Japanese Mineral Pigments.

Welcome back.
    As I promised last time, I am going to talk a little about Japanese mineral pigments (Iwa-enogu).  Unlike western pigment which is very finely ground and meant to be held in suspension by a medium such as oil or acrylic, Japanese mineral pigments are coarsely ground and are held in place by glue.

                                   A box of assorted mineral pigments.
   
    Western pigments are meant to be blended to form other colors.  For example, mixing blue with yellow will produce green.  With mineral pigments, there is no mixing.  Because the colors are coarse and heavy, they will not mix smoothly.  In the picture above we see a variety of colors.  An artist working in this medium, must have a great many colors in order to produce even a modest work.
    In order to work in this medium, the artist must literally make his own paints.  First, a pot of hot animal glue is prepared.  The glue is similar to the hide glue used in period furniture and is made from various parts of animals.  the artist dissolves a solid stick of glue in hot water making sure that the mixture is just right - not too sticky and not too weak.  The glue is meant to hold the pigment to the support without obscuring it.

                                     A small amount of the precious mineral pigment ready for mixing.


    A small porcelain dish is used for mixing the color.  A small amount of pigment is poured into the dish, and then a little of the hot glue is spooned into the dish.  This is then mixed together with a paint brush.  Once the mixture is prepared, the artist then dabs it onto the painting.  Only small amounts of color are prepared at any one time, because it has to be used quickly before the glue cools and sets.  Working in this way, the artist dabs small amounts of different colors all over the support until a picture emerges.
    Since colors cannot be directly blended, the artist must create what is generally known as local color.  Local color is a phenomenon that occurs when two colors placed adjacent to one another create the illusion of a third color.   The impressionists were experimenting with this technique, but it was a Frenchman named Georges Seurat who created a style that became known as Pointillism.  In the 1880's, he painted scenes using only tiny dots of different colors to give the illusion of shapes, colors and space.  Most of us are familiar with his painting, Bathers.
    in the 1980's, I studied traditional Japanese painting in Japan with an old master.  He taught me to use mineral pigments and a variety of other traditional materials.  The pigments themselves were not readily available even in Japan, so my teacher had to tell me where I could find them.  Often times, I would be given an address which turned out to be a tiny shop in some run-down part of the old town.  There, in that shop, the proprietor would have shelves and cabinets overflowing with mineral pigments.
    As they are actual minerals, they can be quite expensive and some of them are toxic.  It is very important to understand the material with which you are working and take precautions.
    Because of the undiluted brilliance and coarse texture of mineral pigments, the pictures that are produced have a luminosity and intensity of color not found in Western painting and the texture gives them a unique appearance as well.  I made several dozen mineral pigment paintings during my study in Japan and back in California afterwards, and they were eagerly snapped up by collectors.  I don't know of anyone working in this medium here in the United States, and I have yet to find a source for the material outside Japan, but if you are working with this material, I would love to hear from you.  If you have questions or comments, please contact me at:  potlicksblog@earthlink.net or use the comment feature of this blog.
    I enjoyed sharing this information today.  Stay tuned for more topics.  Thanks, Patrick, AKA Potlick