WILD BLACK RASPBERRY INK

Written By Gabrielle Eisma

FINDING WILD BLACK RASPBERRIES

I’m lucky enough to have a grouping of these brambly-type vines in my backyard. The plants can reach up to 10 feet in length, with three-parted palmate compound leaves. Those leaves are sharp, double-toothed, and are white and hairy on the undersides.  I’ve seen them growing in wooded thickets, along roadsides, on the edges of a forest, alongside railroad tracks, and near fresh water. Last year, I harvested about .25 cup of them (they’re hard picking) around July 19. This year, I harvested about the same amount on June 30.

MATERIALS

You’ll need:

  • Glass container with tight fitting lid

  • Stainless steel pot (used only for ink/dye making)

  • Funnel (used only for ink/dye making)

  • Bowl (used only for ink/dye making)

  • Cheese cloth or coffee filter

  • Around .25-.5 cup of wild black raspberries

  • ½ teaspoon salt and 1-2 tablespoon vinegar

  • Water

  • Wintergreen essential oil (3-6 drops) or whole cloves

  • Spoon (that you will only use to make ink) or stick for stirring

  • Rubber gloves (optional)

MAKING THE INK

  1. In your pot for just inkmaking, add your black raspberries. Wearing your rubber gloves, use your hands to mash the berries in the pot. Or, like me, use the back of your spoon.

  2. Once berries have been mashed and color has been released, turn your stove on medium low and stir your berry mixture often.

  3. Add your vinegar, salt, and water (I used about .25 cup of water). The vinegar to help the ink retain its color, and the salt to keep it from molding too quickly.

  4. After testing your colors using thin strips of watercolor paper and arriving at a color density you like, turn off the stove.

  5. Using a coffee filter or cheese cloth inside of your funnel, strain the mixture and wait for the liquid to gather into your glass waiting below.

  6. Add your wintergreen oil or whole cloves (one clove per bottle of ink should be enough).

  7. Pour your ink into a glass container with a tight-fitting lid. LABEL your jar!

  8. Keep in a dark, cool place to store.

EXPERIMENTING

The ink will fade over time, going from bright purples to a sort of muted lavender. I like to load up the mordants on this one to push my color-making skills. Add baking soda to one small test, add lemon juice to another, and add alum to yet another. Watch how the colors change as you mess with the ink’s pH level.

Gabrielle Eisma
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