Name: Make Art Materials from Plants - Uxbridge Auckland NZ
Start: 2025-11-21T23:30:00+13:00
End: 2025-11-22T05:00:00+13:00
Location: UXBRIDGE Arts & Culture

Make Art Materials from Plants - Uxbridge Auckland NZ

Tutors: Wild Studio: Emma Cowan and Sarah Nicholson.
In this hands-on workshop, you will discover the exciting possibilities for making your own art supplies from plants. You'll come away with natural painting and drawing supplies you've learned to make, and the confidence to continue with more explorations and experiments on your own.
Artists' Charcoal
First you'll learn to make artist's drawing charcoal sticks, discover which woods work well, how to prepare them, how to make a simple charcoal kiln, and how to make your charcoal smudge-proof!
Carbon Black Ink
Then you'll be guided through the process of making your own rich black inks for drawing, painting and lettering, and learn the different ways that these inks can be used.
Dip Pens
With foraged materials, we will craft simple and effective dip pens, that can be styled to suit many nib types for script or line drawings.
Tannin-based Inks
Learn how to extract rich earthy tones from tannin-rich materials such as barks, leaves, husks and cones. These types of inks have been used for centuries by master artists, and are excellent for writing, drawing and painting. Perfect for use with your handcrafted dip pen.
Coloured Botanical Inks
Next we will dive into the world of botanical colour. We will share with you our research into the possibilities for extracting beautiful, vibrant colours from common plants and weeds. You will learn how to make your own coloured painting inks (similar to liquid watercolours) and discover how to intensify and modify your inks to create a wide range of hues. We will also discuss longevity, what factors affect this, and how we can increase it.
At the end of the day, you will go home with natural ink, dip pen and charcoal drawing sticks to begin your natural art-making journey!
This is a practical workshop suitable for all levels of experience. Our workshops are aimed at adults, but are also suitable for teens.
Afterwards, you will be able to join our Facebook group for workshop participants, where you can continue to discuss ideas and share experiments with our natural art-making community.