Earth pigmant paints

[Jakesnyder]

I live in Pennsylvania and am trying to find some earth pigmants to make for painting some bows and arrows with. What are some in this area that are what the natives used?

[Jakesnyder]

I know walnut hulls and charcoal. But what about like red and turquoise?

[Pat B]

Red ocher is a natural pigment.  You can get different color pigments from Crazy Crow, a PA sponsor.

[Trapper Rob]

Jake where are you from in PA?

[mullet]

Go to a feed store and get some copper and iron nitrate. The copper will make blue/turqouis, and the iron reddish brown.

[Jakesnyder]

I live in johnstown,pa

[Trapper Rob]

I'm not far from you I'm in Osterburg about 20 to 30 min.

[Jakesnyder]

Did Indians ever dye things with berries?

[JackCrafty]

Yes, Amerindians of the Northeast used berries and anything else they could get their hands on to produce water-based paints and dyes.  They used insects as well.  The black willow aphid is one example and should be available to you this time of year.  It contains a purple dye that comes out when you squash the bugs.

[JackCrafty]

I looked around for info on mineral-based pigments of the Northeast woodlands but couldn't find anything other than different colored clays.  So, it looks like clay (mixed with water, plant oil, or tree sap) was the main thing used for painting wood with a color that wouldn't fade over time.  And the only thing that I could find to make the paint job waterproof is walnut oil.  Walnut oil is able to harden over time, like linseed oil.  This is a very rare trait among the various other oils available in the Northeast.

You can also mix mineral pigments with animal-based fats like duck fat and bear fat.  But these will smear and collect dirt unless you put them on in very light coats.  This means the colors will be faint and not very noticeable.  Fats are also not waterproof.

There is an art to painting with hot pitch, tar, asphaltum, and plant sugar type paints.  This might have been done in the old days but I personally think it was very rare.  I've tried this technique and it can get very messy really quick.

[JEB]

I have some rock that they used from the south west if you want some.  it is more gold color with a little red in spots. I could break some up and send some off to you if you want to give it a try.  It is tailings from an iron mine and was told by the  locals that the Natives used it for dye and other projects.

[mullet]

I painted a bow red using clay that I screened all of the sand out. I just mixed it with hide glue and brushed it on.

[PatrickH]

So I have a BFA in painting and make my own oil paints occasionally. fine art oil paint is really just dried ground material in a medium of linseed oil (though any oil or grease will work, Lascaux cave paintings were made with horse grease). Ivory black is just the ash left from burning bone and its real matte black. Any kind of clay ochre will work which will give anything from reddish to yellow (any color of dried clay) any rock you find that has a color you like can be ground and added to oil for pigment. Plant based pigments are not archival and will fade over time, but usually its over a period of decades, which matters in oil painting but not so much in a bow (you might have to repaint your bow in a 50-500 years lol) really anything that can be dried and ground into a powder and mixed with oil can make pigment. dried rose petals will give you a cool ruddy brown color. Anyway its like making cordage, just grab random stuff and test it and you will be surprised at what works.