Hello, the cloves are there to help reduce the formation of mould in the bottle. Adding some thyme/bergamot/clove essential oil and ensuring a good strain of all detritus can help too. Good luck trying it out!
Yes, though it is a slightly different method for flowers as a mordant like alum or baking soda might be needed depending on pigment strength. There's a video on making ink from gorse flowers on my channel somewhere 🙂
I don't know whether it would work, all I can say is try it and see! You don't have to use cloves, a drop or two of bergamot or another essential oil can have a similar effect.
You can use this method other trees, just got to watch out for which are toxic etc. Fruit trees are very good, cherry, apple etc. There's different methods for other tree parts, like seeds/acorns, which I'll be sharing through the year as I learn them too 😊
Hi Julie. There are many factors that affect this - like how well you strain it to remove any small particles (a fine mesh advised) and whether you use any preservers (like the cloves and/or essential oils). Also how you store them makes a big difference, using airtight vials, keeping them in a cool place, out of sunlight etc. Hope that helps!
Those inks are lovely flesh tones.
Great point! 😀
Wondering what the use of the clove is! 😊
this video was inspiring- I may have a go at making my own inks soon!
Hello, the cloves are there to help reduce the formation of mould in the bottle. Adding some thyme/bergamot/clove essential oil and ensuring a good strain of all detritus can help too. Good luck trying it out!
Hi Alex thank you for the video! I would love to try this with my students. Do you think a similar method could be used for flowers?
Yes, though it is a slightly different method for flowers as a mordant like alum or baking soda might be needed depending on pigment strength. There's a video on making ink from gorse flowers on my channel somewhere 🙂
@@AlexBoonArt That's helpful to know, thank you so much:)!
I have some old dried willow from yrs ago. Would that work? Or does it need to be fresh? I wish it didn’t have Cloves, the smell is too strong for me.
I don't know whether it would work, all I can say is try it and see! You don't have to use cloves, a drop or two of bergamot or another essential oil can have a similar effect.
Can you use any tree or only willow?
You can use this method other trees, just got to watch out for which are toxic etc. Fruit trees are very good, cherry, apple etc. There's different methods for other tree parts, like seeds/acorns, which I'll be sharing through the year as I learn them too 😊
Can’t wait!
Alex can I ask how long the ink will keep for. Thank you
Hi Julie. There are many factors that affect this - like how well you strain it to remove any small particles (a fine mesh advised) and whether you use any preservers (like the cloves and/or essential oils). Also how you store them makes a big difference, using airtight vials, keeping them in a cool place, out of sunlight etc. Hope that helps!
@@AlexBoonArt thank you for your reply. That was really interesting. It hadn’t occurred to me that the cloves were to be a preserver. X
@@juliereilly6308 Oops, if I didn't say it in the video, I should have 😅 Yeah, it has natural antifungal properties 😊
@@AlexBoonArt thank you Alex I was just wondering. X
Keep botanical inks, paints and dyes in the fridge.