Description

 

This set contains 5 alchemically prepared half pans of watercolour paints made from hand crafted natural lake pigments. 

The selection of colours gives you a unique experience of the rich and wonderful colours the natural world has to offer.

Each set comes in a handcrafted wooden box with 5 half pans consisting of Maya Blue, Madder Lake, Stil De Grain, Brazilwood Lake and Warm Ochre.

 

-Maya Blue-

Maya Blue is a historically unique and interesting pigment that was first developed over 1200 years ago in the central Americas .

What make Maya blue so interesting is that it is a plant based pigment that uses an indigo producing plant and a clay to form a pigment that is highly resistant to light and chemical damage. It has remarkably remained bright and vibrant for over a thousand years.

This Maya blue pigment has been hand manufactured using a mix on ancient and modern techniques to produce a beautiful soft blue colour with a green / turquoise tinge to it. The pigment has been produced from a natural indigo source and attapulgite clay.

As a watercolour Maya Blue has medium transparency, medium tinting strength, medium granulation and excellent lightfastness.

-Madder Lake-

Madder lake is an Alchemical Arts speciality.

Having honed and refined our recipe for many years now, we are proud to say that we make some of the finest madder lake you will find.

Each batch of the pigment is crafted using traditional 19th-century methods and results in a very Alizarin rich pigment.

As a watercolour the pigment gives a very rich ruby red through to deep pink colour that is transparent, moderate tinting strength, medium granulation and good lightfastness.

-Stil De Grain-

A popular 17th-century historic pigment, Stil De Grain is a very vivid natural yellow pigment that is very transparent and well suited to glazing techniques. Made from ripe buckthorn berries this beautiful and unique pigment produces a very strong yellow that has a very slight earthy undertone.

As a watercolour it is has good tinting strength, is very transparent, and has moderate granulation with low lightfastness*.

-Brazilwood Lake-

Brazilwood is a subtropical tree that has been used for centuries for an array of applications from boat building to musical instruments.

The lake pigment has been used since medieval time and produces a very rich, bright, lovely rose pink shade.

As a watercolour, it has strong tinting strength, Very Transparent, moderately granulating and has good lightfastness.

-Warm Ochre-

This locally sourced Ochre pigment that has been hand ground and washed to produce a lovely warm earthy ochre.

Found in the historic goldfields of Victoria, Australia this unique ochre pigment has a warm, chocolate, earthy brown tone.

The pigment has many of the qualities you would expect from a classic European ochre, coupled with its own local colour profile.

 

 

The paints come in a wooden travel case that has been hand-crafted from reclaimed and recycled timbers, due to the recycled nature of the timbers each batch of boxes utilises different wood choices, ranging from Tasmanian oak, Ash, Mahogany and Cedar. The boxes are cloth hinged and fixed with a strong magnet and are perfect for traveling.

 

The Method: 

| We grind each pigment with a binder, which consists of the finest Gum Arabic, Organic Honey, Glycerin and Water.

| Over the course of 2-3 weeks, this mixture is poured into half-pans. This results in an exceptional quality paint with a truly unique colour experience.

| The Alchemical Arts uses historic and traditional methods when preparing our pigments. This makes for a very organic colour range with highly authentic results. Each pigment takes on its own unique subtleties, richness, handling and optical qualities.

Ingredients: Sustainably sourced ochre pigment, gum arabic, vegetable glycerin, honey

 

Please note: Due to the fact that each pigment is produced in small batches, there is the potential for minor variations in shade.

 

*The lightfastness of Stil De Grain is unfortunately not as good as we would like it to be. It may fade in intensity over the course 2-15 years. This can be mitigated some what by keeping exposure to UV sun light to a minimum.  The fugitive nature of this pigment should not be a disincentive to the beauty of its unique tones and working properties.