Mulling Titanium Dioxide

I'd like to try working my form exercise in oils. Theory and computer programs are fine but I want to get my hands dirty. Expecting that I'll need a good bit of white and that all I have on hand is a bit of lead white and lots of Gamblin Radiant White (titanium dioxide in safflower oil, a very slow drier) , I'm whipping up a batch of titanium dioxide and linseed oil.

On first mixing the pigment and oil with a palette knife, the pigment pulls together into little platelets. I then need to work with just a bit at a time to gain a smooth consistency. This paint will eventually be mixed down into Munsell neutrals in values 4, 6, and 8.

Preparations

I'm planning to copy a portion of this Melendez painting. The highlighted section is a full page in my Melendez book. I'll be building a transfer to lay out the larger shapes. But first, I thought I'd make a few preparations.

Rather than use my existing oil paints, I wanted to try my hand at my own. Here is an English Burnt Sienna. It's a lovely rich red that I've enjoyed using with egg tempera. I've mulled enough to fill a 20 ml tube. Note the dramatic color change with oil mixed in.

During cleanup, I used the leftovers to lay down an initial layer. I've read that in this painting that Melendez put down two layers of red so perhaps I'm getting a good start. I guess it's quite common with oil painting to begin with a base layer or a grisaille rather than a blaring white surface. You can see here how I use one panel for two paintings. (The tomatoes and melon paintings are on my other panel.) This picture doesn't do the sienna layer justice. It's really so luscious that it looks good enough to eat.

Here's Bohemian Green Earth mulled and in the process of being tubed. I want a warmer green that the  Nicosia Green Earth. This pigment is a very fine grind and requires a lot of mulling.

I also want a warmer yellow and this Gold Ochre looks good.

These three paints just seem to feel right together and will, along with Flake White, probably form my palette.

Tomorrow I will transfer the image and rough in the shapes.

Margaret in Paint and Prose

I received a lovely email today and with the writer's permission I will share with you. Margaret and I "met" as students during both of the Cornell drawing and watercolor online courses. In our mixed and lively discussions, she mentioned how she dug her own earths. Of course, I just had to have some, and in fact, her offer came before my request.

Here is Margaret's watercolor using only her North Carolina earths that I ground and tubed up.



And here is her letter:

Hey John,

I am going to try and attach a scan my 1st painting using only the "Earths"

Meantime, there is a little bit of story behind the ochre-ish PB.

On the way to my parents house in N. Ga. I take a back road and in a curve just over a hill is a gas station of the kind I suspect is indigenous only to our region and southward. When it was open, there were boiled peanuts when in season, so the place was often shrouded in smoke. Through the smoke, you could see cars in various stages of assembly, or dis-assembly. A rack of dented aluminum canoes for rent and a goat wandering about freely don't even begin to complete the picture.

Behind and beside this is the bank of beautiful yellow earth.

I have eyed that bank for ages, but never stopped. The gas station/store was just too complex to take in.

Last year the store closed. Everything is there except the goat, but it is all still.

It seemed like the only thing going on there was gravity, so on one trip home I whipped the car over, got some Dollar General bags out from under the debris in the backseat and went to clawing earth out of the bank. A dog came along, but I didn't pay much attention. I was engrossed in finding color and in appearing non-chalant when cars passed. When I did finally look up, there was an enormous, big bearded man standing in the door of the store. His arms were crossed and his demeanor did not appear to be friendly.

"Hi," I said.

No reply.

"I'm just getting some dirt."

No reply.

"I'm gonna make some paint."

No reply. Just then the dog almost got hit by a car.

"That your dog?"

Head shake.

"You know whose it is?"

Another head shake.

"I think it might get hit, maybe I should find it's home."

Head nod. Demeanor unchanged.

" Well, is it OK if I take this dirt?"

Head nod.

"Well I guess I'll take the dog, too."

Head nod.

"Thank, you"

No reply.

He was still standing in the door with his arms crossed as I packed in the dog, earth and headed down the road.

The dog was reconnected with its owners at next establishment.

A brief splinter in geologic time.

The painting evolved with experience, and skill with the paint will continue to evolve, I hope.

I learned to be lighter, worked it right to left and you can see the change. The right is much too heavy.

I actually began to enjoy the limited palette. It's a little like working with ink washes, but w/subtle colors and different behavior. I love the little mica sparkles in the wash.

I am thinking toward doing another an adding just a little bit of wash from my commercial paints.

Fun and challenging. I looked up egg tempera recipes and find myself tempted.

Waiting for a large slot of uninterrupted time.

Thanks

MO

A Muller's View

Spooky Halloween trees, or dentritic patterns formed on the underside of the muller with my favorite yellow ochre?




In my early graphite days, modeled form didn't always follow the light source so now I must try to imagine light and shadow--an excellent learning exercise, I think. You may notice some real flips in shadow and highlight from last night's image.

White, Mica, and Silver

Mixed activities here this evening. First up was a couple of tubes of this white mineral.


Then two more tubes with this lovely red earth laden with mica.


This afternoon I dug out silver wire from my chainmaking days. For weeks I've been thinking that my 0.5 mm Pentel mechanical pencil might make a good holder for silverpoint. 0.51 mm converts to 24 gauge in wire size. At the top of my pile of wire I found ten feet of 24 gauge fine silver! I clipped a piece, smoothed one end, and popped it in to work perfectly with my Pentel!


I'll probably want various gauges but this is a good start. Some tempera artists rough in their painting with silverpoint.


Here's a bit of silverpoint on gesso.


Wrapping up the evening was an attempt to finish one of the new Realgesso boards. I have an email into Realgesso for guidelines but in the meantime I used Koo Schadler's recommendations on the True Gesso site. I found that using the rougher grits seemed to be overkill, creating deep scratches that then took time to remove. Unless I hear different from Realgesso, on the next board I will begin with 320 grit, then 400, and finally 600. Perhaps different grit sizes and techniques are appropriate with boards from different suppliers, as well as when I make my own gesso boards.

And More Paint

The results of this evening work. I am learning to work a firmer mix for the pans so that there is less drying and hence less pigment shrinkage. The tubes load better with a wetter mix.


This one reminds me of peanut butter. It has a nice strong mineral smell.


It takes more effort to mull a firmer mix. Soupy mixes are dreamy to mull but what can one do them? Well, they could be used for putting up pigment for tempera.


Here's the view from my doorstep. It looked so pretty this morning that I had to go back for the camera. The yard is really tiny; 16mm is such a generous view. :-)


There were a couple of interesting (actually quite exciting) deliveries today. I can hardly wait to tell you all about them tomorrow! :-)

More Paint Making

With good headway this evening, here is progress to date. A nice yellow in tubes and pans, a white that might have leanings into a bit of rose, and an interesting iron oxide. This last pigment is a gift from my dear nephew, Andrew.

A few weeks ago Andrew presented me with a baggie of rust sludge from his mother's well water filter for the horses. This rust is absolutely buttery smooth. Mulling was needed only to mix in the gum arabic. Dear Andrew took a bit of kidding and wonderment as folks really couldn't understand how his Uncle John would want that stuff. Andrew took it all in stride, knowing that his uncle would be delighted, and he was oh so right. :-)



The pans look like chocolates--milk, dark, and white, don't they?

Paint Making

I've been meaning to get back to my paint making for some time now. So here's a start! This evening I put up ten half pans of the color you see here. Next will be the tubes, once my pigment mix dries out some. I slipped a bit with too much water.



I plan to work out a few more pigments with pan and tube watercolor, and some with distilled water only, useful for tempera.

I'd like to share these pigments with you. So, if you're interested in some pans, tubes, pigments, or any combination, send me an email with your preference(s) and a shipping address and it will be my pleasure to send you a little Nuncketest package. :-)

Aqueous Dispersions

I'd like to try working with aqueous dispersions. Having pigment ground and ready mixed with water will ease my paint making with egg tempera. For watercolor, it is a simple matter to fill tubes and pans--no matter how much is mixed, it is all easily stored. Egg tempera is not so accomodating--whatever's mixed must be used in a few days. Being able to simply shake up a bottle and squeeze a bit of pigment saves a good deal of pigment mix and mess.

I am saturated with egg tempera technique and theory. Three more books are on the way. Natural Pigment just emailed that my order has shipped. I am so looking forward...

Here's a great article on aqueous dispersions.

Limited Palette In Use

Here's a little sequence of today's work using my same limited palette as with yesterday's. This painting is based on a graphite drawing from my first Cornell course. I'm thinking that the Indian Red background creates a scenario that makes the yellow and black look greener. I want to push the tonal range and perhaps get in more colors for detail. What a great feeling to be back with a real painting!

Limited Palette

After last evening's experiments, I soon knew I had to try a color wheel. It's not as even and balanced as I'd like it to be, as I was discovering more possibilities as I mixed. I am so amazed at the range possible with these three mineral pigments--Indian Red, German Vine Black, and Italian Yellow Earth.

Minerals on Paper

Here's a little illustration of mineral mixes to date--both the Carolina earths and Rublev minerals.

I tried mixing yellow with black, looking for possible greens. Although subdued, I think I got some! I also wanted to try out the charcoal as an alternative to ink washes. And over there to the right, I tried a bit of glazing.



Moving down the paper, there are the Carolinas to the left and a wet in wet with the yellow and black in the middle. Wrapping up is some Rublev Indian Red with black--I was trying to pull in some violets. Well maybe, with a bit of imagination. ;-)

You know, it was such a cool feeling squeezing out bits of yellow and black, appreciating the downright perfect degree of wetness with a finely smooth consistency. I've been perusing the Natural Pigments catalog, making tentative pigment selections and eyeing the empty pans for filling and a palette case to hold them.

Rublev German Vine Black

This evening I made up my second Rublev pigment, the German Vine Black.

Rublev German Vine Black from John Perry on Vimeo.

Another Mineral Sample

This evening I made up another little sample, which I'm beginning to see is a reasonable approach. You see, as I grind these minerals, color seems to slide off into more subdued tones. It seems that larger particles may hold color better.



Here are my first tests together for comparison. I'll be putting out more samples, experimenting with particle size as I go along.

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.

Earth Particle Sizing

I tucked the bowl of wet Carolina earth into a warm oven for a good overnight drying. You see, after all the mulling of that earth, the texture still felt too gritty. So out I went on the deck with mortar and pestle in an attempt to reach a finer grind. A couple of hours later, I set up my tools with the intent of making paint.



After mulling a bit of earth and adding gum arabic, I arrived at a texture close to that reached with Natural Pigments earth, but still a bit gritty. I decided to stop mulling and fall back to another round with the mortar and pestle. It was my first time with this tool and I did spend an hour chatting on the phone with dear friends while working away. I might have missed some good grinding in all the talk and laughter. :-)


Here is a little comparison of Carolina on the left and last night's Italian Yellow Earth on the right. It's difficult to see here but there are larger grits mixed in with the Carolina paint.



I think that mortar and pestle work is useful, and probably necessary, prior to mulling. This is based on my understanding that mulling separates particles clumped together but does not reduce individual particle size--mortar and pestle reduce particle size. I am coming to appreciate whatever mechanical means pigment manufacturers use to produce such wonderfully powdered material. :-)

My First Tube

This afternoon I tried my hand at mixing watercolor paint.

Rublev Italian Yellow Earth from John Perry on Vimeo.



It's a bit difficult to estimate costs as quantity pricing can provide good savings; I'll base costs upon the small packaging I dealt with in my kit.

$3.00 One ounce jar of Italian Yellow Earth
$0.90 20ml Lacquered Tube
$0.50 Watercolor Medium
--------------------------------------------
$4.40 Total

$8.95 for a 20ml tube of Italian Yellow Earth



If you are interested in the materials and process, order a free Natural Pigments catalog. Pigments, paints, binders, gilding supplies...

Mineral Play

The very start of Chapter 3, Pigments, in The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting, describes methods of cleaning impurities and sizing pigment particles. Firstly, floating organic material such as peat, humus, and roots is skimmed off.



After a skimming, I dug around, grinding up little bits of minerals as best I could.



I then went after the larger particles that wouldn't break down. There wasn't much of that material so I think I will simply toss it.



And here's this evening's final product. It is still a wide-ranging mix of particle size. Perhaps it's too soon to be sure but it seems like the smaller particle sizes present the richest color. I'm thinking that the next step is to test whether this material can be reduced by mulling or if mortar and pestle is needed.


I hold such a feeling of history and tradition while playing in my red mud. I'm now heading over to this inspiring virtual tour for another visit.

Preparing Glass Plate For Mulling

It's movie night! Email subscribers, you may need to visit the blog to pick up a link to the movie.

Preparing Glass Surface For Mulling from John Perry on Vimeo.

Pigment Texture

Here are the six Natural Pigments pigments supplied with their watercolor kit:

Raw Umber, Verona Green Earth, German Black Vine

Red Ocher, Italian Yellow Earth, Titanium White

See the little V's in most pigments? I'm trying to portray just how finely these pigments are ground. When I push in, the pigments flatten tightly and stick to the knife. This stuff is going to be messy; I will be working out on the deck with mask and gloves.

Now that I am familiar with the North Carolina earths and these ready to mix pigments, I can see that the Southern earths will need grinding with mortar and pestle, and safety equipment, to reach the NP pigment consistency.

More Minerals

Rather than going through all the bags one by one, I grouped up as best I could by color and presented out in batches. So here are all the rest of the minerals!


Within these two light minerals, the top is a rather plain light gray, while the lower has a pinkish quality that's quite nice. Curious how the larger pieces have a brighter and whiter look.



These oranges are particularly attractive and seem to reach a powder state easily.



This lovely specimen is, I think, representing the top left orange above. Chunks present color differently than grinds, and various grinds lend to different colors as well. It's surprisingly light in weight.



This is quite an appealing color. Loaded with mica, it sparkles incredibly.



And here's a wrap with various browns. Next up is to begin work with my watercolor paint making kit from Natural Pigments. More on that soon! But first, I have another little investigation under way...

White Mineral

Here's a first glimpse at the North Carolina minerals. Margaret sent so many bags that it will take time to work my way through. I'll start at the light end and wrap up with the dark browns. Most of these minerals are in a finely ground state as well as as a coarser mix. In a few cases, one that we can see here, there are actually specimen-type aggregates.