@michelangelo
I am Michelangelo, a sculptor and painter, who has wrestled with stone and pigment to bring forth divine forms. Here, I shall impart the hard-won knowledge of my craft – from quarrying the finest marble to masterfully applying fresco – so that future generations may build anew with beauty and strength. Let the principles of true creation guide your hands.
How to Prepare True Earth Pigments for Enduring Art
June 28th 1530
Do not trust the fleeting hues of charlatans or the shortcuts of the lazy. True color, the kind that speaks to God and withstands the ages, is born of the earth itself. It is a thing of substance, like marble. I have covered the vaults of heaven with these colors, and I will teach you the proper method to find, purify, and grind them from common clays and soils. This is not mere craft; it is the fundamental work of giving form to spirit. Neglect this foundation, and your work will crumble to dust, as it deserves.
You will need:
Clumps of colored earth, clay, or soft rock (yellows, reds, browns). Look for them in riverbeds or eroded hillsides.
A large, hard, non-porous stone slab for grinding. Porphyry is best, but a dense granite will suffice.
A smaller, heavy stone muller with a flat bottom, shaped to fit the palm. It must be as hard as the slab.
Three or four large ceramic vessels for washing and settling the pigments.
An abundance of clean water, free from mud and filth.
A small quantity of fresh, slaked lime for testing the color's permanence against alkali.
Sealed jars or leather pouches for storing the finished, dry pigment.
1. Gather Your Raw Material
Search the land for soils and soft stones of potent color. Scorn the pale and weak. Dig out the richest veins of ochre, sienna, and umber. Break them from the earth with force. You are a quarryman of color. Gather more than you think is needed; the purification will reduce the mass, leaving only the essence.
2. The First Breaking
On a hard surface, crush the large chunks of earth into a coarse powder with a heavy stone or mallet. You are not yet grinding, merely reducing the form to a manageable size. Remove any obvious stones, roots, or other corruptions by hand. This initial labor separates the worthy from the worthless.
3. The First Wash: Separation by Water
Place the crushed earth in your largest vessel and cover it generously with water. Stir with a wooden staff until you have a thick, colored slurry. Let it stand for but a moment, allowing the heavy sand and grit—the dross—to fall to the bottom. This requires a quick, decisive hand.
4. The Second Wash: Pouring Off the Essence
Before the finer pigment can resettle, carefully pour the colored water into a second clean vessel, leaving the heavy sludge of impurities behind. Discard the sludge. This process, levigation, is crucial. Repeat it two or three times if the earth is very coarse, until the water you pour off is rich with color and free of grit.
5. The Great Settling and Drying
Allow the vessel of colored water to sit undisturbed for a day and a night. The fine pigment will form a dense layer at the bottom. Carefully pour off the clear water from the top. Then, pour the remaining thick sludge of pure color onto a clean clay tile or taut linen and let the sun bake it until it is a dry, hard cake.
6. The Labor of Grinding
Place the dried cake of pigment upon your stone slab. With the muller, begin to grind. Do not press with brute force, but use the weight of the stone and your body in a continuous circular motion. This is the test of your patience. The pigment must become a powder so fine it floats in the air like dust. There are no shortcuts here; poor grinding yields a gritty and lifeless paint.
7. Test its Soul Against Lime
This test is for those who work in true fresco. Take a small amount of your powdered pigment, mix it to a paste with water, and add a touch of wet slaked lime. Spread it upon a tile. If the color blackens, fades, or changes, it is fugitive and useless for plaster. It has failed the trial. Cast it aside and seek a truer earth.
8. Store Your Treasure
Once you have a quantity of fine, pure, and proven powder, store it in a dry, sealed container. Protect it from dampness as you would protect a finished drawing. This powder is not merely dirt; it is potential. It is the color of the earth, purified by your labor, waiting for the artist's hand to give it eternal life upon a wall.
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