink. I also really like oil paints. Lately, I’ve had a strong urge to do some more linocut prints. On top of that, I’d very much like to get some acrylic painting done.  Prioritizing and focusing can be so difficult.

I’ve started another horse and jockey pen and ink drawing.  I’ll be working at it in my spare time between mural painting and another house drawing commission I am due to get started.

This pen and ink drawing (plus the act of having reproductions made of them) somehow triggers in me the increased desire to do linocuts.  I think it’s a combination of equal-but-opposite reaction to the fine line cross-hatching of pen and ink, and the notion of searching for graphical clarity with very limited colors, and the idea of creating multiple reproductions.

It wasn’t until fairly recently (just the past few years) that I became interested in relief printing, and I haven’t done much of it, and I can’t say I’m very good at it.  However, I now find block prints very alluring, and the process is intriguing.  Despite that, my inexperience and lack of advanced equipment (I don’t have good inks, I use a wooden spoon as a brayer) is a reason not to pursue it further and focus on other things instead.

Oil painting is even worse.  I don’t have much space for it, and the set-up and take-down time is troublesome.  But the return of spring and all its colors, on top of all the stored-up ideas in my head for paintings, plus the feeling that my pen and ink work has given me more experience from which to draw, makes me really really want to paint.

I spent some time last night setting up my PayPal seller account.  I think I have it ready to go, but I’ll be spending more time—when I can make the time—exploring effective uses for it.  Also, I have re-opened my Etsy store, although I only have four items listed right now.

Horse & Jockey prints

I just had reproductions run. This is the first time I have done this via offset printing; I had them run digitally before. I am very pleased with the results. I feel that there is a good range of tone and subtlety in the prints.