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Historical Pigments:
Some historically fascinating pigments, which are still available today ( but not used by this artist) include Tyrean Imperial Purple which was so rare it was only used in the robes of emperors and kings. It is collected from a shellfish called Pupura Lapillus and 1 gram of this dye is made from the secretion of 10,000 large sea snails. Sepia, which was used in architectural drawings, is collected from Adriatic cuttlefish. Some of these Renaissance pigments are also very toxic and were responsible for the early death of many a painter and printmaker.
Among the more bizarre
historical pigments was Indian Yellow which was made
by feeding mangoes to cows, collecting their urine, and
then evaporating the liquid to create an amazing color.
This process is extinct (thank goodness)
Deep carmine red was made from the bodies
of female wingless insects that fed on prickly
pear cactus.
Caput Mortum (literally translated as
death's head) is a pigment originally
made from the wrappings of mummies Adapted for
today's world, (and a lack of available
mummies), artist Linda Paul uses a caput
mortem which is a natural iron oxide with
complex layerings of siena red and dark
brown-black colors.
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