Colour is Alive – Botanical Ink Making for Screen Printing

Artist Publication.

Updated & Expanded Edition, 2025
By Greta Desirèe Facchinato

About the book

Colour is Alive documents my artistic research into natural ink-making for screen printing — a study of colour as a living material. The book gathers years of experiments, writings, and recipes, exploring how creative gestures can reflect ecological awareness and interconnectedness.

This 2025 expanded edition deepens the first publication from 2021, offering refined formulations, new photography, and extended reflections on process, materials, and time. It bridges art and ecology through practical knowledge — guiding readers to create inks from plants while cultivating a more conscious relationship with colour and matter.

Design & Materiality

Colour is Alive is designed as both a book and a manual for practice — a space to learn, observe, and record. Its form follows its purpose: to invite touch, to open fully on a worktable, to grow with use.

The text is printed in black for readability, while all images are printed in green ink.

This limited palette reflects the book’s core idea — that colour is not fixed, but something that changes with material, time, and interconnection.

No printed colour references are included: instead, each recipe contains a blank frame where you can add your own colour swatch, turning the book into a living archive of your ink experiments.

The exposed spine binding allows the book to lie flat, making it practical for studio use as a workbook.

Two papers alternate throughout the chapters, creating a tactile rhythm that guides the reader through shifts in tone and content. Every choice — from the materials, to the content, to the binding — aims to reflect the book’s essence: colour as a living, evolving process.

A Glimpse Inside Colour is Alive

Watch a short browse-through of the book to see its content, design, and materiality before ordering your copy:

Details

  • 159

  • 13 × 20 cm

  • Risograph


  • 300 copies

  • 9789090408019

  • €60

PRE-ORDER A COPY

The book is now available to order. For shipping details, please refer to the FAQ section

What’s New in This Edition

  1. Expanded recipes for plant-based screenprinting inks from dyes and pigments.

  2. New chapters on binders, textile use, material preparation and my process.

  3. Updated cover, design and larger format.

  4. Alternating papers to delineate sections.

  5. All text in black for readability; images in green to distinguish content.

  6. Exposed spine binding for usability and hands-on interaction.

 FAQs

  • Orders are processed within approximately one week.
    As I am currently in a period of maternity leave, shipping may be slightly slower than usual — thank you for your understanding and patience.

    Orders within The Netherlands and Europe are shipped via PostNL.
    International orders are shipped via DHL Express, which allows for fast and trackable delivery.

    You will receive a confirmation email once your order has been dispatched.

  • Yes, the book ships worldwide. Shipping rates vary by region and will appear at checkout. Please note that postal tariffs outside the EU—especially to the USA—have recently increased, and delivery times may vary depending on customs.

  • Yes. If you are a bookstore, distributor, or collective interested in a wholesale order, please get in touch via the email at hello@gretafacchinato.com .

    Group or wholesale orders can help reduce international shipping costs.

  • Several copies of the previous edition Color is Alive are held in several academy and research libraries, including KABK Den Haag (NL), Stroom Den Haag (NL), Laboratorium KASK Ghent (BE), The Alternative Library of Blue Light Junction (USA) and the MRC Library at Rhode Island School of Design (USA).


    The new edition can be consulted in the academic libraries of Elisava Biblioteca, Barcelona (ES) and Listaháskóli Íslands Reykjavik (IS). It is not yet available in bookstores, but I will begin developing wholesale and distribution partnerships in 2026.
    If you would like to suggest a bookshop or library, or if you are a bookseller or institution interested in carrying the book, please get in touch by email at hello@gretafacchinato.com — I would love to hear from you.

  • The price (€60) reflects the knowledge and expertise included in this expanded edition, the use of high-quality papers, Risograph printing, and hand-stitched exposed spine binding. Each book is independently produced in a limited edition of 300 copies.

  • This is the updated and expanded edition of the artist’s book first published in 2021 under the title Color is Alive. It now includes new content, recipes, and an redesigned layout under title Colour is Alive - Botanical Ink making for Screen-printing.