Researching natural paints
When considering natural inks, I first reflect upon the inks I made myself. I found that I only had a limited colour palette, I want to do more research into more natural painting and how pigments are made and sourced.
Looking at what goes into paints I found earth pigments are used. Earth pigments are naturally occurring minerals which contain metal oxides. These earth pigments have been used for hundreds of years in order to produce paint and inks.
The process of making Earth pigments: (reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_pigment)
The minerals are usually mined, and once mined the minerals are ground into a very fine powder. Once ground the pigment is washed which removes the water-soluble impurities, these impurities are dissolved into the water and rinsed out. It's then left to dry and then once again ground into a fine powder. In some cases, certain pigments (Sienna and umber particularly) can be deepened in a process called calcination, its where its heated and is used to dehydrate the pigments.
I came across the website www.naturalearthpaint.com, which sells and gives instructions on how to work with natural earth pigments. There's a web page which includes different types of paints which can be made from earth pigments. On this particular website, 3 oz of this earth pigment can be purchased for $6.50, which is around £5. These pigments can also be brought in bulk, 1 lb costs between $15 and $36 depending on the pigment, throughout my research I found that the natural gold micas were the most costly, I put this down to gold being a precious metal and it is an expensive element anyway. Realistically, I can't afford to buy and experiment with a wide variety of colours in the time span I have. Something I feel looks similar to this would be watercolors. As they can be layered and can have a very soft, natural finish, which matches the natural theme of my concept.
Wanting to look at how the main primary colours are sourced, I did some research on the particular pigments; ultramarine blue, brilliant yellow, Mayan red. These colours stand out to be due to their vibrant pigmentation and their unnatural brightness. As when I consider natural inks, I think of more earthy tones, like the Ochre, Umber, and Sienna, as they remind me of the colour of clay and more natural materials.
Looking at ultramarine blue, its naturally from the blue pigment in lapiz lazuli. The blue pigment is called lazurite. Throughout history it has been mixed with waxs, oils and mixed with dilute lye. Lots of pigment could be produced, and the first batch would be the riches shade of blue, and would be sold for rather high prices. I learnt that ultramarine was more valuble than gold in the renaissance period as it had to be imported into Europe, which was costly. Today, it costs around £15 for 500g of this pigment, but the prices can rise dramatically depending on the purity of the Lazurite in the pigment.
Next I looked at brilliant yellow, which I found was a lot more diffecult to pin point wheres it from. I found its a chemical, and as I have a knowledge of chemistry, I looked further into it. Its a chemical which is soluble in water and is used for many things, including inks and cosmetics, but also has more scientific used like for the assay of enzyme activity, which measures the catalytic activity of the enzymes. In egyptian times, Orpiment was used, which is a toxic crystal containing sulfur. A less toxic naturally occuring yellow pigment is called yellow ochre. Its found all over the world and can range in shades from yellow to brown.
Looking at Mayan red, its a natural pigment that costs about £40 for 500g, which seems quite expensive. For the Mayans, colours represented direction, and red being east. It's a bright natural pigment which is used for inks, paints and more.
Looking in more depth, I concidered looking at cave paintings, as the pigments they used manage to last anywhere between 40,000 and 14,000 years. I found a website (http://www.webexhibits.org /pigments/intro/early.html) which gives details on the pigments used throughout history. Across is a photo of negatives of a hand using carbon black and red ochre. These pieces of art are from a cave in France and are between 28,000 and 24,000 years old. I found that in these times, most of the pigments used were 'earth pigments', like Ochre and Umber. Charcoal and burn bones from fires were also used as black pigments, and a white pigment could be achieved from grounded calcite.
One of the reasons for the durability of these pigments is that theyre naturally found from earth, meaning they were natural oxides which wouldnt fade, whereas pigments from fruits or animals would naturally decay and lose their colour over time.
Upon reflection, realistically obtaining these pigments for my work isn't realistic due to finantial and time restraints, although I have experimented with the dyes I made from fruits and spices, I found the colour palatte I had was rather limited and therefore restricts the options I have for a final outcome.
Looking at what goes into paints I found earth pigments are used. Earth pigments are naturally occurring minerals which contain metal oxides. These earth pigments have been used for hundreds of years in order to produce paint and inks.
The process of making Earth pigments: (reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_pigment)
The minerals are usually mined, and once mined the minerals are ground into a very fine powder. Once ground the pigment is washed which removes the water-soluble impurities, these impurities are dissolved into the water and rinsed out. It's then left to dry and then once again ground into a fine powder. In some cases, certain pigments (Sienna and umber particularly) can be deepened in a process called calcination, its where its heated and is used to dehydrate the pigments.
I came across the website www.naturalearthpaint.com, which sells and gives instructions on how to work with natural earth pigments. There's a web page which includes different types of paints which can be made from earth pigments. On this particular website, 3 oz of this earth pigment can be purchased for $6.50, which is around £5. These pigments can also be brought in bulk, 1 lb costs between $15 and $36 depending on the pigment, throughout my research I found that the natural gold micas were the most costly, I put this down to gold being a precious metal and it is an expensive element anyway. Realistically, I can't afford to buy and experiment with a wide variety of colours in the time span I have. Something I feel looks similar to this would be watercolors. As they can be layered and can have a very soft, natural finish, which matches the natural theme of my concept.
Wanting to look at how the main primary colours are sourced, I did some research on the particular pigments; ultramarine blue, brilliant yellow, Mayan red. These colours stand out to be due to their vibrant pigmentation and their unnatural brightness. As when I consider natural inks, I think of more earthy tones, like the Ochre, Umber, and Sienna, as they remind me of the colour of clay and more natural materials.
Looking at ultramarine blue, its naturally from the blue pigment in lapiz lazuli. The blue pigment is called lazurite. Throughout history it has been mixed with waxs, oils and mixed with dilute lye. Lots of pigment could be produced, and the first batch would be the riches shade of blue, and would be sold for rather high prices. I learnt that ultramarine was more valuble than gold in the renaissance period as it had to be imported into Europe, which was costly. Today, it costs around £15 for 500g of this pigment, but the prices can rise dramatically depending on the purity of the Lazurite in the pigment.
Next I looked at brilliant yellow, which I found was a lot more diffecult to pin point wheres it from. I found its a chemical, and as I have a knowledge of chemistry, I looked further into it. Its a chemical which is soluble in water and is used for many things, including inks and cosmetics, but also has more scientific used like for the assay of enzyme activity, which measures the catalytic activity of the enzymes. In egyptian times, Orpiment was used, which is a toxic crystal containing sulfur. A less toxic naturally occuring yellow pigment is called yellow ochre. Its found all over the world and can range in shades from yellow to brown.
Looking at Mayan red, its a natural pigment that costs about £40 for 500g, which seems quite expensive. For the Mayans, colours represented direction, and red being east. It's a bright natural pigment which is used for inks, paints and more.
One of the reasons for the durability of these pigments is that theyre naturally found from earth, meaning they were natural oxides which wouldnt fade, whereas pigments from fruits or animals would naturally decay and lose their colour over time.
Upon reflection, realistically obtaining these pigments for my work isn't realistic due to finantial and time restraints, although I have experimented with the dyes I made from fruits and spices, I found the colour palatte I had was rather limited and therefore restricts the options I have for a final outcome.
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