Making your own ink can be a fun and creative project as well as a very personalized approach to art. You don't need to be a chemist to make it work either. Think of drawing with ink as no more than controlling a stain on a piece of paper. Anything that creates a stain potentially can make ink.
One of the simplest inks to make is coffee based. Coffee is relatively easy to get a hold of, and it doesn't require much equipment to work with. As an added bonus, it just seems an appropriate medium for drawing something like Seattle (coming next week) and creates a beautiful sepia tone.
How to make ink from coffee:
1. Gather equipment and ingredients.Equipment: saucepan, spoon, means of filtration (cheesecloth, french press, or a good old fashioned coffee filter will work fine) and a little glass jar for final storage
Ingredients: coffee (beans or grounds), salt, and vinegar
2. Take three cups of water, heat to boiling, remove from heat, and add approximately 1 cup ground coffee. Allow to steep for thirty minutes or so (the longer it steeps, the darker your results will be), stirring occasionally with a spoon.
NOTE: Coffee should be as dark of a roast as you can acquire and be ground coarse. (Fine ground steeps darker but I find coarse ground easier to filter out. The difference is minimal.) If you have no means of grinding your own beans you will need to buy preground coffee.
3. Strain out all coffee grounds and return the solution to your saucepan.
4. Now you need to reduce your solution. Simmer on medium heat until mixture is reduced to desired thickness and darkness. Be careful it does not burn. I reduced 3 cups of liquid down to 3 ounces (3/8 of a cup), which took about forty five minutes.
5. Once you have reduced the solution enough, place the desired amount in your storage jar. Include your additives, which turn your solution into coffee ink and not simply thick, burnt coffee. For every ounce of coffee solution, add 1/8 tsp of salt (this acts as a preservative) and 1/8 tsp of vinegar (this acts as a mordant).
6. Stir well, allow to cool, and enjoy your new ink!
NOTE: There is no need to worry about your artwork molding. If you are still worried a fixative can be sprayed over the finished picture. If you have no specialty art spray, simple hairspray will do fine. Make sure to spray in a well ventilated area and test it first.
That's all there is to it! Feel free to play around with this formula somewhat. Making ink doesn't have to be an exact science, but there are many possibilities for tone, thickness, and viscosity that can be achieved. Have fun!