I've been experimenting with making paint from natural pigments. I've purchased dried pigment from several sources:
Natural Earth Paint,
Natural Pigments,
The Art Treehouse, but I wanted to try making paint from rocks I pick up, such as this stone I found on a hike in the woods behind my home.
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Step One, Grinding. I break a chunk of it into small pieces with a hammer. This particular stone crumbled pretty easily, so it wasn't too much trouble. I grind it into a powder with a mortar and pestle that I only use for art supplies, never food. Here I added a little bit of water to make a paste, because I found it made the job easier.
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| A rock I found in the woods behind my house |
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| Grinding with a mortar and pestle |
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Step Two, Levigation and washing. I stir the powder (or paste) in a container of water. Any organic matter will float, and I can pour it off. I top it off with water again, and stir it. I let it settle for 30 seconds or so while the heavier particles settle to the bottom. Only fine particles are still suspended in the water. I pour the water into another container, and let the fine particles settle, leaving clear water at the top. I pour off as much of this water as I can, without losing any of the fine pigment particles. I'll grind the heavier particles again, and repeat the process to get more usable pigment.
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| Pigment stirred into water |
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| After 20-30 seconds settling time |
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Step Three, Drying. I pour whatever's left onto a piece of glass, in this case an old picture frame with silicone caulk around the edges from its days as my primary studio palette. I set the frame outside to allow the remaining water to evaporate, and then scrape the dry pigment into an empty container until I'm ready to use it.
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| Pigment poured onto glass to dry |
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| Dried pigment |
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Step Four, Mixing. I pour the dry pigment onto a heavy piece of 1/4" glass (my studio palette) and mix it with a small amount of linseed or walnut oil using a palette knife at first, then a glass muller. It takes less oil than you'd think, so always add a little at a time.
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| Mixing linseed oil into pigment |
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| Using a muller to mix paint thoroughly |
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Step Five, Tubing and Testing. I Fill an empty tube of paint and test it out. Here is the color straight out of the tube, and mixed with white. It reminds me of a Terra Rosa paint, which is logical, since the original rock was pink.
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| tubing paint |
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| test driving the paint |
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As a bonus, I mixed a little bit with some
Gum Arabic and a tiny bit of honey (which I read aids with paint flow), and made a half pan of watercolor. I tested it out in my sketchbook, using it to paint the half pan I made.
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| pigment made into watercolor |
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| test driving the watercolor in my sketchbook |
