Hello everyone.

Can anyone help in the area of making ones own pigments. So far we all know about bianco de san giovanni, but what about others? The earth tones? Ive read about michelangelo digging in the popes garden to find the right tones for his ceiling, is there anyone who understands how this is gone about? Or where one could find some good information on the subject? Can pigments be made out of anything that comes to us naturally from the ground or from stones? I know colors that are made from anything vegatable won't work for fresco because of the caustic nature of the lime, but i see colors everywhere everyday and i want to extract them. The reason why I ask mostly is beause i was thinking about lapis lazulie, and how it is a blue stone from afghanistan (ultram-marine - over the sea) and it can be ground into color. Does this mean i can take say amathyst, or quartz or whatever and do the same with it? Or is there some special quality or characteristic found in some stones and not others? And when i see a pigment called say 'Italian Raw Sienna', does that just mean that its made from earth from italy? Can i take the dirt\clays from outside my home and make a color from it somehow? Anyways, sorry for the remedial way im asking the question, its just an area i know little about as of now and wish to expand. Thank you everyone for your help in this quest.

Ryan

hello,

I do not know how to make your own pigments, but I know they make them over here (the netherlands) in `verfmolen de kat' (paintingmill the cat, you can find them on internet by the dutch name). They do that job over there since about 1600 and you can ask them questions via their emailadress: info@monumenten.nl
I hope they can help you further.

bye
annet

Hi Ryan,
good thinkin'.Of course you can make your own pigments and this is the best way to feel the complete fresco work. Some of my pigments I made by myself, process is not short and easy but it is also very hard to make mistake. If you need some instructions or expirience exchange reply.
ljubens

Hi, ljubens

Welcome to the forums!

That would be great and helpful to many if you post the instructions in this thread!

hello Ljubens,

I found some years ago beautiful red earth as well as extreme yellow sand in spain. how for example should I make paint out of it? How do I know what I found is suitable for making paint?

regards
annet

crush/grind it down to fine powder, then grind into the paste with water.

after that mix some of the paste with putty lime and observe for 24 hours. If the color will change then it is not good. If the color stays as it was when you just mixed your paste with lime then it is good.