Ive thought about doing this. I have some natural mica from Canada that I'd like to turn to a pigment. Theres also a lot of walnut trees around me i know walnut husks can make a nice brown. Any tips?
this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2025
159 points (100.0% liked)
I Made This
588 readers
491 users here now
Did you make something? Do you want the fleeting rush of endorphins that come with affirmation from strangers? Do you think what you made is neat? Share it here!
Paintings, movies, music, drawings, models, gardens, houses, snowmen, sandcastles - if you made it, you can post it.
RULES:
AI-generated content is banned in all forms.
Some things you make are not to be shared. These include:
- Messes
- Children
- Biological... byproducts
- Bigotry
- No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, or bigotry of any kind.
- Don't try to sell stuff unless people ask. You can post your Etsy (or similar) if someone prompts you. No spamming self-promotion.
<3
founded 5 months ago
MODERATORS
Sure, look up the lake pigment method for your walnuts, black walnut is great for making ink and dyeing as well. You'll find a lot of instructions, mostly the same. However — none of these removed know about molar mass, ignore all measurements unless you have the equipment and the inclination to get very precise. I've needed more aluminum salt and less soda ash than most instructions say.
Do not dump the precipitated pigment directly into the filter as soon as it's done bubbling. I always get a richer colour by stirring a few times and letting it settle overnight.
For mica — If it's still a rock you'll have to look up how to separate it from the matrix. My only tip here is: mix with transparent media or else the sparkle gets covered up.
If you want to make good paints I recommend a good mortar and pestle, classifying strainer, and a muller/glass panel to prepare the paint.
Pro-tip 1: Alum, gum arabic, gum tragacanth and linseed oil can all be bought at 1/10 the cost of art stores at Indian spice markets.
Pro tip 2: Mullers are stupid expensive, glass butt plugs are basically the same thing as long as they have a flat base. Mine was eight bucks on sale.
This is going to be my next adhd hobby isn't it...
Real question...how bad is the smell? Like clear the whole house for hours bad or if it's in the garage it's cool?
This is the perfect ADHD hobby, while you're waiting for stuff to dry you can hunt for more stuff.
Right now it smells like a borsht made by a man who's never seen the light of the sun and his heart knows only hate.
Usually it's weird to pleasant, like with the berries.
I want to be you when I grow up
This is the sweetest thing I've heard all week. Thanks, and remember to floss.
The pursuit of color. a noble but messy endavour.
I just don’t use them.
😂 Dude, just use them.
All the kool kids wear their respirators.
When they find my body they'll say "Her lungs were full of chlorine gas but her nude look lipstick was flawless."
Yes, but sometimes you can plan the obituary:
"Local area pigment maker and sexpot..."
That's super cool!
Ohh neat, I’ve been to Harvard’s color museum and was fascinated by how difficult it is to make ‘new’ colors. What color was most satisfying to make so far?
It is crazy interesting. It's not just "RBY makes everything," there are so many factors.
Every one I made was a different learning experience. I hated cranberries. They're a stupid terrible berry and they refuse to precipitate like everyone else. Blueberries, their cousin, were awesome because of the richness and the volume of pigment I got out of them. I extracted a lot of different colours by mixing boric acid, soaking them in ethanol (which made some crazy dark purple crystals,) and trying different aluminum salts.
One not shown is a green mica from a stone I found on a hike, which is the most neat.
Are these intended for paints, dyes, or something else? Do you know how colorfast are they in terms of light for paper or washing for fiber? This looks like a super cool (if stinky) project! I’ve been interested in homemade dyes for a while but it seems like sooo much work. Have you thought of experimenting with any barks?
Do it now! It's so easy.
Get your cheapest berries (not cranberries, they suck,) some alum (phosphate or sulphate,) and washing soda. Just wing it from there, I believe in you.
I make paints. The lake pigment process makes them insoluble in water, so inks or dyes would take a step back to get them mixable.
All plant based colours are fugitive, meaning they'll fade/shift over time. The biggest factors are heat, sunlight, Ph's +/- 7, and washing. I use UV archival spray and and good quality paper/canvas to slow it down. In dyeing I use mordants and adjuncts — metallic salts that help bind the colour to the fibre, literally rusty metal in jars of cleaning vinegar. Some people use soymilk for cellulose fibres.
Right now I have some birch bark pith in salty water on the radiator, some lichen fermenting in ammonia, and a jar of turquoise pond scum I found near an abandoned mine. Dogwood, logwood and japanese maple are supposed to be cool, but I haven't tried them yet.
I might set up another community for DIY art materials to try to find my people, I'll give you a shout out if I do.
Please do, this seems like a great next obsession of mine <3