INKQ Edition #1

In 2018, Inky Leaves Publishing introduced the world to INK Quarterly; a limited edition science/art publication that not only plays with the presentation of information but physically delivers inspiration and interesting content directly to your door. Colour and design are an integral part of our objective to present the printed word in a visually interesting manner, together with analogous imagery complementing the balance and flow of content. As the launch of INKQ also coincides with J R Shepherd’s own new adventure into blue, INKQ will have a blue theme running through both the layout and the content.

In our very first issue, we are thrilled to be showcasing the complex, hidden cellular world of botanical structures with artist Professor Rob Kesseler, who has written an insightful piece about making the invisible, visible, through the use of particular stains and pigments in a process called metachromasia.

Flower painter, Martin J Allen amazes us all with his perfect rendition of a tiny delicate Phyteuma flower. Painted in watercolour, Martin reveals the tiniest of structures in glorious, magnified detail. On the same page, astronomer Scott Beadle takes us away from the miniature and into the massive, all the way to Jupiter, where NASA’s Juno Space craft has recently taken some significantly important images of Jupiter’s clouds in blue.

Botanist and botanical artist Laurence Hill also takes us on an illustrative journey through time and space with his mini essay on the future of botanical representation in a digital age. Using Fritilaria as his Muse, Laurence discusses how the scientific imagery of flowers could be used to say so much more about a species beyond their basic taxonomic morphology, using differences in their phenology and environments as key variations on a theme.

Lastly we are delighted to be featuring a large A1 poster ‘Desmids in Blue’ by artist Steven Gawoski.

Printed on recycled, lightweight paper, this quarterly publication is designed not only to be a statement of intent but a piece of art in itself; contemporary and modern, something beautiful that can be collected and even framed. It exists to be read, displayed and to provoke thought.

As with every issue of INKQ, issue 1 is limited in edition to 300 copies.