Make paint from your kitchen cupboard

Turmeric and Beetroot Paint

Step 1

Place equal parts pigment (beetroot powder or turmeric powder) and acrylic binder medium on your Perspex sheet.

Step 2

Use your glass muller or alternative to move the mixture in a circular motion, your aim in to mix all the powder into the binder so that you have an even consistency and all the powder particles are covered with the binder. You
should end up with a toothpaste like consistency.

Add more binder if you would like a thinner consistency, add more powder if you would like it thicker.

To create a more fluid paint add more water. You can test on a scrap piece of paper.

For thick, impasto painting, don’t add water.

Step 3

Use your palette knife to load your paint into the aluminium paint tube. You can tap the closed end of the tube on the table to get rid of air pockets in the paint.

Step 4

Once you have filled about a fingers width from the open end, use your pliers to pinch the end closed and with the pliers, fold the end over at least 3 times. Some paint may squirt out, just use your palette knife to wipe away the excess and clean the tube up with tissue paper afterwards.

You now have your very own homemade acrylic paint!

Think about other powder pigments you might like to try……..charcoal, chalk, brick dust, just make sure your pigment is ground down to a fine powder before mixing it with your binder and away you go.