Vegetable Art: How to Paint with Vegetable Dye

Vegetable Art: How to Paint with Vegetable Dye

Is Vegetable Art a real thing? Yes! Vegetable dye is easy to make and the application is comparable to that of watercolor paint. How long does vegetable dye last? Vegetable is essentially a stain and will last as long as your typical acrylic paint. I used dye from beets, yellow onions, carrots, red cabbage, spinach and kale to create the painting below. I think I will title this piece: A Vegetarian’s Dream.

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A Vegetarian’s Dream

Vegetable Art is easy! Chances are, you already have all the materials you need in the frig! You will need:

1 cup of vegetables or fruit (your choice) chopped

Water (amount depends on the vibrancy you are seeking)

Watercolor paper

Watercolor paint brushes

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I love the yellow color the carrot dye provides. The fun part about this project is discovering how different the vegetable dyes look once applied to paper!

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Carrots provide a strong yellow color
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Beets have the strongest stain of all the vegetables! Make sure to protect your clothes and hands.
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Onions give off color? I think its safe to assume when boiled, everything provides a certain color. Question is, is it a pretty color? Onion dye actually translates to a wonderful green/brown color. A color you may use when painting a swampy landscape or fall day.

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Let’s just stop and admire how beautiful this Red Cabbage is with its veins and mountain like terrain… OK, back to the directions!

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I prefer to chop the vegetables to encourage the breakdown of pigment
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Vegetable Art Made Simple

Step 1: Chop your vegetables or fruit into large chunks

Step 2: Bring several pots of water to a boil (1 pot per vegetable type or you can experiment with colors by combining vegetables into one pot). Good rule of thumb is to use 1 part water and 1 part vegetable (or fruit). The less water you use the more concentrated and vibrant the vegetable dye will be.

Step 3: Boil on low for 1 hour (lesser for lighter pigment). Then, strain the dye using a kitchen strainer or cheese cloth.

Step 4: Let cool and start painting!

Note: When using dye for fabric, add 1/4 cup of vinegar to help preserve the color.

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Vegetable Color Breakdown

Beets tend to dry with the strongest pigmentation. You can always count on beets to provide a vibrant rosey-fuchsia color.

My favorite I have to say is the Red Cabbage. It appears purple as a liquid dye but once applied a ocean blue hue appears.

Vegetable dyes give off a mature pigment. Meaning, the dye provides a more complex color than what you would get straight from a paint tube.

On my next try at Vegetable Art, I may try to use less water when making Kale dye to deepen the color. I would also love to try blueberries or blackberries to generate an eggplant shade of purple.

Speaking of Beets…

  • Vegetable Art
While I was making the vegetable dye, Kevin helped himself to a beet that had fallen. I found him red handed with a mouth full of purple and stained bed! He knew he was in trouble. Who knew, Mini-Goldendoodles love beets!

Vegetable Art Watercolor

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Before starting your Vegetable Art Watercolor, make sure to tape down your edges with painter’s tape. This will help your paper dry flat.

Moving on to the most fun part! Painting:-). Apply the dye to the paper as if you were using watercolor. The same concepts apply as with a watercolor painting.

Tips:

  • Practice painting in layers
  • Experiment with the colors, they may look different dry vs. wet (most colors dry more muted than the initial application)
  • Use different brushes for each color
  • Think about line, shape, movement and composition as you work
  • BUT don’t think too hard 🙂 go with your gut and have fun!

See more paint tips here

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One last tip with Vegetable Art:

Instead of boiling the vegetables/fruit you can put them in a blender and use cheese cloth to strain the dye. This method is faster but may not provide you with the most robust pigments. Give it a try and let me know what colors you are able to come up with in the comments below!