These botanical paintings originated from two art sessions: one day we only drew roots of plants and the surrounding soil, the other day we did the stems and leaves of the plants. All you need to make the colours involved in these paintings is: soil, green leaves and an egg!
For the green: collect leaves and grass and put it all in a blender. Mix thoroughly with as little water as possible (not to thin down the chlorophyll pigments). Then sieve through a mesh - you receive a green juice which you can use for painting right away. Note: this colour is not light proof as the green from the chlorophyll will fade into a more brownish green (same as dry leaves:-)
For the brown: dig up some soil and add water until you get a nice brown mud pudding. Let it sit for a while to allow heavier particles (e.g. stones) to sink down. Scoop up the top of your mud pudding and sieve it through a mesh. The finer the mesh the smaller the pigments, which results in smoother paint. To make the soil stick to the paper, add one egg as a binder and mix thoroughly. E voilà! Use as thick paint or thin down with water if you want a lighter tone.
This is such a fun class! Children really enjoy being out in nature, observing, collecting, digging, sieving, mixing and getting dirty:-)
For me personally the most important message is that we already have everything we need. We are not condemned to buy readymade paints, we are able to actually create from scratch what we need: independent, imaginative and most of all, with so much fun!
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