The Hand That Forages Color

Environmental illustration of a woman’s hand with floral tattoos reaching into pokeweed, collecting berries for natural ink. Inky blue fruit on pink-red stems, drawn in soft tones. Hand-drawn sustainable artwork.

A woman’s hand reaches into a cluster of pokeweed, which features blue berries on pink stems. Her hand is adorned with small, delicate, and slightly faded floral tattoos, reminiscent of seasons spent in the garden. She isn’t foraging for food—after all, pokeweed isn’t exactly edible—but rather for ink, extracting natural pigment from something that many people pull out of their yards.

The colours are soft yet distinctive: dusty sky blue, murky greens, and a vivid mauve-magenta that evokes images from a forgotten science chart from 1974. This endeavour is part botanical study and part everyday experiment, all drawn by hand with a stylus.

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