Drawing Ink – Frequently used recipes Gum Arabic Ink Recipe. The Gum Arabic powder should be dissolved by leaving it overnight in fifteen times its’ weight of distilled water. The gum will dissolve between 12 and 24 hours. The solution should then be strained through a cloth to remove impurities. Preservative should be added to…
Malachite Green pigment Green Verditer – Green Bice – Mountain Green – Green Carbonate Of Copper – Vert De Montagne – Berg-GrüN – MalachitgrüN History, chemistry and application This green copper mineral was employed as a paint by the ancients. It occurs in many European, Asiatic, African, and American localities. The mines at Ekaterinburg and…
Indigo FOR MANY CENTURIES, INDIGO WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT DYE IN THE WORLD. Indigo has been used either as a pigment or a dye from very early times in India and in Egypt. It is referred to under the name of indicum by Pliny; later on the Byzantine writers called it azorium Romanum. ‘Indigo bagadel’…
Tyrian Purple dye THIS PRESTIGIOUS PIGMENT COMES FROM A PREDATORY SEA SNAIL. Tyrian purple is extracted from Bolinus brandaris, a mollusc native to the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre (Phoenicia means ‘land of purple’) in what is now Lebanon. The production of Tyrian purple goes back at least 3500 years and Greek legends tell us…
Lead White pigment THIS IS THE GREATEST – AND THE CRUELLEST – OF THE WHITES. Lead white has been in continuous production for at least 2000 years. It is basic lead carbonate, formed by the reaction of lead with vapours of vinegar (acetic acid) and carbon dioxide. The manufacturing process in the 19th century was relatively…
Woad dye WOAD WAS WIDELY USED AS A DYE IN EUROPE AS EARLY AS THE STONE AGE. Ancient Britons covered their bodies with woad to face the Roman legions and it is said that they struck fear into Julius Caesar himself. The first part of the woad-making process involved taking fresh leaves of the woad…
Realgar pigment THIS PIGMENT IS AS DEADLY AS IT IS BEAUTIFUL. Known as the ‘ruby of arsenic’, realgar is extremely toxic. The red crystals of the mineral yield a rich orange pigment, but it is made of arsenic disulphide. Realgar is found in the same deposits as the yellow, arsenic-containing mineral orpiment. It mostly occurs…
Orpiment pigment ORPIMENT WAS THE CLOSEST IMITATION TO GOLD. Its Latin name is auripigmentum (gold paint) and in the classical world, it was believed that this resemblance had deeper alchemical roots. It was even said that the Roman emperor Caligula could extract gold from the mineral. In fact, orpiment carries a much more dangerous substance.…
Ochre pigment OCHRES WERE THE VERY FIRST PIGMENTS USED BY HUMANS. The oldest human artworks still in existence are vivid depictions of animals, humans and spirits that were created using ochres. There is evidence of their use as far back as 250,000 years ago. Ancient ochre artworks are found all over the world, from the…
Lamp Black pigment LAMP BLACK HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES. This lightfast, permanent, opaque blue-black pigment was used by the Ancient Egyptians more than 4000 years ago for painting tombs and murals. They preferred its fineness and deep black colour to the grey-black of charcoal. As you’d expect from its name, lamp black is…
