There’s something magical about the way it looks on a misty Autumn morning in the Ozarks. Several years ago, I took a photo of my neighbor’s field towards the bridge for Felkins creek that’s near our house. While going through my files to find a scene I wanted to paint, I found it again. I love the composition, the mood, and the colors of this pastoral scene.
A Pastoral Scene for a new painting. I love the colors and composition of this.
The Progress
As I get more done on it, I’ll update here. But to see it as I do it closer to real time, follow me on Instagram 🙂
Ozarks on a Misty Autumn Morning
A Little About My Paint-making Process
Since my paints are handmade and (mostly) locally foraged, I have to make sure I have the colors I need before I begin a project. If it’s a plant pigment, then I’ll need to harvest the plant and process it to make the pigment. The only plant sources I use at this time are thyme, and the root bark of Osage trees. The rest comes from foraged rocks, soot, bone, or purchased lapis and titanium dioxide powder.
Here’s a blog post I made earlier about making oil paints:
So, if it’s a rock, then I’ll break it to smaller pieces, then crush it as finely as I can. The crushed rock is the raw pigment. After that I put the powder into a jar and fill the jar with water. Depending on the source rock, I’ll either pour off the colored water into another jar to let it settle, or pour the rinse water out and keep the sediment for the paint. After the water clarifies and the pigment has settled, then I pour off the clear water and let the sediment dry. That is what I’ll make the paint from.
When it comes to plants, there’s more chemistry involved. I’ll make what is called a ‘lake’ pigment. Here’s a post that gives more information on that process.
I hope you love this earthy palette of color as much as I do! Thanks for reading ~ Madison