After learning about how some brands of watercolour paper is treated with animal gelatin, and how my beloved Indian ink contains crushed up beetles, it can be a little frustrating to balance ethical decisions when making art.
Luckily there are a lot of great resources on buying ethically as an artist. My favourite source is from the Jackson’s website from 2017, it’s a good place to start and I recommend and refer to their blog post frequently.
Indian ink is a gorgeous medium, the gloopy, intense nature, the way it shines when it dries, I was anxious about finding a replacement. But like most things in life, the worry was for nothing!
Daler Rowney’s FW 028 black acrylic ink is everything you want from an imitation Indian ink. It does not have the gloopy quality, but then doesn’t clog your nibs either! It was a straight swap, it’s as deep as you need a black to be, flows nicely, interacts with water in that crackled way — It’s a perfect substitute as far as I am concerned.
Daler Rowney has an entire range of acrylic and watercolour inks, all completely vegan. I use these inks exclusively in my watercolour paintings, I’m especially partial to their 701 gold acrylic ink, it’s very shiny …
If you’d like a more complete understanding on why Indian ink isn’t vegan friendly you can follow that up on my website here. I will make more of an effort to update my website with more vegan friendly finds, it’s important for me to create artwork that is joyful for everyone 🐖