Organic Artist's Materials?

[Karl]

Does anyone know of a UK producer / retailer of organic (or eco-friendly) paint and canvases?
I've tried a few searches but my google-fu is weak today.

I've painted on and off for many years, but with an increasing unease about using oil and acrylic paint. I realise it's a very small change but every little helps and I might feel more connected to the media and my creations. Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you,
Karl

[Lily]

search egg tempera and mineral pigments....?

[katie bridgewater]

You could just make your own from raw materials - that way you would have total control over the ingredients and you could make exactly what you want, and buy organic where applicable. Medieval paints were made from stuff like goose fat, eggs, and natural pigments.

There is some info here
http://www.earthpigments.com/art/artists-oil-paints.cfm

but there is loads more info if you search for oil paint recipes. Once you know how to do it, there is scope for running workshops at camps and festivals - people love learning how to make things for themselves!

Good luck with your quest.

[Karl]

Thank you for the link!

I was envisioning premixed tubes for preference rather than making my own, but that's a testimony to consumer conditioning isn't it !! If I can't have it all done for me then I wont bother is the unspoken mantra that precludes all inactivity.

Makes sense that making my own paint would be the next step along the path... ...now where did I put the old pestle & mortar?

[paikea]

I have been thinking about making my own paints/canvas for awhile and I found this link (http://www.naturalpigments.com/educatio ... rticleID=3) useful for the how to part.
I'm actually tying this in to our science curriculum and use the pigments and set up some simple tests with lightfastness (which in turn will be very useful for me )

[paikea]

I forgot to mention youtube. there is quite an active comunity of multi media artists and several have tutorial video's on how to make stuff like gesso

[Whitemane]

Don't forget casein-based paints...