How gorgeous is the pigment in this stone! The richness of our sandstone colors led me to creating the paints that I use in my earth tone art.

If you’ve landed on this page, you’re probably a fan of nature. Do you like the earthy colors, too? Have you ever noticed all of the colors of the ground and rocks while you’re exploring in nature? My paintings reflect the very soul of the Ozarks, and the paints themselves are a work of art… or at the very least, a work of craftsmanship inspired by nature.

So what makes something an ‘earth tone art’?

What is Earth Tone Art?

It’s the colors! You probably guessed that. Anything that depicts nature could be considered earthy by some people. But to me, it’s the colors. And with my own artwork, it’s not only the colors but the source of those colors. But what specifically makes something earth toned? When you look at all of the art I’ve created so far, you’ll notice they all have something in common.

While each subject is different, and the colors I’ve used are different from one another, all of the color has a sort of brownish tint to it.

The word ‘rustic’ beckons an earthy image to mind. That’s because when you think of rustic, you’re probably thinking old, and then ‘rusty’. And rust is pretty much the basis of all of our earth pigments out here in the Ozarks.

Rust is iron oxide.

The color variations in our sandstone rocks are due to various combinations of iron oxide compounds. It’s what makes a pigment an ‘ochre’. Sometimes the iron oxide compounds contain manganese, too, and that gives the rock a deep brown or sometimes a purplish tint.

Do all earth pigments have the ‘rustic’ look?

Iron oxides are what makes earth tone art. But not all earth pigments have a brownish tinge to them.

Minerals like azurite, lapis, and malachite yield nice blues and greens that have less of the brown earth tone look to them. That’s because the colors are made from copper compounds, instead of iron (azurite and malachite). The blue in lapis comes from a sulfur compound.

We don’t have those minerals here in Arkansas (although we do have a very rare green one called wavellite. However, we don’t have that one here at Wild Ozark. All of the colors I get from the Ozarks do have that rustic, tint that makes my paintings earth tone art.

Here, only the plant sources offer tones without the brown tint. But the only plants I’ve found that offers a source of long-lasting color are Osage, thyme (in my garden, not native) and Asiatic dayflower (also not native). Those give a nice orange, yellow, and blue, respectively. Except the dayflowers can only be used as a stain or ink, not as paint, and they only last a long time if they don’t contact other colors and the painting doesn’t have varnish over it.

Natural pigments lead to earth tone art

Most of the pigments in my paints come directly from the Ozarks, and mostly from the rocks. The rocks hold the soul of a place, and so I call my paint collections ‘Soul of the Ozarks’. I collect rocks from our creek, on the driveway, or from creeks down our road.

They’re naturally earth tone. I love the earthy colors.

What is earth tone art?

Art that incorporates these earthy colors!

I love these colors whether they’re in my paintings, on the walls of my house, or in my color palette of makeup or clothing. This is probably why I love the architecture of the southwest and west so much. Adobe and stucco in sandstone tones are gorgeous.

Architecture and interior design can feature earth tones, and these are forms of art, too. When someone creates anything intentionally to be beautiful, or even if not beautiful then at least thought-provoking, and visually interesting or appealing, it is art.

Abstract paintings can be earthy art, too. I don’t generally paint in this style, but I’ve seen some artists who use the earthy pigments. I’ve found that I like those expressions of art, too, even if I don’t paint that way myself.

Just because the subject of a painting is of something from nature doesn’t necessarily make it an earth tone art. Some artists use really bright colors, but the definition of ‘earth tone’ is very earthy. It would still be ‘nature art’, though.

The kind of art I create

My brand as an artist combines the elements of nature and earth tone art, because I use the pigments from the earth to create my paintings. More specifically, I use mostly the pigments I’ve gathered from here at Wild Ozark or within a very short distance from our home in the Ozarks.

It makes me happy to offer earth tone art to you so you can also bring the soul of the Ozarks into your home. My original art is usually for sale, and I offer prints as well.

Here’s some of the watercolor artwork from when I was using watercolors.

Now I’ve begun using oil paints, made with the same pigments I gather here at Wild Ozark. The ones below are oil paintings. Can you see the difference?

You can see the rest of them at my online portfolio. And if it’s the paints that interest you most, I have some tutorial links for you below on how to make your own. On the rare occasions when I offer sets of paints in my shop, my newsletter subscribers will be the first to know.

Join my newsletter and check off the special group if you’d like me to let you know when I’m making them.

At this time, I don’t have any plans to begin making watercolor paints again, except for teaching workshops on how to make them. I have a free online tutorial if you’d like to make some earth tone watercolor art for yourself.

• Paint-Making Tools
• How to Make Paint
• How to Make Media/Binder