A friend of mine sent me coarse ground red earth pigment and ochre samples from Montana, they arrived today, so this is what I'll be working on, grinding the reddish-brown pigment until it is very fine using a muller. I'll then take some of the finely ground pigment, mix it with soy milk and will paint fabric swatches and allow to dry to see what the final color will be like. I'll do inchies for a challenge I’m participating in this week!
He sent me two other samples a green and a yellow, which I approved so he'll be sending me the yellow and green pigments next week to also grind down.
He also put some pine needles, horsemint, bison hair, and buckskin in the package with my pigment and ochres. My studio smells like the mountains of western Montana at the moment.
If I can get the pigment ground fine enough I'll make handmade pastels for drawing and painting with as well.
