Acrylic Paint - Making your own paint from pigment

In this class, I am going to show you how easy it is to make your own Acrylic paints. Many artists find it fun and satisfying to create their own paints to use in their art. I love experimenting with supplies, so when I discovered I could make some of my own with just a few materials and it was easy - I was all in. Making paint is all about the creative process for me. It is all about exploring, experimenting, and the trials and errors you'll encounter along the way. It is these processes that help up grow as artists in our own unique ways. 

Why make your own paint? Well... besides just wanting to and pushing yourself creativity... I like how you have complete control over what is going into your paint. Have any chemical sensitivities? This is the perfect way to ensure you can use ingredients you aren't going to react to.

This class is for you if:

• You are interested in making your own Acrylic paints for your art
• You love experimenting with art supplies
• You love watching how others approach their painting practice
• You want to experiment and grow as an artist

Supplies: 

• Matte medium - any brand is fine and I like the nontoxic one that the Natural Earth Paint company is making now.
• Ground pigment - this could be pigment you foraged and ground yourself, pigment from the art store, pigment from a specialty retailer, or Etsy or eBay. You can find pigments in a variety of places.
• Empty Acrylic Paint Pots to store your paint in for use later - optional. You can also just make the paint as you need it.

Safety - It is a good idea to always be thinking about safety when you are working with pigments. Some pigments like cadmium are toxic - so you will want to make it a habit to wear some disposable gloves to keep the pigments off your skin and from under your nails, wear a dust mask - you don't want to be breathing any of the dust from the pigments, don't mix paints in your kitchen or anywhere you might eat, don't eat while you are mixing pigments, don't use any of your kitchen supplies for paint mixing - have a separate set of supplies just for your art.

By the end of this class, you'll be inspired and ready to create some of your own Acrylic paints!

Your project: Is to create some of your very own Acrylic paint. You can get some pigment and supplies from your local art supply store, or order some from one of my favorite sources - Natural Earth Paint - and start creating. I encourage you to play with your recipes when you get comfortable mixing paints. Many artists who make paints tweak their recipes to the quantities and ingredients they like best. I'd love for you to come back and share with us what you created and something you painted using these new paints!