How to Be a Color Wizard: Forage and Experiment with Natural Art Making

by Jason Logan, Jason Logan (Illustrator)

Overview

In a bountiful book combining art and chemistry, a celebrated ink maker invites kids to become color wizards—by foraging and transforming natural materials to make their own paint and artistic creations.

In this book you will find secret recipes, magic formulas, and wild experiments that will delight your friends, intimidate your enemies, and turn you into a color wizard.

What colors might await in a leafy forest, a berry-stained back alley, a seaweedy beach, or even the dark corners of an ordinary fridge? With this book as a guide, curious young wizards can make natural confetti, unlock the hidden color power inside a leaf, and craft a paintbrush wand. They’ll brew magic potions from beets and acorn caps to produce their own colors, from the darkest black to the palest pink to invisible ink, then share their discoveries with friends, family, and the whole color-hungry human race. With whimsy and infectious enthusiasm, master ink maker Jason Logan explains the science of color while presenting “quests,” recipes, and hands-on activities using materials kids can find in their own homes and neighborhoods. Featuring both photographs and the author’s own gorgeous homemade-ink illustrations, How to Be a Color Wizard is an ideal blend of art and science—plus a little bit of magic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536229400
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	228,140
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.66(d)
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

About the Author

Jason Logan is the founder of the Toronto Ink Company (maker of ink for Margaret Atwood, Yoko Ono, Michael Ondaatje, and Harley-Davidson). His art has been exhibited in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, and the Yukon, and his inkmaking revolution has been featured by the New York Times, Martha Stewart, the New Yorker, and NPR. His book for grown-up wizards, Make Ink: A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking, was included in the Guardian’s Best Books of 2018 roundup. The Colour of Ink, a film featuring his work, was a special selection at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. He can be found picking up rusty nails and scavenging for berries on the streets of Toronto, where he lives with his family and a giant dog known as Baby.

Read an Excerpt

Right now,
in your kitchen and just outside your front door,
are all the supplies you’ll need
to start your quest to become
a full color wizard.
In this book you will find
secret recipes, magic formulas,
and wild experiments
that will delight your friends,
intimidate your enemies, and
impress even grown-ups. But you
can handle it because . . .
 
 
A Note to Wizard Assistants
(aka the Parents and Guardians of Aspiring Wizards)

As an assistant to an aspiring wizard, it’s your job to make space for the magic to happen. So . . .

Be prepared. This book is designed so that wizards in training can start making color magic right away with materials so easy to find that some are literally falling from trees. But if you read the first page or two of each section, you’ll find helpful fundamentals like safety tips, which materials work best, and how to set up your space for successful experimenting.

Be safe. For younger, wilder, or first-time wizards, I recommend adult supervision. Protective gear is recommended, and activities that require hands-on help are marked with the one- or two-hand symbol (see Decoding the Secret Activity Symbols, p. 11). But beyond these specific notes, it’s best to set up a tool kit, workspace, and foraging area with an eye to safety, which may be of only passing interest to the fearless wizard you’re assisting.
 
Save your money. In support of inexpensive, DIY magic, the activities and recipes in this book call for supplies that can be found easily outdoors and in refrigerators. The one thing you might splurge on is good watercolor paper or rice paper. Really, any paper that is well made will support the complexity of natural color. To save money, you can cut large sheets of paper into small squares and have a pile of cheaper or recycled test sheets on hand.

Be adventuresome. You probably want your wizard to find what they seek, and make that perfect blue color that you saw on p. 94, all before lunchtime. But who are you to decide if an experiment is perfect? You can help your wizard follow the rules, but keep in mind that the path to real magic is not straight but winding and full of fruitful cul-de-sacs.

Take a picture. Unless you have a photographic memory, a picture can be a great way to capture these moments (and make your wizard’s friends want to join in the fun).

Give yourself permission to be imperfect. If you skip a step somewhere and wind up finger painting with the beet juice on your plate, you might have just stumbled upon some powerful magic yourself.

What Kind of Wizard Are You Today?
As you prepare for adventure, why not use this handy quiz to find out what kind of wizard you are today? Get a sheet of paper, and for each number, write down the letter that is truest about you. Then turn the page.

1. I’m happiest when . . .
        ��    Digging things up
        ��    Stirring things up
        ��    Explaining things
        ��    Heating things up
        ��   All of the above
 
2. My favorite tools are . . .
      ��    A shovel and an old satchel
      ��   Bottles and containers
      ��   Flags and paper airplanes
      ��   Stoves and BBQs
      ��   All of the above
 
3. My favorite part of myself is . . .
      ��    My feet
      ��    My spit
      ��    My dreams
      ��    My fingers
      ��   All of the above
 
4. My favorite question is . . .
      ��    How?
      ��    What?
      ��    Why?
      ��    When?
      ��   All of the above
 
5. My favorite kinds of places are . . .
      ��    Hills, caves, and piles of rock
      ��    Lakes, rivers, and mud puddles
      ��   
Tree branches, bleachers, and tall buildings
      ��   Kitchens, grills, and fire pits
      ��   All of the above
 
6. I’ve been called . . .
      ��    Messy
      ��    Nerdy
      ��    Spacey
      ��    Rebellious
        ��    All of the above
 
Now Find Your Wizard Element!
If you selected . . .

Mostly ��’s
You are an Earth Wizard. Earth Wizards can discover whole worlds right at their feet. Your object is the spade. Your animal is the worm.
 
Mostly ��’s
You are an Air Wizard. Air Wizards find magic by looking up and shouting their spells into the wind. Your object is the flag. Your animal is the owl.

Mostly ��’s
You are a Water Wizard. Water Wizards use all kinds of liquids to make colors and don’t mind the rain at all. Your object is the glass bottle. Your animal is the rainbow trout.

Mostly ��’s
You are a Fire Wizard. Fire wizards are hard to satisfy, which is why they love to see things change, and they are a little bit dangerous. Your object is the wand. Your animal is the firefly.

Mostly ��’s
You are a Rainbow Wizard. Rainbow wizards are brave, curious, and always changing. Your object is the prism. Your animal is the peacock spider.

To figure out your full wizard classification:
Add your name + the number of activities from this book you’ve completed (that’s your level number) + your favorite color. For example, you might be known as “Annie, the Level 4 Silver Earth Wizard” or “Soren, the Level 0 Purple Water Wizard.” This formula also works for wizard assistants. Ask yours. Who knows, they might surprise you by being a Level 30 White Fire Wizard Assistant. Also note that your wizard type may change from day to day or hour to hour. Then again, it might just last your whole life. If you like, note your wizard type in your notebook (see Make Your Own Wizard’s Notebook, p. 22). And as you leaf through this book, pay special attention to the activities that are marked with your wizard icon.
 
A Special Note to Young Wizards
Following the ancient three-step process of color wizardry, this book is divided into three sections: GATHER, TRANSFORM, and SHARE. Gather is about finding natural tools, materials, and mysterious ingredients. The activities in this section will send you searching for color in leafy forests, seaweedy beaches, berry-stained back alleys, mysterious city parks, and even the dark corners of your fridge. After gathering, you’ll learn how to transform your ingredients into color brews—from the boldest black to the palest pink. And finally, you’ll share your discoveries with friends, family, and the whole color-hungry human race.
   As you go deeper into this book, you will meet some of the powerful (and often forgotten) Color Wizards of History, like the woman who figured out how to use the end of the rainbow to fix people’s eyes and cell phones (p. 104). Observant wizards will also uncover some astounding True Magic facts, like how dying stars made barns red (p. 84).
   You can read each section in order, or if you prefer to forge your own path, use this guide like a cookbook and jump right into a color recipe. For independent-minded wizards who don’t mind doing a bit of fiddling, there is a universal recipe for making color (p. 54) that works with all kinds of colorful natural objects. And if you get lost, there’s also an index at the back.

Editorial Reviews

There are certain people for whom ink, and the making of ink, is truly magical. For those people, whether they be kids or adults, this book is a treasure map. It’s also a way to open up anyone’s idea of what can be used to make images and art. If you have a young person interested in art, or in using and connecting to the natural world, or both, this book is a bridge that can show them a new way to think about materials, and once it’s crossed, there’s no going back. One of the most important messages you can tell young people is that their work is legitimate—that it counts. This book and its spirit take that message one step further and say that anything you can think to make your work from also counts. It’s a hugely inspirational gift to get.
—Jon Klassen, Caldecott Medal winner

Wizardly advice and instructions for creating inks and art from common and found ingredients. . . . Brightly hued photos both on their own and in montages feature close-up views of supplies in raw and finished states. They also depict busy, focused, diverse young children. 'Dress to get dirty,' the author writes, also cautioning that 'the path to real magic is not straight but winding.' Wise words. Practical, imaginative, magical fun.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Publisher