Tag: iron gall ink

The Art of the Written Word

This past week or so has found me wandering into another element of water-based media:  Ink.

Ink is used in drawing, but it is also used in writing, whether using the Roman alphabet, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, or any other form of an alphabet for any one of the myriad of languages found throughout the world.

Making ink is an art, and that means knowing something of chemistry (no matter how simple) and permanency.  Ink is black and ink is colored – as are paints.  This past week has found me suddenly distracted by the making of iron gall ink, also known as oak gall ink, and cutting quills from feathers.  You can read about my adventures here, here and here for starters.  You can return to Ink, Yarn, and Beer for more updates, too, if you want.

Consequently, I have not had much time to paint or draw as I have been spending a lot of time reading about ink and quills in particular, as well as watching videos on the same.  This morning, I came across one which rather blew me away as it is global in nature, but local in artistry.  Huh – what does that mean?  Take 30 minutes of time to be quiet and to watch . . .

Chemistry Magick & A Quill Scraper

Early this morning, Josh and I went to the hardware store.  We bought supplies for Thursday’s indigo dyeing adventure and a piece of steel wire to make a quill scraper, a tool used to scrape out the membranes inside the feather’s quill, which is where it attaches to the bird.  Once home, Josh headed out to the garage, and within about 45 minutes produced a scraper, similar to the one found in yesterday’s quill cutting video with Mr. Ruud.  All told, it measures about 8″ in length and is a dandy little item.

Quill scraper made with a piece of steel wire, inserted into a wooden handle. End shaped and bent. Total length is about 8 inches / 40 cm. Works very well!

And then, a bit of housework – dusting! It’s gotta be done – a bit of lunch, a nap, and onto the magic of adding Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate to my slightly fermented jar of oak galls.

Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate was not hard to find.  I bought it from Amazon and had it within a day or so.  The jar is about 113 g. – I need 50 g. for the ink.  Thus, I weighed it out.

Bottle of chemical magick!
50 g. weighed out.

From here, it was time to add it to the oak gall mix, which has been out in the sometimes-sun since Saturday. I shook is multiple times everyday.

Settled oak galls in water (80 g. galls to 300 g. water).
The view from above . . .

And now – oh, this was so exciting and beautiful! – the addition of the Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate to the oak gall mixture!

Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate as it settled into the oak gall and water mixture. So lovely!

And now, shaken up, the dark ink of the Iron Gall Ink!

Shaken mixture of Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate and Oak Galls!

And now, another 24 hours out in the sometimes-sun. Stay tuned for the addition of Gum Arabic (25 g) tomorrow!

Oak Gall Ink: Day 1

Yesterday’s post was about oak gall ink (which I may also refer to as “iron gall ink”), how it is made, some historical information, and what not.  Today I will tell you about what I did, accompanied by my fine photography!

The Receipt:  Take 80 g. oak galls, pulverize into fine powder, and dissolve in 300 ml. of distilled water.  Place into jar, seal, and set out in the sun for 3 days.

300 ml. distilled water
80 g. oak galls

I weighed out 300 ml. water on my digital scale, followed by 80 g. of oak galls – which came to exactly 3 ounces!  I put the galls into my non-used coffee mill, but the outside was so tough I took them out, placed them in a baggy, and took a 3 lb. hammer to them – well, Josh did the first honors of crushing the galls, and I immortalized him.

Oak galls in pint Ball jar.
3 lb. hammer to mete out crushing.
Pulverizing the oak galls.
The galls broke easily with the big hammer!

After the crushing in the baggy, the galls were placed in the coffee mill a second time and were pulverized into a powder.

Pulverized galls in coffee grinder.
Finely ground oak galls!

Thence, they were transferred to a pint Ball jar, water added and powdered stirred in.  I placed a thin layer of plastic wrap between the lid and contents, shook it up a bit, and took it outside to enjoy the benefits of the sun for the next three days.

80 g. powdered oak galls in pint jar.
300 ml. water and oak galls in pint jar.
Mmmmm! Can’t wait to drink this!
Plastic wrap to prevent any possibility of reaction between oak gall – water mixture and metal lid.
Labelled and working on its tan(nin)!

Shaking will occur daily, as thought about, and on the 25th the ferrous sulfate heptahydrate will be added.  Who knows if that step will work at all!

Note:  To see the pictures larger, click on one in each group to work through a slide show.

Oak Gall Ink: What To Do

 

If you were to google “oak gall ink” a bazillion links turn up.  Videos, message boards, recipes, historical documents are revealed to the unwary.  In particular, there are two ways in which oak gall ink – also known as “iron gall ink” – may be made.  One involves the simple crushing of oak galls and then steeping them in water (distilled is probably the best choice as  there are no chemicals to interact with the galls), and the other is a 2-month long ferment which gets (eww, gross) all moldy.  I’m not sure the latter is up to my tastes, but I will give it a shot nonetheless. Today, though, is the “short version” – perhaps a process lasting a week or less.

There are two sites which I think give a good indication as to the process I plan to use.  The first is this video from the British Library:

This next link is from the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, out of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries.  I rather like the description, the detail, the grey kitty Chloe, and the historical evidence of a cat with inky paws on a manuscript.  Both are good reads, so take the time to travel a bit.

Receipt for Iron Gall / Oak Gall Ink

  • Oak galls:  80 g.
  • Distilled water:  300 g.
  • Ferrous Sulfate:  50 g.
  • Gum Arabic:  25 g.

Crush oak galls into small pieces or grind into powder using a spice or coffee mill.  Place into jar and cover with 300 ml. of distilled water.  Place in sunny window 3-7 days (depending on your life and schedule).  I plan to do 3 as per the recipe from the Schoenberg Institute.  After 3 days, there should be a dark murky liquid in the jar.

On Day 3, add 50 g. of Ferrous Sulfate to oak gall mixture; replace in sunny windows for another day.  On Day 4 add the Gum Arabic and leave for another day.  On Day 5, strain the liquid into a clean vessel and voila, ink!

Thoughts and Concerns

My first concern is I am using ferrous sulfate heptahydrate, which is apparently a hydrated form of ferrous sulfate that dissolves more readily in water than the normal.  My next concern is the ratio of oak galls to ferrous sulfate – it is 8:5, or much closer than the 5:1 and 3:1 ratios I have seen in other recipes.  The more acidic the ink, the more destructive to pen nibs, quills, and paper.  However, at this point, I’ll take it as the ferrous sulfate heptahydrate may not create such a strong acid.

Tulips (Iron Gall Ink Sketch)

We had a leak in the house, and the result was scurrying around doing everything else but find time to even think or go to work.  Finally, the leak was contained yesterday.  Towels and such could be put away.  Now we wait for insurance and contractors!

And finally, I can get back to drawing and painting.  This morning, more tulips, done with iron gall ink, prior to applying some paint.  Here ya go!