Print of a black mushroom on white paper made with ink made from natural Earth & Mineral Pigments and walnut oil surrounded by carving tools, the block and a brayer

Recipe: Natural Oil-Based Printmaking Ink (Student-Grade)

June 26, 2024

Create a student-grade, oil-based, relief print-making ink with a few simple ingredients! Note: For professional grade relief ink, follow this recipe.

Supplies:

Part 1: Making The Ink

Step 1: On a glass palette, mix 1 part pigment (e.g. 1 tsp) with 1 part walnut oil (e.g. 1 tsp) until you get a loose paste.

Person's hand scooping out black pigments onto a glass palette with a puddle of walnut oil

Step 2: Gradually mix in 1 part rice starch (e.g. 1 tsp) a little bit at a time to stiffen the paste.

Person's hand adding rice starch powder to the black ink mixture that is being made on the glass palette sitting next to a glass muller

Step 3: Sprinkle 1/4 part gum arabic powder (e.g. 1/4 tsp) and gently fold into paste with a palette knife.

Now the person is adding gum arabic powder to the black mixture of ink on the glass palette with a palette knife and glass muller

Step 4: Test roll out your ink with your brayer and adjust recipe as needed to achieve the right consistency (some pigments are "thirstier" than others).

Part 2: Printing

Step 1: Carve your linoleum block.

Person's hands holding a carving tool, carving the mushroom shape out of the linoleum block on a table

Step 2: Roll out a thin layer of ink onto your brayer and ink your linoleum block.

Person using the brayer to ink up the mushroom block with the black ink they made on the glass palette

Step 3: Place printmaking paper on top of your linoleum block. Using a barren (for large areas) and a wooden spoon (for fine details on your linoleum block), rub the back of your paper to transfer printmaking ink onto the paper. Set your print aside to dry.

Person using a hand barren to press the inked up block onto the piece of paper to create a print. The glass palette with the black ink and brayer is sitting to the right.

Check out the full Youtube tutorial here.

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Handy colour mixing chart

A useful chart showing the actual colour plus what it looks like when mixed with Titanium White Rutile. I shall want to make my own colour chart to see precise colours, but this is a handy guide.

Great little booklet, but cannot easily be transformed into a 'normal' book

This booklet is exactly what I expected, and very useful. My only issue is that I couldn't find a way to print the .pdf version as a booklet and staple it together. Instead, I will need to cut it down to individual A5 pages and glue along the side to turn it into a book.

I wish I could just add water

I love that this is non toxic but I’m not a fan of adding oil. It made the paint too dark and it took days to dry. I tried adding less oil but the paint was too chunky. When I added more oil, it was too dark and again took almost a week to dry. I really wish I could only add water.

Super smooth and easy to work with! Love that it's nontoxic.

Bright saturated hues

As a water fluid painter on raw canvas I was eagerly anticipating NEP’s fluid paint. It did not disappoint. The texture is a medium weight fluidity and the color is richly saturated. I look forward to continuing to experiment with the fluid technique I am perfecting using these paints.

LOVE this paint!!

These are the BEST!! As a professional artist, I’m transitioning to eco-friendly acrylics and these are my “go-to” paints. The only thing I can say is that I’d love to see the black in larger tubes too!!

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