Cave painting
oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
17.8 x 25cm
© David Begley 2024
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This new series of works in ink began in a riverside studio in Llandysul, Wales, in July 2024. I prepared inks by gathering oak galls in the Raven forest, Curracloe, Wexford, crushed and steeped them in distilled water and left them to ferment. I cooked this solution in an iron pot to make a deep dark brown. I love how this ink bites. How it etches, how it spreads; insists its own marks.
In Wales we visited beach caves and rolled over hills lined with broadleaf. I am in awe of Welsh small fields edged in oaks, their bountiful hedgerows, governed by red kites. I did not draw from observation, but took our daily trips back to the studio. Trees and hills erupted in the ink. Wanderers; families; selfie-makers appeared. The ink spread in many directions. I played to keep up. Trees and rocks wanted painting, but with not enough hours for every wonder, I slowed, and returned after some years, to cave painting. A painter’s (re)treat. A place to view from: to see margins and edges blurred.
Being July, there was no snow, yet I was drawn to paint it. Imagining slopes covered, how we might traverse them; the wonder of first prints. Claw, paw, foot.
The magic of forms made, then melted.
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David Begley, July 2024
Morning
oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024​​
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Arrival
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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First wonder
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Slope
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Stretch
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Balance
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Draig
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Bear
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Spume
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Camp
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Rock
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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O sleeping
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Creek
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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After Llangranog
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Threshold
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Claw paw foot
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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Shoreline
iron oak gall ink on Fabriano Rosaspina paper
12.5 x 17.5cm
© David Begley 2024
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What is oak gall ink?
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Oak gall ink and iron oak gall ink have been used by illuminators, artists, writers, and composers for thousands of years. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Victor Hugo, Goya, and Van Gogh drew with oak gall ink. It is a permanent ink, is light fast and was the main ink used in medieval illuminated manuscripts including The Book of Kells.
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Oak galls are formed when a gall wasp lays its eggs on oak leaf buds in the spring. The tree reacts with the wasp's growing larvae to produce growths (galls) around the larvae. When the larvae mature into wasps, they emerge from the gall, leaving a hole behind. These galls are crushed and steeped in rain or distilled water to create tannic acid, the main ingredient of oak gall ink. Iron oak gall ink also includes iron sulphate to create a black ink.
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See David's short video below to see how he prepares his ink.