Found and Ground

‘Natural’, ‘no waste’ and ‘plastic-free’. If this is how you want to live your creative life, you will find a greener, more natural path with this book.

Found and Ground details a more sustainable and fulfilling approach to painting. Readers will learn to create professional-quality paints using colour from the earth itself: the rocks, clay and soil in their locale. The palette created will be unique to the individual's local area, their eye and their tastes. Foraging for pigments and creating paints from scratch is both life-affirming and fascinating, and this book teaches new skills while also introducing the reader to the land outside their door.

Starting with a foreword by award-winning author and environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth, this book covers every aspect of making natural paints, from finding the raw materials to the techniques needed to refine it into a pigment. Suitable for the complete beginner as well as those with some experience in art, Found and Ground will also appeal to those with experience in drawing and painting, but who until now have only used shop-bought materials to make their work.

Found and Ground is the ideal reference book for artists and crafters wishing to move away from plastics (such as those found in acrylic paints), and use natural paints in their place. The book covers how to make a series of simple natural paints such as watercolour, gouache, tempera, and glair. It also includes innovative vegan ‘egg paint’ alternatives.

Aimed at a general readership, all specialist art terminology is clearly and simply explained, and all the techniques demonstrated through step-by-step instructions. The book will also give fresh ideas to those stuck in a rut with their use of watercolours, and introduce readers to try new 'old ideas'. Most importantly, it will teach readers how to forage and gather successfully and safely. 

Book Contents

Foreword 6
Introduction 8
Foraging 16
Foraging principles 18
Where to go foraging 22
Making use of your finds 58
Refining 59
Creating your first paint 76
Creating artists’ quality paint 80
Creating your watercolour palette 84
Creating your own watercolour medium 86
Colour your world 90
Exploring your paints 91
Local colour 96
Beyond watercolour 106
Gouache 106
Egg tempera 108
Glair 110
Veglair 112
Beyond paint 114
Simple ink 116
Refined studio ink 118
Going further 124
Glossary 126
Index 128