few years ago I was given the opportunity to paint a fossil octopus from Libann with its own, 95 million year old fossilized ink. It was an amazing experience, bringing the animal to life in a very unique and different way! It was interesting to see that the ground fossil ink-powder, when mixed with water, still had e sepia like color.
The finished result is on display in the Natural History museum in Oslo, Norway.
The fossil, a 95 million year old Keuppia species from Libanon
The fossilized ink sac
Some of the ink scraped from the fossil and ground to a powder
The finished painting, now on display at the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway
