Paint
www.scottsuttonart.com
Mortar, Pestle, and Sieves
When I first started really painting at Oregon State University in 1997 my painting professor Sandy Brooke taught me the basics of making paints with a variety of pigments and linseed oil. There were a variety of reasons why I started making paint, but mainly because I was using a lot of paint and it was finacially more efficient to make my own then to buy it at the art store. Once I started to become familiar with all the different pigments and how they vary, I began to realize that mixing different pigments with linseed oil was also unique to each color. Over time I began to compare the quality of hand made paints compared to that of the commercial variety that I had used prior to the use of my own paints. As I began to learn more, I realized how much the commercial paints were of a lesser quality because of the fillers used to extend the pigments. It saves the company money and provides the artist with a paint that is cloudy, resulting in a lowering of the vibrancy of each color. Realistically the only way to know what is in your paint is to make it yourself.
Over the past nine years I have been making primarily oil paints that I use for my own oil paintings and for some fellow artists with pigments that I bought. Most pigments that are sold on the commercial market are the result of alchemy and chemistry that were in part inspired by the variety of abundant colors that are pulled out of the earth. Azurite, Malachite, Lapis, Cinnabar, Orpiment, Hematite, Limonite, Manganese, and countless more minerals have been used for centuries by cultures across the world as a means of expression and communication. For the past year and a half I have been wandering across the countryside of Oregon and Washington in search of different earth pigments that I can use in my own art and as an educational tool. This interest in native earth pigments intensified when I started working with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Portland as an instructor for an art and culture class thats main emphasis is creating traditional art as a means of preserving and rebuilding the knowledge of the past.
Over the past nine years I have been making primarily oil paints that I use for my own oil paintings and for some fellow artists with pigments that I bought. Most pigments that are sold on the commercial market are the result of alchemy and chemistry that were in part inspired by the variety of abundant colors that are pulled out of the earth. Azurite, Malachite, Lapis, Cinnabar, Orpiment, Hematite, Limonite, Manganese, and countless more minerals have been used for centuries by cultures across the world as a means of expression and communication. For the past year and a half I have been wandering across the countryside of Oregon and Washington in search of different earth pigments that I can use in my own art and as an educational tool. This interest in native earth pigments intensified when I started working with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Portland as an instructor for an art and culture class thats main emphasis is creating traditional art as a means of preserving and rebuilding the knowledge of the past.
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If you are interested in taking a paint making workshop there will be a few possibilities in the future. If am currently contacting a variety of institutions such as PCC, OCAC, PNCA and PSU as well as Portland Public Schools. If you are interested in taking a workshop outside of the institutional setting then call me to arrange a workshop at my own studio. Ideally, I would like to set up workshops that have between 5-10 applicants who are interested in learning how to make their own paints. If you have interest in having a class come to my studio that is possible as well. Dont hestitate to call me if you have any questions about the variety of classes that can cover all aspects of making paint.
What are the benefits of making your own paint? If you have a good contact for pigments than the cost of making paint is very beneficial. Beyond cost, the quality of hand made paints with pure pigments (mineral/synthetic) and linseed oil or any other binder, is much higher than that of the commercial paints found at an art supply store. One of the reasons for this is the amount of fillers such as chalk (calcium carbonate) that is put into the paint to extend the amount of paint, as well as extending the profits of the manufacturers. The result of too much filler is a cloudy quality that weakens the intensity of the pigment particles by surrounding them with the particles that make up the filler. In the past, these fillers were mixed into the paint at minimal levels (if at all) to provide a desired consistency and workability. The old masters with a much more limited palette would be rolling over in their graves if they knew about the quality of paints today. The modern pigments have provided many benefits to the artist by extending the array of the color palette with lightfast and non-toxic pigments, at least compared to some of those of the past.
The colors we see in any painting are created by light refracting through the pigment particles until it reaches the white ground as is reflected back. This evolution of light by means of refreaction and reflection creates the colors that we see on the canvas. There is a certain quality that exists in hand made paints because of the diversity of pigment particles which includes the size, translucent / opaque, and fractability of light as it passes through the individual pigments. If the amount of filler is greater than the amount of pigment than there will be an obvious change in the intensity and uniqueness of each color. Also, when cetain minerals are ground to much they lose their intensity because their color has been essentialy ground out of itself. After mulling a variety of colors, you become to realize that each pigment has its own structure, nature, and compatibility with different binders. A true appreciation and understanding of paint is developed once you begin to explore making paint for yourself.
I do have some pigments available for sale and am looking into acquiring more colors to make available to artists that are intersted in making their own paints. Most pigments will be available by the pound and can be acquired by contacting me directly. At this time I am just operating out of my own studio and do not have a retail store.
I just recently taught a traditional paint making workshops to high school students at NAYA early college academy out on Columbia Blvd. The class focus was to talk about the traditional use of paint and to emphasize the importance of not only color in culture, but also the role of images in communication before the acquisition of a written language, which is the case in so many cultures world wide. If you are intersted in creating a collaborative project that weaves traditional mineral paints into a curriculm at any age level and need some ideas feel free to contact me via email or phone.
What are the benefits of making your own paint? If you have a good contact for pigments than the cost of making paint is very beneficial. Beyond cost, the quality of hand made paints with pure pigments (mineral/synthetic) and linseed oil or any other binder, is much higher than that of the commercial paints found at an art supply store. One of the reasons for this is the amount of fillers such as chalk (calcium carbonate) that is put into the paint to extend the amount of paint, as well as extending the profits of the manufacturers. The result of too much filler is a cloudy quality that weakens the intensity of the pigment particles by surrounding them with the particles that make up the filler. In the past, these fillers were mixed into the paint at minimal levels (if at all) to provide a desired consistency and workability. The old masters with a much more limited palette would be rolling over in their graves if they knew about the quality of paints today. The modern pigments have provided many benefits to the artist by extending the array of the color palette with lightfast and non-toxic pigments, at least compared to some of those of the past.
The colors we see in any painting are created by light refracting through the pigment particles until it reaches the white ground as is reflected back. This evolution of light by means of refreaction and reflection creates the colors that we see on the canvas. There is a certain quality that exists in hand made paints because of the diversity of pigment particles which includes the size, translucent / opaque, and fractability of light as it passes through the individual pigments. If the amount of filler is greater than the amount of pigment than there will be an obvious change in the intensity and uniqueness of each color. Also, when cetain minerals are ground to much they lose their intensity because their color has been essentialy ground out of itself. After mulling a variety of colors, you become to realize that each pigment has its own structure, nature, and compatibility with different binders. A true appreciation and understanding of paint is developed once you begin to explore making paint for yourself.
I do have some pigments available for sale and am looking into acquiring more colors to make available to artists that are intersted in making their own paints. Most pigments will be available by the pound and can be acquired by contacting me directly. At this time I am just operating out of my own studio and do not have a retail store.
I just recently taught a traditional paint making workshops to high school students at NAYA early college academy out on Columbia Blvd. The class focus was to talk about the traditional use of paint and to emphasize the importance of not only color in culture, but also the role of images in communication before the acquisition of a written language, which is the case in so many cultures world wide. If you are intersted in creating a collaborative project that weaves traditional mineral paints into a curriculm at any age level and need some ideas feel free to contact me via email or phone.
Scott Sutton : 503-293-5059 / scott@scottsuttonart.com