Berry-Juice Ink: Oregon Grape

August 14, 2012

Inspired by the redoubtable fiberdrunk and her posts on pokeberry ink, I started to look into local flora here (we don't have poke in this area). I have had unhappy experiences with stains from the juice of Oregon Grapeholly, commonly referred to as oregon-grape (please note it is a barberry relative, Mahonia aquifolium, and not a true grape at all, though the berries and juice ARE edible).

I have some frozen for use in cooking (it's VERY sour, you substitute it for lemon juice in recipes) so I pulled out a tablespoon and set to writing.

I was amazed. And then I was thoroughly irritated with myself for buying such a cheap camera.

The juice extraction process is just like that for jelly: add a tiny amount of water, stew the berries, then squeeze through a cloth bag.

My thawed juice was suitably dark (it does look like grape juice) so I pulled out some dip pens and tried it.

A dry-writing glass pen was not so good, leaving a faintish pink line. What I had not expected was the color change--it quickly darkened to a kind of mauve color.

Excited, I tried a fine calligraphy nib (C-6). It worked much better, depositing a medium dark pink/light red line...which darkened to a medium purple.

Okay, let's try something REALLY wet--a spencerian nib (Hunt 101). The line produced was dark, almost blood-red, and the color change was a purple that was almost black in the wettest areas.

Also in the wetter areas, there is an interestingly grainy feel to the line under the fingertips once dry; I don't know if this is due to raising the fibers of the cheap paper used (Norcom composition book, made in brazil) or to actual particulate deposits.

Having written some samples, lines and squiggles, I turned my thoughts toward water resistance. I wet one finger and rubbed over a line--nothing. Okay, raise the ante--I took the paper to the sink and ran water over it for about thirty seconds, then rubbed with a finger again. The paper shredded, but the "ink" did not smear. Wow.

Tomorrow, I'll leave some out in the sun for a few hours to test lightfastness. I'll also try to borrow a better camera and get some photos up so youse guys can appreciate the colors (and I'll see if I can get a pic while it's changing color--it takes a few seconds).

ETA that the lines which had water run over them are no longer grainy, must have been particulates...and we have yet another color change. Once wetted and dried, the color goes from dark purple to a greenish-black. (Chlorine in the water? Copper? Sulfur?) Fascinating!

Edited August 14, 2012 by Marveen1

August 14, 2012

This is fascinating! Please keep us posted as you continue to experiment.

August 14, 2012

How fascinating! I can't wait to see pictures! If the writing feels grainy, maybe try filtering your ink through cloth one or two more times. My first ink (the Jane Austen iron gall ink one) had a slight grittiness when I rubbed my fingers over the dried writing. I've since gotten better at straining my inks. Who knows, maybe you've stumbled on a new permanent ink! That is so cool that it's waterproof! Welcome to the fascinating world of ink-making!

Edited August 14, 2012 by fiberdrunk

August 15, 2012

Update with photos! (My husband's camera is much better than mine at the closeup thing.)

This is a written page using mostly the calligraphy nib, though the Spencer is also on the page as well as some lines from the glass pen. It was exposed to full sun for four hours this afternoon and the bottom portion was placed under running water (note the color change).

I followed this up by testing broad brushstrokes (for better color nuances) on different papers and got my Scientific Method all up in it by using controls for each step.

This is the composition-book paper. On the left is a dry, cured brushstroke exposed to sun, the next from the left is one that was shaded. In the center is a fresh, wet brushstroke to demonstrate the color change. The far right is a shaded brushstroke dipped in water, and the next one in is a sun-exposed stroke.

This one is a random scratch pad I had lying around (published by the state--yes, this is your tax dollars at work, since they're given out for free). The leftmost stripe is dry sun-exposed, the next one from the left is shaded, the next a fresh wet sample, then the next stripe is wetted and dried (shade) and the last one on the right is wetted-and-dried sun-exposed.

I note that in VERY wet areas (such as leaving a small puddle at the end of a brushstroke), the dried ink does blur under running water. But the effect is minimal in written text (see photo).

I am delighted with this, as oregon-grape is: plentiful, easy to process, seemingly permanent, waterproof, nontoxic (go ahead and lick your pen!), and comes out in two colors (dry or wet)...both of which I like. Oregon grape is commonly planted as an ornamental, and may be available in other areas from landscaping sources.

August 15, 2012

The colors are lovely! I hope you'll update us as the ink ages, with how well it ages in the bottle and on the paper. Congrats on a successful ink experiment! Makes me wonder if other kinds of grapes could be used. Hmmmm...

August 15, 2012

The colors are lovely! I hope you'll update us as the ink ages, with how well it ages in the bottle and on the paper. Congrats on a successful ink experiment! Makes me wonder if other kinds of grapes could be used. Hmmmm...

This happens every time I mention the damned stuff. I'm about ready to give up using the English name (it's too late for me to edit the title of the thread).

It is not a grape, it is not even related to grapes.

It's Mahonia Aquifolium, family Berberidaceae. Wikipedia's overview of the species (bookmarking it for future reference)

Now, grape juice might well make an ink. But thisyere Ore-e-gone stuff isn't a grape. (The tiny pea-sized berries are dark purple and hang in clusters, which is how it got the common name.)

I was unaware of the use of the berries as a dye until I read the above article, but that explains its tenacity.

(By the way, you might find it humorous that I went through essentially the same thing explaining to my husband what "poke" was and what the song "poke salad annie" meant. Apparently he thought the titular annie was gathering unnamed wild greens and putting them in a poke, as in a sack.)

August 15, 2012

The colors are lovely! I hope you'll update us as the ink ages, with how well it ages in the bottle and on the paper. Congrats on a successful ink experiment! Makes me wonder if other kinds of grapes could be used. Hmmmm...

This happens every time I mention the damned stuff. I'm about ready to give up using the English name (it's too late for me to edit the title of the thread).

It is not a grape, it is not even related to grapes.

It's Mahonia Aquifolium, family Berberidaceae. Wikipedia's overview of the species (bookmarking it for future reference)

Now, grape juice might well make an ink. But thisyere Ore-e-gone stuff isn't a grape. (The tiny pea-sized berries are dark purple and hang in clusters, which is how it got the common name.)

I was unaware of the use of the berries as a dye until I read the above article, but that explains its tenacity.

(By the way, you might find it humorous that I went through essentially the same thing explaining to my husband what "poke" was and what the song "poke salad annie" meant. Apparently he thought the titular annie was gathering unnamed wild greens and putting them in a poke, as in a sack.)

Thanks for the botanical clarification, lol. I did look at photos of it on Flickr, and it looked so grape-like that I assumed it was in the same family, heh. Pretty plant, by the way. I've got a batch of pokeberry juice fermenting, currently. Will see if I can extend the permanence factor this way.

October 16, 2012

Just a note to add that after a few months, the Spencerian-nib-written text has aged to black, or so like to it that even under the strongest electric lights it still appears black.

I'm currently experimenting with dried berries to make portable, unspillable, permanent ink. (Just add water)