Powder pigment or rock, have you seen one before? Or used one? In specialized art stores you can find all sorts of paints. Yet, have you noticed any powdered or rock pigments before?

Even before diving into the Islamic Illumination Art, I noticed pigments during my travels to Japan. It was interesting and I ended up buying some samples. I didn’t know how to use or work with them but I knew they’ll come at handy one day. And they actually did!

At first, I used to add the rock pigments into a small dish with a bit of water and use the liquid paint for my artworks. Yet, that wasn’t too practical. The other step is to grind pigments with Gum Arabica to bind the crushed powdered pigments together and a little bit of water. Lastly, you’ll end up with a watercolor like paint.

Pigments are highly rich with paint. Using even a small quantity is enough and you sometimes want to mix it with a bit more water to dilute it. Controlling it needs patience and practice. Also, you can create your own watercolor palette from those pigments which is amazing for every artist. Personally, I feel that artists need to learn more about pigments and their uses because they’re wonderful to work with.

How I use my pigments is as follows:

I mix the pigment with a bit of Gum Arabica (I use liquid Gum Arabica), and once it’s mixed I load the brush with water before using it to paint.

Also, here is an article by Islamic Illuminator Esraa who wrote a descriptive article about pigments: shorturl.at/avQXZ

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