Working With a Red Mineral

This evening I tried a new attack upon the Carolina earths. First came a bout with mortar and pestle.


With light grinding, the chunks broke easily into smaller sizes.


And after a good deal of grinding, a rather powdery grind was achieved.


Once I began mulling, the familiar sound and feel of grinding particles told me that I was still dealing with too large of a particle size.


Continued mulling did seem to achieve a smoothness so I went ahead with gum arabic, albeit a bit too much that left a rather soupy mix.


Some test patches illustrate that particle size can be detected on the paper.


And because I have been spending all my time in the dirt and away from the brush, I felt a quick sketch was in order, that is, using last night's and this evening's work.