Limited Palette | Working with Only the Local Pigments
Madison Woods paints with natural pigments and works with a limited palette. She paints scenes in colors native to the location.
Handmade Paint-Making
Provenance of a Paint
Most of my paints begin with a rock. Sometimes I remember to record the process it goes through from rock to paint, and sometimes the process isn’t quick. This is the story of a paint made from a reddish sandstone found here at Wild Ozark. It’s the provenance of Number 2021-01. I’m still working with …
Pigment Foraging | Late Summer Means it’s Time for the BLUE!
I’ve been watchfully waiting for this week to begin. All summer, I’ve waited. Watching. And I was beginning to get a little worried that they might not be here this year. But this week the dayflowers bloomed and the pigment foraging began. Yesterday I left the house at nearly 0830 and it was already hot …
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Making Smooth Paint from Rock Dust (Earth Pigment)
Since I wrote my first post on ‘how to make handmade watercolor paint‘, I’ve learned some things. That first post is still a good starting point for anyone starting out. It just doesn’t go into how to make *better* paints. Either way, whether you stop at the rough version, or go on to refine it, …
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How To Identify Pigment Rocks?
A short tutorial on how to identify pigment rocks. This is how I decide which ones to use for making my handmade watercolor paints.
Sacred Art
These are the ways my muse speaks to me. The messages are given through the flora and fauna of my habitat, and I (try to) pass it along to you in the form of art. This task is something I consider to be sacred. Everything about the act of doing it, from gathering the rocks to the destruction and subsequent re-creation into usable paints, to the transference of an idea into reality on paper… it all is part of a sacred art.
Ozark Pigment Profiles | Paleo Paints
I’ve finally been making the paints long enough to see some repetition in the colors. They’ll never be exact from batch to batch, but I’m getting a sense of what to expect from the various rocks I use. Here are the Ozark pigment profiles of the ones I use most often. The Pigments Red Red …
Making Paint is Meditative
Early this morning my friend moved through the doorway of this life and into the realm of whatever lies beyond. And because making paint is meditative to me, that’s what I did for most of my time today. What comes after I know everyone has their own ideas about what comes next when a person …
Color from Osage Root Bark
Today I experimented with Osage root bark to see if it will make paint. Ordinarily, I avoid using plant pigments because they tend to be fugitive, meaning they fade or discolor with time. Some plant pigments, like the green I get from china berries, will completely disappear within a few days of sunlight exposure! I …
It All Started a Year Ago with a Smashed Rock
Oh, the potential of a smashed rock. My first painting wasn’t spectacular, and I knew it I had some work to do to get better at it. Read more…
Paint-making Tips and Tools: Tiny Jars
These tiny jars make it easy to store your handmade watercolor paints in the refrigerator in between pours. Click through to see why.
How to Make Handmade Watercolor Paint from Rock or Clay | DIY
Today I’m making handmade watercolor paint from some of our native clay. The technique I’ll use is the same as I would have used to make a rough paint from rocks. Soft rocks actually work better than clay. So if you don’t have clay but have access to a crushable rock, use that. This is …
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