Tom Norton's Walnut Drawing Ink

Rembrandt, DaVinci and Van Gogh are just a few of the artists that have used walnut ink in their drawings!

Unfortunately, their inks were made with real walnuts, which are highly acidic, causing their incredible drawings to fade and the paper to deteriorate over the centuries. Tom Norton Walnut Drawing Ink® is made with artist grade pigments, not walnuts, and it is both lightfast and acid free! You will experience the rich walnut color and superior rendering capabilities loved by the world’s most famous artists knowing that you are using an archival ink. In addition, most brown inks are shellac or acrylic based, which is fine for a myriad of techniques, however they dry permanent. Our ink acts more like a watercolor because it always remains water-soluble.

Look Who’s Using Walnut Drawing Ink!

Watercolorists love its layering and lifting properties. With Tom Norton Walnut Drawing Ink®, you can layer to darken your tones or add water to lighten them, and you can also use a wet brush to lift color. 

Calligraphers use it with both dip and fountain pens and really like that it remains water-soluble even when dried so it easily washes out of their nibs. Encaustic artists use Walnut Drawing Ink for under painting on wood substrates because it is water soluble and soaks into the surface without sealing the wood.  Since the wood is not sealed it allows their wax paints to be absorbed into the wood and provide a good archival bond with the wood. Encaustic printmakers use it for the same reason so they can create unique drawings on their printing papers before making their encaustic prints. Pastelists use our ink for underpainting on sanded paper since it will not affect the paper’s texture. And, finally, artists in all media love to draw with it for its beautiful sepia tonal qualities.