In this blog article, I’ll demonstrate how to rapidly and easily extract dye using hot water from coreopsis flowers. This produces a lovely dye that functions similarly to watercolor paint. Then, to create a larger range of colors, we’ll experiment with lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). The paint is very simple to prepare and is a lot of fun!
On my balcony, I’ve been raising this coreopsis plant for a few years. It is a perennial plant, and its second summer is just as colorful. It has a lot of flowers for experiments because it blooms all summer. The name of this coreopsis is “Early Sunrise,” but there are countless other types and, as far as I’m aware, every one of its petals exhibits color.
Try this technique with different vibrantly colored petals. Naturally, some will function better than others, but this is a quick technique so you can observe the results. Dahlia flowers are another option to explore since they readily give their color.
Safety
- Make sure the glass dishes or jars you use can’t be returned to the kitchen.
- If you make this paint with kids, make sure they don’t put their fingers in their mouths because these flowers are not edible. My older son has frequently painted with petal paint, but I haven’t done this with my younger son because he still puts things in his mouth when he’s two years old. It would be better to create an edible paint for smaller children, such as the juice from defrosting berries.
What you need
- 3 tiny bowls or glass jars
- (Or any other petals you’d like to try) coreopsis petals
- a lemon slice
- soda bicarbonate (baking soda)
- painting brush
- a few popsicle sticks for stirring
- kettle for water heating
- paper
Let’s get started!
The colors are really striking, even though this is the easiest lesson I’ve ever published on my site. All that needs to be done is to cover the petals in boiling water, swirl them to release the color, and then decide whether to change the pH using an acid or an alkali. Next, paint! It is that simple.
Red is produced by adding bicarbonate of soda (alkaline/basic pH), yellow is produced by adding lemon juice (about neutral pH), and orange is produced by pouring hot tap water over flower petals.
Here are some more detailed step-by-steps:
- Several flower heads should have their petals removed; place them in a small basin.
- Just enough boiling water should be poured over the petals to completely cover them.
- Mix the petals in the water with your paintbrush or wooden lollipop stick. The dye will immediately change color, but it will keep getting darker for a time.
- To create two additional tiny bowls of dye, repeat steps 1-3 once more.
- To one of the bowls, add a few bicarbonate of soda slivers. The color will change to a darker orange or red with an alkaline (basic) pH. I’ve discovered that during the next few hours, this color will continue to intensify.
- Add some lemon juice to the other dye pot. The dye will rapidly turn yellow when exposed to acid, and it may appear practically neon. It’s amazing!
Coreopsis flowers and bicarbonate of soda are combined to create the red paint (baking soda). Lemon juice is added to the dye to create the yellow color.
Extra notes:
- Make sure to set apart a stirring stick for each color to avoid contaminating other pots and unintentionally changing the pH.
- If you’re using the same paintbrush for each color, rinse it afterward.
- You can either dip your paintbrush directly into the liquid or filter the petals out to yield a clear paint. Once the painting has dried, any petals that may have touched the paper can simply be brushed off.
- Watch the color of the paper change as you sprinkle lemon juice and baking soda over wet paint.
Above: To create a delicate mottled orange pattern, bicarbonate of soda was sprinkled over yellow (acidic) paint. To create a spotty pattern, try doing the same with drops of lemon juice over the red dye.
How long do the colours last?
Don’t use these paints to create any exceptional artwork because the colors will ultimately fade. Last year, my son created a painting that hung on the wall throughout the summer and was still vibrant, but I can’t promise that it will do so this year. These paints can be used within sketchbooks or journals that won’t be exposed to sunlight. Paint a piece of paper, then partially cover it with a piece of thick card, to test the paper’s lightfastness. Look under the cardboard to check if it has faded after leaving it in the light for a few weeks.
Painting fabric
Fabric can be painted in the same manner as paper. I advise premordanting your cloth as usual or pretreating it with soy milk (as outlined in my book Botanical Colour at your Fingertips). Then use the blossom coloring to paint. If possible, wait a few days before rinsing away the excess color after the fabric has dried before ironing it with a hot iron. You might prepare a bucket of somewhat acidic or alkaline water to rinse the fabric because the dye is pH sensitive and will change color with your tap water.