Found and Ground: A practical guide to making your own foraged paints - Softcover

Ross, Caroline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1800920997 ISBN 13: 9781800920996

Publisher: Search Press, 2023

Synopsis

‘Natural’, ‘no waste’ and ‘plastic-free’. If this is how you want to live your creative life, you will find a greener, more natural path with this book.

Found and Ground details a more sustainable and fulfilling approach to painting. Readers will learn to create professional-quality paints using colour from the earth itself: the rocks, clay and soil in their locale. The palette created will be unique to the individual's local area, their eye and their tastes. Foraging for pigments and creating paints from scratch is both life-affirming and fascinating, and this book teaches new skills while also introducing the reader to the land outside their door.

Starting with a foreword by award-winning author and environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth, this book covers every aspect of making natural paints, from finding the raw materials to the techniques needed to refine it into a pigment. Suitable for the complete beginner as well as those with some experience in art, Found and Ground will also appeal to those with experience in drawing and painting, but who until now have only used shop-bought materials to make their work.

Found and Ground is the ideal reference book for artists and crafters wishing to move away from plastics (such as those found in acrylic paints), and use natural paints in their place. The book covers how to make a series of simple natural paints such as watercolour, gouache, tempera, and glair. It also includes innovative vegan ‘egg paint’ alternatives.

Aimed at a general readership, all specialist art terminology is clearly and simply explained, and all the techniques demonstrated through step-by-step instructions. The book will also give fresh ideas to those stuck in a rut with their use of watercolours, and introduce readers to try new 'old ideas'. Most importantly, it will teach readers how to forage and gather successfully and safely. 

About this title

About the Author

Caroline Ross uses wild and ancient materials to make artworks from small illustrations to large murals. She also teaches life drawing and shows people how to make the materials she herself uses. Having spent decades indoors in art and recording studios, Caroline spends as much as possible of her life outdoors, immersing herself in nature as she sources her materials, and makes her work. Visit her website www.foundandground.com and follow her on Instagram @foundandground

MA Painting Chelsea School of Art 1996; BA (Hons) Fine Art Kingston University 1995; BTEC General Art and Design Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design 1991

From the Back Cover

Learn the secrets of creating paint from the ground beneath your feet; from the rocks, clay and soil of the earth itself.

Author and artist Caroline Ross explains when, where and how to forage as she shares her sustainable and fulfilling approach to painting. Covering every aspect of making natural paints, from finding the raw materials to the techniques needed to refine them into beautiful pigments and paints, this book is suitable for the complete beginner as well as those with some experience in art.

Find a world beyond shop-bought materials. You – and your environment – deserve a creative life that is plastic-free, and creates no waste.

• Create a palette that is intimately connected to the land where you live, and utterly unique to you
• All aspects of foraging, from first principles to safety, are explained clearly and simply
• Learn to make your own paints – watercolours, gouache, tempera and more – plus inks, brushes and pens

Edition details

• Publisher: Search Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1800920997
• ISBN 13: 9781800920996
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128