When I’m learning about materials and methods my first source is often books followed by YouTube and blogs and Instagram. Blogs tend to be far and few between these days but I have to say I’m glad for OG bloggers like myself who either continue to write or leave their work online.
The books I have found useful for making ink and pigment for paints and other materials are as follows:
Jason’ Logan’s Make Ink. This book really simplifies the process of making ink down to the most basic essentials. He also largely ignores lightfastness in favor of exploring cool colors.
That leads me to Carolyne Ross and her book, Found and Ground. This book is all about earth based pigments and her love of them. It’s informative on how to find stuff in the earth to make your pigments and paint. I found her writing style very soothing to read. She also has another book called Drawn from the Wild. This book is all about the process of making art supplies from things found in nature. It’s a good tutorial on using what is around you for mark making but also how to make paint and ink.
Heidi Gustafson wrote all about ochre pigments in Book of Earth. This is another really lovely soothing read about where all the ochre pigments come from and how to forage your own and also how to turn them into pigments. The photos in this book are stellar.
YouTube gives me information that is more specific.
Solis Scriptorivm, sadly no longer updated, gave me my first glimpse into how physically easy it is to create ink from black walnuts and acorns.
Helen Houghton has a great video on making walnut ink as well. It is important to note that recipes may need to be adapted based off country of origin for the artist or creator. (Her YouTube channel is a great one for printing inspiration.)
Another source of inspiration for ink making are channels about dying fabrics and yarns. Not all dye stuff is good for making pigments that are lightfast, but people who make dye have a lot of great information about foraging materials and how to turn them into dye baths.