LLART 425 - Botanical Dyes, Pigments, and Paints

Join us for a hands-on class to make 100% natural colors from scratch, just like it has been done for thousands of years. You'll use petals, roots, bark, stems, fruit, leaves, mushrooms, lichen, and more; starting with hot and cold dye techniques for fabric, then convert dyes into pigments and paints. Every color is possible from easy yellows, tans, and browns to greens, reds, pinks, purples, oranges, and black to the rarest colors - blues and whites. You can use the colors to dye wool, silk, cotton, and linen, to make powder or glaze pigments for storage, and to make watercolor, gouache, tempura, oils, stains and inks for use on paper, fiber, canvas, wood, and more. Each student will have the opportunity to make one or more take-home projects of their choice.