One of my aims of this project was to explore potential fine art applications of using the botanical inks. It seems that many artists and artisans use their botanical inks for dyeing fabrics and not many artists take botanical inks into a fine art application. My interests in science and art coming together through traditional botanical illustration, lead me to develop my ideas as I went through an experimentation fine art period. At this point I tried different ways to use my natural palette in a contemporary fine art botanical style and by chance I discovered the seasonal tonality of natural inks. The featured image shows a garland of Mugwort using it’s seasonal tonality.
Garland of pressed Mugwort plant
The seasonal tonality discovery came about when I had made three batches of mugwort ink as it progressed through its growing season. My first batch was sampled mugwort as a young plant, the second batch was sampled during its flowering season, and the third batch was sampled as a mature plant. The very mature dark green leaves gave a rich dark green ink. The presence of its yellow flowers produced a yellowy/light brown ink and the younger leaves gave a lighter green ink.
(Below) Seasonal tonality range of botanical colours extracted from Mugwort during different times of its growing cycle.