ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Central Question

What role have paint and paint-making played throughout history?

Literature

The history of paint-making goes back over 40,000 years to early humans in Europe, Australia, and Indonesia who painted images in caves (Earthdate). These paintings were preserved in the caves because of the lack of exposure to the elements and depicted things such as hunters, herders, and animals. The pigments were made of materials such as charcoal, sap, berry juice, and ochre (a pigment colored by iron oxides to be red, yellow, or brown). They would mix these pigments with a base such as water or saliva in order to create the paints. The process of paint-making would continue to evolve over time, and advances would be shared between groups of people. The Egyptians, Minoans, Greeks and Romans all made many advances such as painting on wet plaster to increase the durability of the work, creating lead white paint, and finding new minerals to make pigments out of (Earthdate). Cultures continue to make advances and use paints in a vast majority of ways. For example, Native Americans often painted deer and buffalo hides as a means of communication and record keeping and many continue this tradition (Kachina House).

Today, paint is mainly manufactured and sold in art supply/craft stores and is relatively accessible. However, you can create your own watercolor paints using natural pigments and a few ingredients. The first step to creating your own paints is creating the base that you will later add pigment to. The combination of Gum Arabic powder, honey (or glycerin), and a preservative such as clove essential oil or sodium benzoate (a stronger, food-grade preservative) will allow you to create a good base for your paints (Natural Earth Paint). Then you mix in your pigments and seal it in air-tight jars or let them dry into cakes in pans.

​

Methods

For the research portion of my project, I used the research methods I have learned over time as a student. This included dividing my research topic into specific questions and subtopics that will help guide me through my researching process. I created an outline for my research that included categories for the information I needed to collect and added to it as I conducted my research. These categories were broken down by subtopic and time period in order to help me better organize the information I collected. I also used methods such as the pomodoro technique to complete my research in a timely and effective manner. I discuss my use of the Pomodoro technique more on my Creative Research page.

For the paint-making process, I followed instructions I found from multiple sources in order to create my palette. I go into more depth about this process in my Creative Research page.

Audience & Impact

For my capstone, I think watercolor painters and those interested in art history would be the main audiences. Watercolor painters can learn how to make their own paints and how they compare to store-bought paints. Those into art history can learn more about the history of natural pigments and the evolution of the processes used to create paints and dyes.

Personally, I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to delve deeper into art history. Art has always been an important aspect of humanity and human history and understanding the ways humans interact with and create art is crucial to understanding how humans interact with each other. As an anthropology major, I am immensely interested in learning about the similarities and differences between cultures and how different cultures interacted. I also just enjoy researching history in general so this project allowed me to do that and combine it with my love of watercolor painting. 

​

Acknowledgements

I would like to start off by thanking the entire Art Scholars faculty for making my two years in scholars a wonderful experience despite much of it being online. I'd also like to specifically thank Heather (who was my capstone advisor) for helping me with this entire process and supporting me. I also appreciate all of my peers who provided feedback and assistance throughout my capstone project.

Finally, I'd like to thank my family and friends. My parents supported me in several ways and my friends were a big source of emotional support throughout the entire school year, not just my project.

​

References

• House, Kachina. “History of Native American Hide Painting.” Kachina House's Blog, 28 Feb. 2017, blog.kachinahouse.com/history-of-native-american-hide-painting/.

• “The Colorful History of Paint.” Earthdate , www.earthdate.org/colorful-history-of-paint.

• “Make Your Own Professional & Natural Watercolors.” , 22 Feb. 2016, naturalearthpaint.com/blog/make-your-own-professional-natural-watercolors/.

​