PLAYTIME: MAKING HOME-MADE INK

I watched two videos the other day on how to make your own black ink for drawing and writing. As always, I could not resist experimenting a bit, even before trying the recipes as given. It is probably because I cook and bake that way.

I have a chocolate cake recipe that I have distorted to my heart’s content over the past 15 years. On one occasion I was explaining to a friend how I adapted the recipe for his birthday cake (in case the experiment did not work so well, you see). He interrupted me and said: “Susan, you have NEVER made that cake the same way!”

Only once did I follow the recipe exactly. It always depends what on what I have in the kitchen cupboard. It was the same with making the ink. One video showed how to make it by mixing some ground soot or charcoal with a little bit of egg white, then adding a few drops of honey to smoothe it. Mmmm, I thought, I’m going to use activated charcoal from the medicine chest.

The other video showed how to use the juice of a cupful of mulberries (also mentioning in passing that you could use ground soot), combined with half a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of vinegar. Mmmm, I thought, I’m going to combine the activated charcoal with the vinegar and and salt. All those I have in the kitchen cupboard, you see.

I had no idea where to get hold of mulberries. I was going to get honey and eggs today, but I forgot, so I went ahead with the idea to use charcoal, vinegar and salt, as that was what I had available. I used half a teaspoon of each, plus an extra half a teaspoon of water, as the ink was very thick.


It was then thin enough and black enough to write and paint with, as can be seen below.

The salt did not dissolve completely, however, and the ink had a grainy texture. I added another half-teaspoon of water in the hope that all the salt would dissolve.

Then the colour was not strong enough – plus it was still grainy. Left it for an hour for the salt to dissolve. Still grainy.

Next time I’ll only use a little bit of salt and vinegar, more liquid, and add charcoal as required, I think.

But guess what:  I’ll only be able to have fun with the ink, as the salt would probably attract moisture from the air and a finished artwork would suffer damage as a result.

Mmmm, I’ll have to get honey and eggs, then...

Time to get back to serious work. Sometimes you need to play a little to please the inner child and get the creative juices flowing. It fills up your tank to go the distance when huge tasks lie ahead.

I wanted to give links to the videos I watched, but I have been unable to find them again. I've found lots of alternative recipes, though. So just search on Google if you want some recipes...

UPDATE FOLLOWING SOON