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Recipe

Berry ink

A simple drawing ink from berries, vinegar and salt. Beautiful but rarely lightfast.

Every A New Field recipe has been run in a domestic kitchen or community hall. Read the safety notes before you start and adapt for your venue.

What you’ll make

Vivid purple to pink to rust depending on the berry. Fades over months in light.

Flexible slots (flex around your material)

  • Pigment

    Natural pigment / dye100g

    Coloured plant, mineral or animal matter. Yields colour in water or alcohol.

    Examples Elderberries (cooked), blackberries, beetroot

    Note — Cook, strain.

Fixed ingredients

  • Vinegar + salt · 1 tsp each

Equipment

  • Sieve
  • jar
  • spoon.

Refinements and variations

  • Add iron water (P21) to darken and stabilise.

Source notes

Traditional kitchen craft. Materiom 'Fruit ink' sketches.