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environmentally friendly art

Pigments, watercolor paints, plant dyes & inks

How to make Egg shell white Watercolor paint

25th January 2021

The next time you’re cooking eggs, don’t throw away the egg shells in the bin straight away. It will surprise you that you can use them for making safe and eco-friendly creamy white watercolor paint and use it for transforming your existing color palette. It also makes for a great rainy day project to get the kids involved!  White is not a color that is used by traditional watercolor artists. To achieve white in a watercolor painting you plan ahead,…

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Painting & Sketching Pigments, watercolor paints, plant dyes & inks Travel Sketches

Sketching and foraging for pigments in Southeast Styria

4th January 2020

The last leg of our summer holidays last year was spent in south-eastern Styria, locally known as the Steiriches Vulkanland (Volcano land). This region was a hotspot for volcanoes – but that was 17 million years ago. Today there isn’t any lava spewing out or any scorched black earth. Nature has done its course and created a beautiful lush green landscape of rolling hills. The hillcrests in this region are covered by forest and the valleys are dominated by farmland,…

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Pigments, watercolor paints, plant dyes & inks

How ‘Green’ is your Green watercolour ?!

15th December 2018

Green, the colour of nature, new life and sustainability can never be green ! It is ironically toxic to all forms of life and environment! “Nature in her green, tranquil woods heals and soothes all afflictions” –John Muir Green is the color of nature, which symbolizes renewal and growth. It also means balance, calm and harmony. It is no surprise that we feel so invigorated when we are out in the open surrounded by the beauty of nature. Such is…

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Pigments, watercolor paints, plant dyes & inks

Art or Environment-What matters to you the most?

16th May 2018

It’s a delightful feeling when you get excited to create something, and then venture forth and share your creative endeavor with the rest of the world. I am talking about the current trend of handmade watercolors. I too am a watercolor paint maker and an artist who uses them. I started using handmade paints when it came to my notice that some of the commercial ones were quite toxic, not only to humans but also to our environment. I have…

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Pigments, watercolor paints, plant dyes & inks

What’s in your Watercolour Paint?

28th April 2018

Hazards in the art world often aren’t taken very seriously. It’s hard to see artists as people who are engaged in a dangerous field. Had I not been a scientist, I too would have remained oblivious about the perils lurking in an artist’s world! It comes as no surprise that artists through history have been called by many names-geniuses, crazy, dreamers, unemployed-but rarely chemists! There can be a lot of mystery when you go to purchase paints, especially if it’s…

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Pigments, watercolor paints, plant dyes & inks

Respect a few rules !

15th April 2018

The art of paint making has been existing for thousands of years. Today’s paint making process is perhaps no different than how it was several 100 years ago. At the time when commercial colors were not available artists made their own paint, or had an assistant or colourman make it for them. The pigments were ground by hand on a flat piece of marble or glass using a glass muller. Its no doubt that making beautiful pieces of art is…

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