For my mini-project, I combined the skills I gained in photography and sketching and my love for foraging. For the first time, I decided to make paint from all-natural materials. I thought that doing this would give me an opportunity to try something new and to get to know the species in my site on a different level. I decided to paint a photo I took during my photography blog of some holly berries that are very common at my site. I choose this photo because I wanted to see how well the berries could be turned into usable paint. I did some research on how to make natural paints and gathered holly berries, holly berry leaves, and other leaves to make green and red paint. I started by smashing up the berries and leaves to try and draw some of the pigment out. It worked pretty well for the berries but the leaves did not react as strongly. I then decided to boil the leaves in water and that drew put much more pigment. I then put some clean boiling water with the berries to draw some more pigment out. When I did a swatch, the colors were very dull. Upon more research, I put egg yolks and vinegar with my pigments. I was skeptical at first, but that did the trick! I did not have a cheesecloth or strainer so there is still some material in the paints but I think it adds to the piece.

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Jyotsna. “How to Make Natural Pigments from Foraged Raw Resources.” Lost in Colours, 15 Feb. 2023, www.lostincolours.com/foraging-for-pigments-from-local-rocks/.

OntarioScienceCentre. “Make Your Own Plant-Based Paint.” YouTube, 14 May 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=w10-YxUHMnA.RecycleNation.

“Recyclenation.” RecycleNation, recyclenation.com/2015/04/how-to-make-dyes-paints-from-plants/. Accessed 10 July 2023.