Sourcing and Using Rare or Unusual Pigments
(Or: How to Hunt Down the Forbidden Colors, Rub Dirt on Your Soul, and Make Art That’s Actually Worth Licking)
You want your art to stand out, to claw at the eyes, to shimmer with weirdness and history and that certain “what the hell is that?” edge. You’re done with factory colors and safe little tubes, you want pigment that comes with a story—maybe even a little danger. Good. This post is for the pigment addict, the hunter, the mad scientist with stained fingers and a suspiciously heavy sketchbook. We’re going into the underworld of rare and unusual pigments: where to find them, how to use them, and why you should give a damn about what’s in your paint.
Strap in, and maybe put on gloves. Some of these colors bite back.
1. Why Bother With Rare Pigments? (The Myth, the Madness, the Payoff)
History in a Tube: Some pigments—lapis lazuli, real vermilion, mummy brown—come loaded with centuries of obsession, theft, or even grave-robbing.
Color You Can Taste: Rare pigments often have a glow, a depth, a “living” quality factory stuff just can’t touch.
Bragging Rights: Tell a fellow artist you’ve painted with crushed beetle shell, volcanic ash, or something illegal in six countries. Watch their jaw drop.
Confession:
First time I used real ultramarine (from lapis, not the synthetic crap)? I wanted to roll around in it. There’s a punch, a purity—it’s a pigment that doesn’t whisper, it shouts.
2. The Hunt: Where to Find the Forbidden
A. The “Above Board” Options
Art Supply Houses: Companies like Kremer Pigments, Natural Pigments, Zecchi (Italy), and L. Cornelissen & Son (London) sell the wild stuff—mineral, organic, earth, and reconstructed “historic” pigments. Prices can be insane, but you get what you pay for.
Online Collectors & Forums: Pigment nerds share sources, trade samples, and sometimes sell leftovers on forums like WetCanvas, Reddit (r/Art), and Discord groups.
Lapidary and Rock Shops: Crushed minerals, gemstones, and odd rocks. Learn to spot lapis, malachite, ochre, azurite. You’ll need to grind and mull, but it’s worth it.
B. The “Grey Market” and DIY Route
Antique Stores & Estate Sales: Old makeup, powdered dyes, even vintage paint cakes sometimes contain banned or lost pigments.
Natural Foraging: Get medieval—collect ochres, clays, charcoal, bone black, plant dyes from your own region. Some of the best raw color comes from the ground beneath your boots.
Secret Trade: Artists with connections might sell tiny vials of Tyrian purple, cochineal, or other “lost” colors. If you have to ask twice what it is or where it came from… don’t eat it.
C. What to Watch Out For
Toxicity: Real vermilion (mercury), lead white, arsenic-based greens, and old-school cadmiums can kill you. Use gloves, don’t breathe the dust, keep the coffee cup away from your mixing area.
Fakes: Loads of “rare” pigments online are just rebranded common stuff or synthetic knockoffs. If the price is too good, it’s a scam.
Shipping Laws: Some minerals, especially those with heavy metals, can’t legally cross state or country lines. Check before buying.
3. The Art of Using Unusual Pigments (Without Dying or Screwing Up Your Work)
A. Mull Your Own (How to Make Paint Like a Renegade Alchemist)
Grind Pigment: Use a glass muller and slab (or mortar and pestle for small batches). Wear a mask if you value your lungs.
Choose Your Binder: Watercolors? Use gum arabic. Oils? Cold-pressed linseed. Acrylics? Good luck, unless you have acrylic medium.
Mix Slowly: Add binder a drop at a time, mull in circles, get a smooth, honey-like paste.
Test Swatch: See how it lays, dries, cracks, or separates. Some rare pigments (lapis, for example) need more binder or a special touch.
B. Work With the Grain
Mineral pigments are gritty—expect texture. Lean into it, layer, and use thick paper or canvas.
Organic pigments (like indigo, carmine, or chlorophyll) can fade—protect finished art from light, or varnish carefully.
C. Respect the Personality
Some pigments stain, some lift off easily, some granulate or separate into wild patterns. Test, experiment, and document everything.
Pair rare pigments with plain ones to make them pop—don’t drown lapis in a mess of modern blue.
D. Store Like a Lunatic Chemist
Glass jars for powder. Label everything.
Keep away from pets, kids, and careless roommates.
Old-school lead or mercury colors? Keep in airtight tins, and wash hands after use.
4. Ingredient Hacks and Survival Tips
DIY Ochre: Find a clay bank, dig out red or yellow dirt, bake to set color, then grind. Best cheap pigment on earth.
Egg Tempera: Mix pigment with egg yolk for vibrant, fast-drying paint—works especially well with earths and minerals.
Layering: Rare pigments often play well as glazes. Lay down a “body color” of acrylic or gouache, glaze over with your rare stuff for punch.
5. The Dirty Reality (And Why It’s Worth It)
It’s Expensive: Real ultramarine can cost more than gold, especially the finest grades. One tube of genuine Tyrian purple could buy you a used car.
It’s Risky: Some pigments will try to kill you. Some will just fade, crack, or flake off your canvas. Welcome to the wild side.
But— It’s unique. The work you make with these pigments has a soul and a story. It can’t be faked, Photoshopped, or copied with a click.
Confession from the Trenches:
My studio has jars of weird, dangerous dust—some legal, some “found,” some so old I don’t even know what’s in them. They’re my dragon’s hoard. Every once in a while, I bust out the lapis or the malachite or a little rare earth, and make something nobody else can. That’s worth a scar or two.
6. The Final Dare: Go Hunt, Go Grind, Go Wild
If you want to make art that’s got history, danger, and a story nobody else can tell—start sourcing rare pigments. Learn to grind, mull, and paint like a mad alchemist. Your art will never be the same.
Because the best colors
aren’t just beautiful—
they’re stolen,
they’re sacred,
they’re dangerous,
and they’re yours.