EXPERIMENTS WITH
WALNUT INK
by Kim Nickens
Walnut ink is a wonderful way to create
fabulous background papers for all of your
stamping and paper arts projects. To get
started, the basic supplies that you need are
paper (printmaking paper is best—try Arches or
Rives brands, both of which come in a variety
of weights), walnut ink (it can be purchased as
a liquid or as crystals which you dissolve in
hot (not boiling) water ), a wide paint brush
(I like to use a 2 inch brush) and a spray
bottle filled with water. Optional supplies
include: watercolors (I like to use the
Peerless dry palette for the intensity of the
colors), bleach, calligraphy inks, a
calligraphy nib, a stick (or you can use a
skewer or the back of the calligraphy nib),
soft pastels and pearl-ex (to name just a few).
Working with walnut ink is a simple process.
You will probably want to work on several
sheets at once so that different effects can be
achieved. If using the crystals, first dissolve
them in hot (not boiling) water. The solution
should be fairly concentrated, for example, one
part crystals to 4 parts water . Start with a
small amount until you get the hang of it. Keep
in mind that the solution can always be diluted
if it is darker than you like but reserve
judgement on this until after you have applied
water.
Using a wide paintbrush, paint a wash of walnut
ink onto the paper, covering the entire
surface. It’s okay if the paint shows some
streaks—you will try various techniques to add
depth and texture to the paper so any streaks
at this point will just add to the effect.
While the ink is still wet, try making random
marks with a stick or skewer. This will create
darker lines when dry.
Next spritz the paper with water. Notice how
the water causes the ink to move, creating
lighter areas. You can then go back over any
areas that you like with a thinner brush,
painting on more walnut ink (to create darker
lines and marks) and spritz again. Try
sprinkling the crystals on any pools of water
that you have created. This will also add
darker spots to your paper.
To achieve the effect shown above, I first used
a calligraphy pen with black Calli ink to draw
random symbols. I let this dry thoroughly.
After the calligraphy ink was dry, I painted
over the symbols with a wash of walnut ink. I
had a bowl of water nearby, and without waiting
for the ink to dry, I splashed water on the
painted page. Where the water droplets were, it
becomes much lighter and the walnut ink moves
around quite a bit. (If you
want a less pronounced pattern, try using a
spray bottle)
This sample was done on 300# watercolor paper.
I found that it was more difficult to get the
ink to move on such an absorbant paper. I first
painted some random marks on the paper with red
Calli ink (this did not dry completely). I
painted over the Calli ink with a concentrated
solution of walnut ink. Applying water either
by hand or by spray bottle resulted in very
little movement of ink. While the walnut ink
was still wet, I took the back of a calligraphy
nib (you could also use the wrong end of a
paint brush or a stick) to draw a random design
into the wet ink. When the paper dries, these
will becom dark lines (see sample). Once the
sample had dried completely, I used fresh
bleach to paint some swirled designs on the
paper. These dried as the much lighter marks
that you see in the sample above. Use of a heat
gun in the process of drying the bleach seemed
to result in even lighter areas.
I'm not sure of the paper that I used here but
it was much lighter weight. This time I painted
on a wash of walnut ink first, applied water
via a spray bottle and also by hand-splashing
water onto the paper. Symbols were drawn with
brown Calli ink after the paper dried and then
soft pastels were used to enhance certain
patterns in the paper. I could have continued
to work this paper by applying bleach,
re-applying walnut ink and water, etc.
Other techniques to try include underpainting
with acrylics (I’m told that gold is nice),
under painting with watercolors, watercolor
crayons or oil pastels, try also stamping on
the paper directly or using the walnut ink
paper to make an accordion book, a mail art
envelope or layered for a special card. Here’s
a valentine’s day card that I did using the
walnut ink. Above all, be experimental and try
lots of different media. I’m sure that you will
love to experiment with walnut ink as much as I
do!