Walnut ink success, part one

I made walnut ink this weekend. It was simple. I don't know what my problem was the first time. I think I got lazy and didn't research anything and therefore didn't cook the walnuts--that is the secret. You take the walnuts and toss them in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for eight hours or so.

Before you look at the walnut mush in the next photo, take a minute to see what pretty ink comes out of the husks, as seen in the photo above. 

After eight hours of simmering--four hours on Saturday, then four more on Sunday--this is what the formerly-green walnuts looked like. Yeah, they smelled funky too--kind of a mix between cloves, moldering furniture, and fruit. I took the pot outside when it seemed like the stew was done, and got ready to strain the ink from the husks and nuts.

I poured the liquid through cheesecloth in a strainer, and then composted the solids. Thus far, that is all that I have done to make ink. Other tutorials (I'll list them at the end) recommend another round of straining through a stocking, or adding vinegar, alcohol or gum arabic to the ink, which I have not done. 

I got about one cup of liquid from the nuts. I suppose I could have gotten another quarter cup or so if I really wanted to. In the measuring cup, it looked like murky soup. I expected it to make an opaque, dark line when I used it in my nibs.

It was actually a transparent, still-quite-watery ink, but I like the color. Here is a Q, just written with my Mitchell size 2 nib on a scrap of Fabriano paper.

I tried abstract shapes on Lana watercolor paper with a bit of gold gouache added in, using my hand-cut reed pen.

 

The scribbles that emerged from my Brause 66EF were, not surprisingly, darker, given that the nib comes to a fine point. 

There were some issues regulating the flow of ink out of the nib. I think if I simmer the ink again in order to distill it further, this will get easier. 

Here's a portrait of my poor Mitchell size 2 (oh, rusty and covered in walnut ink!) and my reed pen, still bearing glints of gold. 

The official summary of my methods:

1. Gathered up black walnuts from my yard.
2. Put them--whole--in a stainless steel pot and added water to cover the nuts.
3. Brought the nuts and water to a boil.
4. Simmered the walnuts on low, covered, for four hours. (Why four hours? That's how much time I had at home before our afternoon engagement).  Turned off the pot and let it sit overnight.
5. Simmered the walnuts for another four hours. Turned off the pot and let things cool. 
6. Took my pot, ladle, strainer, cheesecloth and glass measuring cup outside to avoid permanent stains inside my home.
7. Filtered walnut ink through the cheesecloth-lined strainer. 
8. Took the ink inside and started writing right away! The entire straining-of-ink, writing-of-letters and photographing-of-results section of this process took place in one hour, while the kids took a siesta. If my letters look rushed, they were!

Here are a few of the many tutorials on making walnut ink.You will notice there are many slight variations in their methods.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2101025_make-walnut-ink.html

http://home.insightbb.com/~denevell_books/making_walnut_ink.htm

http://quazen.com/recreation/crafts/how-to-make-walnut-ink/ 

http://www.magpienest.org/feathersofhope/131/walnut-ink

    

When I have time to do more experiments with my ink, I will show you the results! For the time being I am simply happy to have made art out of walnuts in my own yard!