>>THanks so much for the reply. Well, here's the
>>added difficulty. I want to stick to
>>non-manufactured pigments, so the question
>>becomes, can you think of a way to get to the
>>nice terracotta using the ochres and natural
>>reds, etc.?
>
>Those are the only ones that you can use
>(ochres, red oxides, mars, etc...)
>
>what do you mean non-manufactured?
>
>You need ONLY (lime in the plaster will "eat"
>(destroy) any synthetic or organic pigments)
>natural earth/minerals and those Mitch are
>refers to and those are the only ones to use...
>You dont have to grind rocks yourself...
>unless you find a clean and pure deposit of a
>certain mineral, then you better put a factory
>there

Thanks again so much for the reply. Sorry, my mistake on the pigments. What I meant was that I wanted to use only the ochres & natural earth pigments, so the mars reds and yellows are out. I think I may have given up on achieving the depth I want with just VP, though, and am now thinking about using a glaze over the vp. I tried a traditional turpentine/linseed oil glaze but it of course sank right into the vp - BUT this may be bc I didnt let it cure; i.e. I applied the oil wet, and the VP drank it up like someone in the desert. I am thinking about how I could EITHER use two coats of VP; i.e. yellow undercoat, red on top, and then sand back the first, OR a yellow ochre coat of VP with a red glaze. Any comments on any of this? Oh, as a final touch, I saw in Kevin McCloud's book a nice top coat of a white wash meant to simulate the "saltiness" that terracotta gets. I would be thrilled to able to achieve the yellow/red/white undulation. I think it would be georgeous, and I know there's a way to do it, but I'm unsure about the mixed media. Thanks...Maria