Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Mt. Washington, Los Angeles
Explore the alchemy of botanical ink making using seasonal, locally foraged materials. In this workshop, you’ll learn to create two distinct natural inks: a traditional oak gall ink and a plant-based ink derived from flower petals.
Oak gall ink produces deep, rich tones through a time-honored process of extracting pigment from natural tannins. In contrast, flower petals offer soft, shifting colors that feel immediate and expressive. Together, they reveal two very different approaches to working with natural color.
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll make both inks from scratch and explore drawing and mark-making with each, discovering how differently natural materials can behave on paper. During the drawing portion, the experience will be accompanied by live harp music by Heather Freed of Velvet Empress, creating a meditative, immersive atmosphere for sensory exploration and reflection.
In this workshop, you’ll:
• Learn how to identify and work with seasonal, locally sourced natural materials for ink making
• Create two natural inks using simple, accessible methods
• Learn how to process materials to extract pigment
• Explore how pH modifiers can shift and expand color
• Experiment with mark-making using your handmade inks
• Take home your inks and recipes for future use
Participants are asked to bring a mallet, small hammer, or rolling pin for smashing the oak galls, two 8 oz (or larger) clean jars with tight-fitting lids for making ink, and a cup (or more) of flower petals from a plant of their choice. Reusing empty food jars is encouraged. We recommend dressing in clothing you are comfortable getting messy.
Length: Approx. 4 hours
Workshop Notes
This workshop is an introduction to natural pigment making, focusing on the foundational skills needed to begin working with color from nature. Each batch of ink will vary, making every participant’s experience unique.
During the workshop, you’ll make two inks: a traditional oak gall ink and a botanical ink from flower petals of your choice. You’ll learn how to process natural materials to extract color, as well as how to modify pH to shift and expand pigment tones.
You’ll also have the opportunity to draw using the inks you create, along with additional inks from Kim’s studio. Participants will leave with two handmade inks and several recipes to continue exploring at home.
Instructor:
Kim Russo is a Los Angeles–based artist whose work explores the relationship between individual connections to nature and our collective environmental future. She creates paintings of the natural world using pigments made entirely from foraged materials.
Her watercolor paintings are held in the permanent collections of the Hilliard Art Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, as well as in notable private collections. She lives in Topanga with her wife, Amber, a philosophy professor, and their dog, Nera.
Studio website: kimrussostudio.com
Instagram: @kimrussostudio
Refund Policy:
Refunds are available if you cancel at least 7 days before the event. After that, refunds or credits are not available.
Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026
Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Location: Mt. Washington, Los Angeles
Explore the alchemy of botanical ink making using seasonal, locally foraged materials. In this workshop, you’ll learn to create two distinct natural inks: a traditional oak gall ink and a plant-based ink derived from flower petals.
Oak gall ink produces deep, rich tones through a time-honored process of extracting pigment from natural tannins. In contrast, flower petals offer soft, shifting colors that feel immediate and expressive. Together, they reveal two very different approaches to working with natural color.
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll make both inks from scratch and explore drawing and mark-making with each, discovering how differently natural materials can behave on paper. During the drawing portion, the experience will be accompanied by live harp music by Heather Freed of Velvet Empress, creating a meditative, immersive atmosphere for sensory exploration and reflection.
In this workshop, you’ll:
• Learn how to identify and work with seasonal, locally sourced natural materials for ink making
• Create two natural inks using simple, accessible methods
• Learn how to process materials to extract pigment
• Explore how pH modifiers can shift and expand color
• Experiment with mark-making using your handmade inks
• Take home your inks and recipes for future use
Participants are asked to bring a mallet, small hammer, or rolling pin for smashing the oak galls, two 8 oz (or larger) clean jars with tight-fitting lids for making ink, and a cup (or more) of flower petals from a plant of their choice. Reusing empty food jars is encouraged. We recommend dressing in clothing you are comfortable getting messy.
Length: Approx. 4 hours
Workshop Notes
This workshop is an introduction to natural pigment making, focusing on the foundational skills needed to begin working with color from nature. Each batch of ink will vary, making every participant’s experience unique.
During the workshop, you’ll make two inks: a traditional oak gall ink and a botanical ink from flower petals of your choice. You’ll learn how to process natural materials to extract color, as well as how to modify pH to shift and expand pigment tones.
You’ll also have the opportunity to draw using the inks you create, along with additional inks from Kim’s studio. Participants will leave with two handmade inks and several recipes to continue exploring at home.
Instructor:
Kim Russo is a Los Angeles–based artist whose work explores the relationship between individual connections to nature and our collective environmental future. She creates paintings of the natural world using pigments made entirely from foraged materials.
Her watercolor paintings are held in the permanent collections of the Hilliard Art Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, as well as in notable private collections. She lives in Topanga with her wife, Amber, a philosophy professor, and their dog, Nera.
Studio website: kimrussostudio.com
Instagram: @kimrussostudio
Refund Policy:
Refunds are available if you cancel at least 7 days before the event. After that, refunds or credits are not available.
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