Mud paint

I have been given some natural pigments and other things in teenie wee jars to make my own watercolours. Spent a happy hour or so guddling around with grinders and gum Arabic making a puddle of mud.

Poured it into shells - this being the suggested vessel if I didn’t have any empty paint pans lying around. Of course I didn’t have any shells either but a wander down to the beach sorted that. The paint has been drying overnight, (which meant a warning had to be issued that it wasn’t chocolate) but was still very liquid today. Obviously haven’t got the pigment to liquid ratio quite right.

Couldn’t resist trying it out. It’s lovely. Smooth, creamy and luscious. This pigment is raw umber but I also have red ochre and some Epping yellow, which is apparently from proper London mud. I can see this being a new obsession. There’s grave danger I shall be breaking off chunks of ancient monuments around Orkney to grind into paint.