Today I’ll be using the pigment I made a few weeks ago to make yellow paint from thyme. It’s an oil paint. I use linseed oil to make the paints, and walnut oil while I’m working with them. While I mostly left the camera running while I made the paint, I did not remember to …
Back when I made my very first set of paints, I had a really nice yellow. I’d made several yellows from various plants and did lightfast tests on them. All failed except for the one, gorgeous yellow. Not only did it pass, the yellow color actually intensified with the light exposure. At that time, I …
A Yellow Paint Experiment | Lake pigment from thyme Read More »
Madison Woods paints with natural pigments and works with a limited palette. She paints scenes in colors native to the location.
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 …
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 …
Pigment Foraging | Late Summer Means it’s Time for the BLUE! Read More »
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, …
Making Smooth Paint from Rock Dust (Earth Pigment) Read More »
A short tutorial on how to identify pigment rocks. This is how I decide which ones to use for making my handmade watercolor paints.
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.
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 …
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 …
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 …
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…
These tiny jars make it easy to store your handmade watercolor paints in the refrigerator in between pours. Click through to see why.
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 …
How to Make Handmade Watercolor Paint from Rock or Clay | DIY Read More »
