Heads up - my shop is open again at lycomorpha.etsy.com after a big handmade paint restock. (I know, the world is on fire, but small makers gotta keep going so here we are. 🙃)
There are new colours, replenished favourites, plus freshly baked 'Leaf-cycle' & 'Light on the Fens' sets.
Leaf-cycle sets are sold in aid of Medical Aid for Palestinians again - the best way to support them is donating directly at https://www.map.org.uk. But if you need an excuse (or just want some unique handmade watercolour paints) this set is ready to go.
Support your Tumblr-local paint-making bag of moths by dropping by here, or telling a friend. Thank you 💖🦋
Please enjoy this emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia) and please take care of yourselves and each other as much as you're able to this weekend 🦋
This is a colour pencil drawing I under-painted in homemade shale and chalk watercolour paint I think. I'm writing about how to make shale pigment from rocks and mud right now 🪨🖌️
New solidarity set! Leaf cycle mini-pan paint set is in my store at https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1773611208/leaf-cycle-a-unique-handmade-watercolour 🌿🖌️🍂
All proceeds after fees & shipping will be donated to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) same as last time. Or donate directly at www.map.org.uk
It's based on a tiny dot set I made last autumn, which despite being teeny raised just over £120.
I made 7 sets of this one. That red-brown earth pigment came from another small maker, & 7 mini-pans was all I could make with what I had. But it was in the original dot set so I wanted to include it! If I sell all these, I'll look for a replacement pigment so I can make more sets.
I support MAP in solidarity with disabled/chronically ill Palestinians, who like me rely on regular medical care... But unlike me have suffered as their hospitals and care services get bombed and destroyed in a genocidal war. Please donate to them directly if you can. But if you need a reason? Paint is good, eh 🍂🖌️🌿
I'm getting better, so I'm also getting back on my bullshit 😂 Making the whole screen cobalt green 💚
This pigment is from Jackson's Art, because they're the only supplier who gave me a decent reply to my questions about cobalt-containing pigments & avoiding products of modern slavery/child labour. And I know it's an almost impossible question tbh; only a very small proportion of the world's cobalt goes into pigments (way more is used in tech prod.) These pigments are also highly processed and thus divorced from ore coming out of the ground. But we should still ask our suppliers if they at least comply with REACH and EU legislation aimed at remediation of forced labour & human rights violations.
Anyway smol note of appreciation for Jackson's UK staff who have to deal with my regular vexing questions about pigment regional origins and ethics. They always answer, even if it takes a while for them to track down where something came from (and even when I lose track of where TF things are... 😬) and I value that.
Some people say spoonies aren't adventurous and don't take risks.
Sure, mate.
You try moving a muller when your neck and shoulder muscles don't work. & BTW, I just made benzymidazole yellow watercolour paint, from scratch, while wearing a white t-shirt. 😂😂😂 Risk is a relative thing.
Here's to my disabled AF & proud friends, chronically ill creatives, and everyone else out here risking our spoons every day. 🥄
Lichen sketch - forked tube lichen AKA Hypogymnia imshaugii, from a photo by Jason Hollinger
Madder red (alizarine) - the newest handmade watercolour paint in my store here. I like making those long thin lines, it gives me an idea of how a paint flows. It ties with red ochre as my favourite red pigment ❤️
Alizarine has been extracted from madder plants for centuries. Plants are still used to make dye, or a lake pigment for use in watercolour and other paints (although not commercially - individual crafters/makers mostly use madder plants now.) In the 19th century alizarine became the first natural dye to be synthetically produced. Most madder reds now come from this more easily made synthetic pigment.
However you make it, alizarine isn't fully light-fast. So for dyeing and commercial applications it's mostly been replaced by more light-fast, bright quinacridone pigments. I prefer the colour of madder red though. It's not *that* fugitive as long as you don't leave things in the sun, and you really can't beat it for mixing warm pinks, peaches, and oranges.
Sometimes good drawings emerge from the shitshower of my sketchbooks. Sometimes it's just shit.
The older I get, the more likely it is that I'm able to pull flowers out of all that crap, but don't think the carnage isn't there.
The mess & internal screaming is always just a page flip away.
(Felt like I was precariously walking a line between the shit and the shiny art today. Eeeep.)
The drawings are for a miniature of Fritillaria affinis aka checker-lily in polychromos pencil over watercolour, btw. Tiny drawing, big sketchbook mess 🙃
Heads up - my online store will be closing for a little while from tomorrow morning (UK time.) So if there's a deck of my insect cards or a handmade paint set you've had your eye on, now would be a good time to go get it here!
This deep pink colour is from an old jar of Otto Ebeling dark madder (krapplack-dunkel) I inherited. I'm pretty sure it's alizarin PR83. I've got a sample of Kremer's alizarine crimson PR83 pigment, so I'm making up a little of each to compare them. Then we'll see how they both look side by side!
Alizarin has been used for hundreds of years as a pigment, and used to be extracted from madder plant roots. In the 19th century it became the first natural dye to be reproduced synthetically. Today you can buy both synthetic and plant-derived madder pigments. Some people prefer quinacridone pigments that are more light-fast - and I do use those for commission work. But I also have a soft spot for madder & have paints with both plant-derived and synthetic alizarin in. So it's pretty cool to be making my own now 😊
Sunday is paint making day 🖌️
This is my first test of volkonskoite, a green earth pigment also known as Russisch-grün/Russian green because it was first discovered in the Ural mountains in Russia. I was given an old German container of this pigment by one of my @bookfacearts friends. The manufacturer doesn't exist anymore so I couldn't contact them, but a little research suggests volkonskoite is very stable. I've tested it out today to work out how much binder it takes, & made some small pans to share.
The final colour is a dusky blue green. It's unlike any other green earth I've tried, although it feels a bit like some celadonite paint I tried from another maker in texture. The colour is a little bluer than celadonite though. It's beautiful 💚
The tiny ⅛-pan bioplastic pans came from Tiny Watercolors (@tinywatercolorart on Instagram)
The pieces of paper at the beginning say:
- Volkonskoite PG23 aka russisch-grün is a green earth
- 5g to ?ml binder? Binder = gum arabic, veg glycerin, honey, clove & tea tree oil
- I'm wearing a mask btw, don't redecorate ur lungs
I'm making the full video into a walkthrough, so they will pop up slower then!
This mop brush is the best synthetic one I’ve ever had, I recommend. Mop brushes are usually made from squirrel hair, and it’s rly hard to find a good non-animal one. It’s an Escoda ultimo tendo - 1530 range, size 10. Holds its point so well *chef finger-kiss*.
The drawing is the sketch for this rice root fritillary
Cloudbook doodle/drawing exercise for my next zine - you can get the first 2 Cloudbook issues made of tiny drawing exercises here 💖✏️🖌️