Human use of pigments to express ourselves may be—literally—a watershed moment in evolutionary time. Perhaps among the first to be used were iron oxides (ochres) such as at France’s famous Lascaux. Archaeologist Tammy Hodgskiss wrote: “People may say ochre is the earliest form of art and symbolism, but there’s more to it. Ochre shows how our brains were developing, and that we were using our environment. It bridges the divide between art and science.”

In this deep dive into the science of artistic pigments and look at our earliest history as artists, we will also learn to create beautiful images in our field notebooks and nature journals using natural earth pigments such as ochres (yellow, red, purple), manganese, lapis lazuli, graphite, and more.

Length: 2 hours

Resources from the Workshop

CHAT transcript — click > HERE <

Click to initiate download of a PDF of the workshop presentation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qk9sp3baj3v8u7s/Ancient%20Ochres%2011-13-2021.pdf?dl=0

Pigment and natural paint sources:

Greenleaf & Blueberry – handmade in Colorado by Jess Greenleaf and her team, amazing quality and natural pigments

Clearwell Caves (you will need to call; scroll to the bottom of this page for pricing)

Natural Earth Pigments – great pigments and mulling equipment

Cornelissen & Sons – classic London colourists for artists for several hundred years

Kremer Pigments – fantastic source with full disclosure of pigment origins; lots to choose from in earth / iron oxides https://shop.kremerpigments.com/us/shop/pigments/

For the Love of Soil – women-owned who are also soil scientists

Beam Paints – indigenous women-owned; I don’t have personal experience with the quality of these paints

Images from Workshop Participants