Limited Resources
Greenpa has a post on Little Blog in the Big Woods today about the limited availability of resources. It got me thinking about paint. Is paint a limited resource? I use it liberally and waste it sometimes when things don't work out as planned. This is an example of what Greenpa would call "first worlder" waste. "First world" people aren't accustomed to thinking in terms of limited resources, and they consume everything as if there's an endless supply.
I think synthetic colors are made out of petroleum, and the supply of petroleum is limited. The natural colors come from Earth pigments, and they'll run out when we've dug out all of that Earth.
Although it never occurred to me before, paint probably is a limited resource, and I'll have to find ways to treat it as such.
I think synthetic colors are made out of petroleum, and the supply of petroleum is limited. The natural colors come from Earth pigments, and they'll run out when we've dug out all of that Earth.
Although it never occurred to me before, paint probably is a limited resource, and I'll have to find ways to treat it as such.
Labels: green
posted by Cassandra at 4:43 PM
5 Comments:
To me, the term paint includes a very wide category of materials and perhaps too wide to be considered a limited resource just yet? Pigments come from many sources...plants and bugs, as well as earth pigments and some, I suspect fall from the stars.
Hi Katherine,
Paints used to be made from minerals, plants and bugs, but not any more. Most are now synthetically derived pigments, made in a chemistry lab. The only colors that are natural any more are the Earth pigments such as the ochres and umbers. You can see the origin of each pigment on the Golden Paint website, such as this listing for Yellow Ochre:
http://www.goldenpaints.com/products/color/heavybody/colors/1407infopg.php
Cassandra,
Are we talking only about acrylic paint?
Besides the ochres, umbers, siennas (saying them makes me want to travel!)there still pigments that are derived from plants, etc. Some that come to mind are sap green, gamboge, heliotrope, tyrian purple, woad, and madder. Actually "everything is a chemical" and paints have been manufactured in labs-some requiring heating, etc. for centuries, I think. Synthetic means to combine two parts, but that doesn't necessarily mean that one part is petroleum or un natural.
Sorry to go on and on, I guess the point that I'm trying to make is that in my opinion there are too many sources of painting materials to consider paint, in general, a limited resource.
Hi Katherine,
Feel free to comment as much as you'd like! I'm always interested to hear what you have to say.
I wasn't talking only about acrylics. It's just that the Golden Paint website has information on the source of the pigments they use.
It is my understanding that the same pigments are used in all paints, but with different binders.
I haven't seen tyrian purple, woad or madder used in pigments anymore, but woad and madder are available as natural dyes. Sap green is now a blend of other pigments:
http://www.goldenpaints.com/products/color/heavybody/colors/1461infopg.php
Alizarin replaced madder. I'm skimming through a book called "Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments," which is interesting, but rather information heavy. It's hard to get a brief overview of pigments from this book.
I don't know what pigments and dyes are synthesized from. This book mostly doesn't say. I would like to know more about the ecological impact of the pigments that we use, as well as the binders.
Just as a side note . . . in the back of this book, they have some historical recipes for making paints. There's one called To Make Ceruse and Minium, and it starts off, "If you want to make either red or white minium, take a pot that has never been used, and put sheets of lead in it." Yow! Talk about toxic.
Thanks Cassandra,
I love the history of pigment and paint and all the recipes. I like that Goethe was involved in the discovery of ultramarine blue. I don't think there is such a thing as a brief overview of pigment!
I believe you are correct that paints and dyes use the same pigments with different binders...linseed oil (or safflower or walnut) for oil paints, gum arabic for watercolor, egg for egg tempera, etc. One could make their own paint by mixing the pigment with their binder of choice.
Sometimes the synthesis of a pigment simply means it is roasted, or fermented, or exposed to something that alters it.
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