Have Any of You Made Black Walnut Ink??

  This has been on my to do list for awhile. When we first moved here to the woods we had two black walnut trees close to the house.  I had gathered lots of nuts, but at the time did not save the husks for the dye or ink.  They quit producing soon after.
  Last year I bought a book on making your own artists brushes, inks, paints. It is packed away at the moment but in there was the black walnut ink.

  I noticed last time I was up at the lake-now that the trees are leafing out-I think most of the trees on our lake property are either black walnuts or hickory -hoping for black walnuts.

  I looked online and there are many diy's on how to make it.

Here is one  and here too   and another one that shows it also as a dye on fabric.     This is for sure a messy project and I would do this outdoors over a fire pit like the first link shows. Also be sure to wear good gloves as black walnut will stain your hands for a very long time.
     I found a huge feather-perfect for using with ink-that Hubs thinks is from a vulture.  Sounds like a fun project for sure

Here are a few photos I found on the web
   Some use the whole nut with the husk dried on to it-which is what my dye instructor last year July did, others take the husk off and dry it and then boil down.  I thought it was a good idea to add alcohol to the ink when finished to help preserve it.
 



The black walnut gives a lovely brown dye





I also found this photo tutorial here  and some additional information here