Paint Makers Notes

THERE’S STILL TIME TO SIGN UP! Join us May 23 from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM for a special workshop at OyG to make your own 6 pan watercolor set with artist @mikeambron of @paintmakersnotes SIGN UP AT LINK IN BIO Using a glass muller and palette knives, learn to transform dry pigments and resins into lush highly saturated watercolor paints. Choose up to 6 pigments to work with, ranging from Historic Minerals to Modern Synthetics. We will cover the fundamentals of pigment behavior, surfactants, synthetic, and natural binders. Participants will receive real time feedback throughout the session, so they can continue making paint on their own. We will also cover safe disposal practices and basic toxicity classifications according to Arts and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) standards. What you get: • 3 hours of hands-on paint making instruction • 6 full pans of custom watercolors • Metal carrying case for paints • The knowledge to safely handle, store, and dispose of raw materials • The ability to make paint from scratch • Greater independence in your artistic practice What you should wear/bring: • KN95 or N95 Masks or preferred respirator • Paint clothes, smock, or apron • Protective gloves • Notebook and pen Restrictions: *Must be 18+ to attend. We kindly ask that all cancellations be made at least 24 hrs prior to the workshop to ensure other participants have a chance to attend

Natural Pyrite, Iron Sulfide (FeS2), 0 - 80 µ This is one of my favorite pigments to work with. Because of its reflective surface & flat crystalline structure the pigment particles are highly luminous. The coarser the grind the more shimmering the gray gold luster. When processing pyrite in water based media it’s a good idea to have proper ventilation & possibly a pair of goggles or full face shield respirator. It’s not a toxic material, but when exposed to water, sulfuric vapors are released that can irritate the eyes & respiratory tract. Pyrite is a reactive pigment & contact with moisture can cause excessive oxidation resulting in rusty orange halos around your brushstrokes. This happens as the paint is exposed to atmospheric oxygen & can occur repeatedly with changes in humidity. Eventually, pyrite can corrode paper surfaces completely, disintegrating all brushstrokes that contain the pigment. In oils, pyrite does not store well & the color can be unpredictable, shifting from silvery grays to olive greens & browns. Acrylic polymers will also promote oxidation that causes the clear film to turn yellow, brown, or black. I’m mixing this batch as a watercolor & highly recommend using demineralized or deionized water in the making & painting process. I also use a separate brush to avoid contaminating other colors as they can oxidize & spoil more quickly due to the reactive nature of this unique mineral. . . . . #paintmaking #pyrite

Join us May 23 from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM for a special workshop at OyG to make your own 6 pan watercolor set with artist @mikeambron of @paintmakersnotes SIGN UP AT LINK IN BIO Using a glass muller and palette knives, learn to transform dry pigments and resins into lush highly saturated watercolor paints. Choose up to 6 pigments to work with, ranging from Historic Minerals to Modern Synthetics. We will cover the fundamentals of pigment behavior, surfactants, synthetic, and natural binders. Participants will receive real time feedback throughout the session, so they can continue making paint on their own. We will also cover safe disposal practices and basic toxicity classifications according to Arts and Creative Materials Institute (ACMI) standards. What you get: • 3 hours of hands-on paint making instruction • 6 full pans of custom watercolors • Metal carrying case for paints • The knowledge to safely handle, store, and dispose of raw materials • The ability to make paint from scratch • Greater independence in your artistic practice What you should wear/bring: • KN95 or N95 Masks or preferred respirator • Paint clothes, smock, or apron • Protective gloves • Notebook and pen Restrictions: *Must be 18+ to attend. We kindly ask that all cancellations be made at least 24 hrs prior to the workshop to ensure other participants have a chance to attend

Natural Cinnabar self-organizing in a gum arabic solution at 10X🔬 Cinnabar, PR106, is primarily composed of mercury (II) sulfide. The term Vermillion refers to the synthesized version, which is made by mixing purified mercuric sulfide with sulfur. This method was commonly used throughout the Middle Ages to achieve the luminous reds we still find glowing in museums today. The crystalline version of the mineral cinnabar has been in use since at least the 10th millennium BC & is prized for its brilliant & surprisingly high staining orange undertones, bright scarlet midtones, & purplish red masstones. ⚠️ This pigment should be handled very carefully due to its mercury content. Always use a respirator, gloves, proper ventilation, avoid strong acids, & use separate wash water that can be disposed of in an absorbent material like vermiculite, green sweep, or a clay based kitty litter. Do not flush it down the drain. Stay safe & stay making.

French Green Earth is among the oldest pigments in the history of painting, appearing in Roman frescoes as early as 100 BCE. From the 13th to 16th centuries, it became essential to the verdaccio method of modeling skin tones by layering warm siennas and ochres over top of cool green shadows. Composed primarily of celadonite and glauconite, it is valued for its permanence and subdued transparency in fresco, tempera, and oil painting. Winnie and I processed this batch in refined linseed oil. Once fully cured the paint is generally quite matte, but with the addition of 10-20% Stand Oil you can achieve a warmer glossier green with more luminous transparency.

Magnesite, PW18, (magnesium carbonate) is a bright white mineral that maintains a uniquely physical presence in all paint forms. When properly dispersed and loaded in oils it forms a dense moderately opaque film that is still noticeably crystalline, with a matte, stone-like surface that holds form and accepts layers beautifully. The mineral was named for the region of Magnesia in Greece, where magnesium rich stones were identified and studied in the early nineteenth century as mineralogy became a formal science. Its adoption into artists’ materials reflects a modern shift toward chemically defined, archival, and carefully refined mineral fillers valued for structural control and long term stability.

Today’s pigment comes from 4.5 billion year old chondritic meteorites that were once suspended in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Chondrites are physically and chemically the most primitive meteorites in the solar system. They appear to be primarily aggregates of material that formed in the solar nebula prior to or during planet formation. The solar nebula was a vast cold cloud of gas and microscopic dust that began collapsing under its own gravity. As it contracted, it spun faster and flattened into a rotating disk, with most of the mass gathering at the center to ignite as our Sun while the surrounding material orbited in a dense, turbulent ring. Within that disk, mineral grains condensed from hot vapor, collided, fused, and sometimes melted into droplets called chondrules, which later compacted inside primitive asteroids preserving a record of the earliest solid matter in our solar system. #paintmaking #meteorite

Cobalt Bottle Green, PG26, is a mid 20th century cobalt chromium oxide spinel created by firing cobalt and chromium at high temperatures until they fuse into a stable crystalline structure. Chromium drives its deep absorption in the red spectrum while cobalt cools the hue, producing a dark bottle green that can reach nearly black in mass tone while also producing a restrained mineral green when extended in any media. When diluted, PG26 produces a moody almost cinematic granularity in its midtones and undertones. To get a nice range of cool subdued gray greens try tinting with titanium dioxide.

Spinel Black, PBk26, is the darkest black pigment available. It is a high temperature calcined iron manganese spinel whose ceramic crystal structure gives it exceptional lightfastness and resistance to heat, alkali, and solvents. In full masstone it reads dense and warm to neutral, but in thin films or when tinted with titanium white it can shift perceptibly bluish, especially when compared to carbon blacks, which tend to lean more toward brown. Its moderate tinting strength and transparency allow it to deepen mixtures without collapsing their chromatic structure, making it a truly versatile mixing color.

Doing some color matching with my favorite pigment guru @winnie_sidharta ✨ We made this beautiful moody green with a rich Burnt Umber from Cyprus and a little Phthalo Green. I’ll be bringing this Umber and many others to the watercolor workshop @oygprojects on March 14th!!! Spots are still available, so sign up before it’s full!

Victoria Green, (PG51) is a chromium-based silicate pigment that appeared around 1900, developed through industrial mineral chemistry originally for ceramics. It offered a uniform particle structure and film that remained lightfast, stable and more predictable than green earths. It produces a light, cool pastel green in water based paints, but warms to a celadon-like ceramic finish in oils, especially with the addition of polymerized oils or balsams. It has a low oil absorption, excellent lightfastness, and it resists yellowing or fading even in thin layers. My favorite attribute however is the way it glazes over pale backgrounds, allowing their glow to pass through it like sunlight through leaves. It tends to pool in oils, so you may want to add a little clay for better brushability.

Hey Everyone! We’re doing a limited series of Watercolor Workshops with @oygprojects !!! Join us at the gallery March 14th! We will be sharing a huge selection of natural & synthetic pigments. You won’t want to miss it! Sign up at: Bismuth-vanadium tetraoxide, aka Bismuth Vanadate Yellow. PY184 is an incredibly vibrant, opaque, high tinting, lightfast, sticky, & dense pigment with a slight tendency to agglomerate & settle out. Organic stabilizers are often used to keep water based dispersions homogeneously suspended. I typically use at least 10-15% chalk as both an abrasive & a translucent extender to achieve a vibrant film that lets light through & pushes pure opaque color back out. By varying the type & amount of chalk used you can achieve a wide range of warm & cool yellows with varying opacity & saturation. Bismuth Vanadates are commonly used as a substitute for cadmium yellows & historical pigments like lead tin oxides, lead stannates, & lead chromates without the risk of exposure to toxic powders. If you want to achieve a historic lead tin yellow or lead chromate hue, try mixing 20-30% barium sulfate into your next batch of Bismuth Vanadate, you won’t be disappointed. #paintmaking #oygprojects #watercolor