Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
A Primer for Those Interested in Ancient and Medieval Techniques by Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
(known within the SCA as i!erius "rikson#
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
Copyright 2012 by Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger This work may not be reproduced, including for nonprofit or noncommercial use, without permission of the author who can be contacted at carl!bussjaegerorg, e#cepting short e#cerpts for re$iew purposes %arts of this work were pre$iously published as& %eriod 'nk from the (odern )itchen %eriod 'nk from the (odern )itchen, %art 2& *reen 'nk %eriod 'nk from the (odern )itchen, %art +& Black ead more articles and fiction by Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger at& http&--wwwbussjaegerorg-
'f anyone wishes to reproduce this article in their own publication, please contact me at carl!bussjaegerorg carl!bussjaegerorg ' will not charge for nonprofit use .such as kingdom-local newsletters in the /ociety for Creati$e nachronism, 'nc, but ' would like to know when and where my work might appear call it an ego thing 3or commercial use, ' may charge a nominal no minal fee for the use of my work But, then again, aga in, ' might not charge '4m pretty reasonable as ' know perfectly well that '4m not going to get rich by writing about my hobbies But if you want to use one article, you may be interested in more and '4m more likely to produce said more if ' ha$e a little incenti$e
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
Introduction
'4$e long been interested in "obsolete" technology and techni5ues girlfriend once told me that ' should ha$e ha$ e been born at least a century earlier '4m not sure whether that was meant as a compliment egardless, ' am fascinated by such things That is one aspect of the /ociety for Creati$e nachronism .a medie$al history semirecreation group, for the uninitiated that attracted me many years The /C4s bureaucratic cronyism and nepotism e$entually turned me off of most acti$e participation, but m y liking for old tech predated that and continues This article should be of use to artists, children4s children4s craft classes, or anyone else with interests similar to my own, whether /C participants or not, but it is written from from an historical recreation perspecti$e for the sake of conte#t ' am not an an artist, as will plainly be seen in the following pages just a crafter who makes stuff that real artists can 6 hopefully 6 turn into works of beauty beauty The difference between ink and paint is a surprisingly $ague distinction (ost folks tend to think of "ink" as a fluid that stains the writing material normal enough since most modern inks with which they ha$e e#perience 6 ball point pens pen s and the like 6 are just that (ost often, "paint" merely adheres to the surface 7ne of the oldest inks, probably e#cepting simple berry and plant juices, and one still in use, breaks that fast and loose rule Commonly referred to today as "'ndia ink", this is popular with graphic artists for its deep black 't is simply carbon .traditionally, .traditionally, lamp black with a binder that causes it to adhere to the surface of paper a "paint", as defined abo$e t least in artistic artistic terms, it might be better to define ink and paint by the intended use "%aint" co$ers co $ers an area, small or large, obscuring the surface of the medium 'nk creates detail work on the on the medium without generally masking it .ie writing 7b$iously, this definition has its own problems, but it might help to know that if you are making an "ink", you4ll prepare a less $iscous fluid appropriate to fine detail, while a p aint will be thicker, e$en pastelike, to glob on and co$er the paper or can$as underneath (any would argue the point, but it4s useful enough for this article
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
Ins Blac
s mentioned, this is one of the oldest inks 't was definitely used by the ancient 8gyptians, and e$en in prehistoric ca$e paintings Theophilus included it in his $n %i&ers Arts in Arts in the (iddle ges This is the simplest ink '4$e e$er made 9ou 9ou need only three recipe components, co mponents, and few tools 2 tablespoons powdered lamp black or charcoal 2 teaspoons powdered egg whites .or gum arabic see te#t water (ost often, you will see period basic black ink recipes calling for lamp black .typically collected by burning an oil lamp under a plate :amp black has the ad$antage of being $ery finely di$ided, re5uiring little grinding to use as an ink But it is timeconsuming to collect ' used charcoal .in my case, lumps found when cleaning my wood sto$e for my first attempts, since it was readily a$ailable ' then ground it to a $ery fine powder with mortar and pestle This is tedious but 5uicker than bu rning an oil lamp for days But if you illuminate your home with lamps, as in the (iddle ges, that isn4t a problem you4ll be collecting lamp black whether you like it or not
*rind the charcoal $ery fine ;hen it starts to run in the mortar almost like a li5uid, you4re getting there ;hen the powder "s5ueaks" instead of crunching as you grind, it is ready ' try to do the grinding while reading or listening to music an ything < of 20
Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
that doesn4t re5uire much other use of my hands =ere are a couple of samples you gi$e a $isual idea of what wha t to e#pect
9ou do not want want to grind your charcoal around your computer 'f it spills Carbon .which is what charcoal is conducts conduc ts electricity .let alone the mechanical problems from an abrasi$e dust a property taken ad$antage of to make certain electronic components like resistors 't can be worse on electronics than water, since water e$entually e$aporates ' once had a laptop completely immersed in water for nearly half an hour .don4t ask but you4d better belie$e that briefcase got rendered darned near air'tight afterward afterward fter careful disassembly and drying, ' used that computer for another three years similar similar carbon spill would probably ha$e permanently ruined it *um arabic is a period thickener that was also commonly used in period inks 9ou can find it in the ca ndymaking section of your local grocery store >se it as you would powdered egg whites (i# the powdered charcoal with the egg white powder ' grind the two together in my mortar Then add water to achie$e the desired consistency The ink is ready to use ?otes on $iscosity& 'f you use powdered egg whites .a$ailable in the baking section of most modern grocery stores, the ink will thicken after the immediate mi#ing 9ou may want to add more water later when you are preparing p reparing to write 'f you use fresh egg whites, gradual thickening isn4t a problem, p roblem, and you will need to add less water to begin with @ of 20
Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
' assume real scribes are familiar with the $iscosity issues related to pen point siAe, but it had not occurred occu rred to me until ' began e#perimenting with period inks '4m a craftsman or technician, not an artist ;hat ' found is that the finer .more pointed the pen nib, the thinner or less $iscous an ink you want 3ine pen point& thin ink Chiseltip "calligraphy" pen& thicker ink djust your inks accordingly This why ' don4t specify a precise amount of water .or fresh egg white
' also collected soot .the more traditional lamp black and prepared an ink with that
The difference in darkness compared to the charcoa l $ariant was caused by the amount of water added thinner ink writes nicer, but tends to be lighter in color 9es, ' know my handwriting is terrible ' specifically claim to not be be an artist Considering my lack of graphical skills, and the pen ' use, ' think it suffices to make the point here The pen
omemade )en* ?othing fancy fancy wooden stick, slotted on one end to accept my homemade nibs .usually wood, since it is a$ailable and cheap, and wa#ed .beeswa#, if the period material makes you feel better ' considered making a metal ferule to hold the nibs in place, but settled for lashing 'f this design is period, period, it is purely accidental ' did not research the pens, but simply threw something together 5uickly that worked for my ink tests of 20
Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
>nlike irontannin ."iron gall" or inks, or those based on plant juice e#tracts, charcoal-lamp black ink doesn4t stain the fibers of paper so much as it adheres to the surface .rather like paint 3or this reason, little scribely mistak corrections can corrections can be made to a document by scraping the charcoal ink off and trying again 7n the other hand, if the document is going to get a lot of handling .think peasantta# reports being passed up the chain through $arious hands until they reach the king, charcoal ink is less durable This should not be an issue for scrolls meant to be displayed on a wall or filed away
Bro!n and Blac "Tannin#Iron In$ This ink .and as a staining fluid, perhaps e$eryone can agree that it is an is an ink rather than a paint is also $ery old omans, *reeks, and possibly the ancient 8gyptians seemed to ha$e used $ariants Certainly it was wellknown enough a thousand years ago for Theophilus to include it in his compendium
't is also a little more complicated in the making than 'ndia ink
(any period inks were based on tannin e#tracts from wood bark% 7ak galls ."oak apples", "gall nuts" were another common source Being laAy, and not wishing to scour the local oaks for galls nor kill standing trees by stripping the bark, ' considered that acorns4 notorious bitterness deri$es from their high tannin content ' ch ose to make us of this readily a$ailable resource &'tracting the Tannin Tannin
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
Take a 5uantity of acorns, crush them to e#pose the kernels, and place them kernel and hulls alike in a pot The pot should be appro#imately half filled with the nuts dd water to fill completely Bring to a boil, and simmer until the li5uid becomes dark .appearing rather like a good g ood cup of nonperiodE coffee Fiscard the nuts and retain the li5uid(
Crushed acorns read+ to cook*
Continue simmering the li5uid until the $olume is greatly reduced and the li5uid thickens and becomes opa5ue This Th is is the base for your ink Be warned& This will stain fabric .and would make a nice brown dye
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
annin e,tract !oiled down*
/pecifically, /pecifically, and being limited by the siAe of my crock pot slow cooker, ' simmered roughly a pound of cracked acorns in two 5uarts of water (ore water per 5uantity of nuts is good in that it will allow you to e#tract more tannin into solution 9ou will, though, need to boil the solution longer to reduce it Two 5uarts of li5uid will reduce to roughly half a pint .in practice, ' processed enough in this batch to make a 5uart of tannin concentrate
Concentrated tannin e,tractcanned for storage*
Fespite the acidity of this solution, it will support mold growth if you plan to
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
store it ' recommend adding common table salt to the li5uid appro#imately a tablespoon to the 5uart) The jar pictured was hot packed .IcannedJ for long term storage ' ha$e smaller jars of ink set aside for regular u se The In This dark fluid may be used as a crude ink without further preparation, but it is thin and will tend to bleed through your paper ' ha$e not tested it on true parchment it may fare better there =owe$er there are period remedies for that thinness that we can use
.riting sam)le using )lain tannin e,tract* This ink will be a nice, pale brown that ' think looks good on paper, if a little light for most writing gain, ' know the "calligraphy" is terrible (y mundane handwriting is terrible, too But this is an inkmaking tutorial, not a calligraphy primer primer s you can see, the ink is thinner than you will normally wish to write with There are se$eral period ways to thicken it to a nicer consistency for writing Blac In 'f you prefer a darker, e$en black, ink, a $ery common period ink .more so, to judge by the references ' ha$e found, than the plain brown described abo$e added iron to the tannin solution Commonly, "green $itriol" .ferrous sulfate is specified This produces a darker ink that gradually ages to black
'n these current middle ages, the easiest way to get ferrous sulfate is to purchase it from a chemical supplier .it is a$ailable through maAoncom But if you ha$e an old automoti$e battery laying around, pour the battery acid into a glass g lass jar, add some scraps of iron .nails, et cetera don4t use stainless steel, and let it sit for a couple of weeks But se$eral sources describe plain iron being added to the solution Theophilus e$en describes heating an iron rod and plunging that into the ink to darken it The modern e5ui$alent ' hit upon was steel wool ' place a small bit in a jar of tannin ink and lea$e it there for two or three days, shaking it three or four times a day to mi# it up Then ' remo$e the wool and strain the ink
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
Iron/tannin Iron/tannin writing sam)le* This is a much nicer color for writing But it d oes bleed into the surrounding paper, spoiling the effect effect ?e$er fear the inkmaking process is not yet finished *iscosity ;e need to thicken the ink so it is easier to write with, and bleeds less gain, period ink recipes describe se$eral options Three materials that that are readily a$ailable in kitchens and easy to work with are gum arabic, egg whites, and gelatin +um Arabic, 7ne of the more pre$alent thickeners in period ink recipes *um arabic is a plant e#tract commonly used today as a thickener in foodstuffs 9ou 9ou can find it amongst candymaking supplies dd this to your tannin solution .in small increments until it achie$es a consistency that please you &gg -hites, /eparate your own, or purchase the egg whites at the grocery store The powdered whites are much easier to deal with when mi#ing ink
0sing egg whites to control &iscosit+ and !leeding* (uch nicer /till good color, with $ery little bleeding Animal +elatin#+lue, *lue made from decomposed animal scraps .typically lefto$ers from leather tanning, or e$en fish bladders was a common adhesi$e, and is still used occasionally today /uch glue and gelatin familiar to anyone who has boiled meat and bones were both used used to increase the $iscosity of ink 'f you plan to boil boil a chicken for soup, cool the broth and sa$e the gelatin g elatin 7therwise, you will likely find it more con$enient to obtain a bo# of unfla$ored gelatin for the grocery store s with with the gum arabic, add it to the li5uid just a bit at a time until you are satisfied with the product
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
1elatin ink sam)le*
lso acceptable ' found the te#ture of the egg whitebased ink just a little easier to write with, though (ore e#perimentation with the amount of gelatin may impro$e that Possible Problems
Tannin is acidic, as mentioned 't is possible for the ink to gradually eat at and damage paper /ome medie$al manuscripts do show signs of acid damage $ellum and parchment are less prone to such degradation =owe$er, considering that a great many manuscripts using tannin-gallic inks ha$e indeed sur$i$ed, some more than a 1,000 years without ob$ious acid damage, ' think storage conditions made a greater difference 'f you are concerned about the possibility, you can raise the p= .reduce acidity of the ink by adding add ing crushed eggshells, as did some period ink makers nother simple modern remedy would be sodium bicarbonate .baking soda .ther /ses for Tannin Tannin
s mentioned earlier, tannin will stain 'f it will stain fabric, it will dye fabric Tannin was, and still is, one of the more common chemicals used to tan .the word deri$es from the $ery word leather 3or this, skip the thickeners and ferrous sulphate Tannin taken internally can inhibit the uptake up take of metals 3or this reason, some folks use it as a folk chelation remedy remed y Those more concerned with a postnuclear apocalyptic scenario rather than the (iddles ges might consider its chelating properties when dealing with fallout =owe$er, =owe$er, strong concentrations of tannin can cause health problems of its own including kidney damage, and the metaluptake inhibition can lead to anemia >nless bombs start dropping, Aombies start walking, and the /=T3, /=T3, ' strongly discourage this 'f you want tan nin in more reason 5uantities, drink tea or red wine .tastier and a lot more fun than straight tannin anyway 0otes, %1 7n Fi$ers rts, Theophilus& ";hen you are going to make ink, cut some
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
pieces of KhawLthorn wood in pril pril or (ay, (ay, before they grow blossoms or lea$es (ake little bundles of them and let them lie in the shade for two, three, or four weeks, until they are dried out a little Then you should ha$e wooden mallets with which you should pound the thorn on another hard piece of wood, until you ha$e completely remo$ed the bark %ut this immediately into a barrel full of water" (1 ' adopted this process because ' ha$e an abundance of acorns and little other use for them =owe$er, acorns are edible once the tannin is e#tracted 'f you choose to do this, rather than merely cracking the nuts, open them and remo$e the kernels Fiscard the hulls ;hen you boil them, you want to pour off the dark tannin solution, sa$ing it for further processing for the ink, adding fresh water, and continue the simmering epeat until the water does not darken and the acorn meats lose their bitterness Fry .or roast the acorns They are tasty as is, or sugarcoated as a candy candy 9ou may also grind the roasted acorns to make flour for bread ' prefer whole wheat flour, but a medie$al peasant would eat what he could get
Acorn kernel*
)1 The salt can also act as a mordant if you use this solution as a fabric dye
Another Bro!n 2oasted iron o'ide ;hile material does adhere to the paper surface, this ink most definitely stains the paper itself >nlike the lampblack-charcoal ink, which can be scraped away $ery carefullyE when a mistake is made, anything that this ink touches is going to be permanently marked ;ith ;ith thicker parchment it should be possible to scrape away the stained material and try again .palimpsest, anyone, bu t that wasn4t an option with the thin commercial paper ' tested
' collected rust from assorted iron scraps, then ground it in the mortar just as the charcoal This sample used egg whites as the binder .egg whites are the binder ' use 1+ of 20
Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
most often due to financial constraints& it4s cheap, '4m broke
+reen Ins %lants ha$e long been source of colors for pigments, dyes, and inks ;hen thinking of inks, most people of my ac5uaintance seem to think of berries b erries ', on the other hand, think of laundry laundr y, stubborn grass stains, and
green, chlorophyllbased ink %ick green plants ' simply har$ested clo$er, blades of grass, and green weeds from my front yard ;hate$er your source, select the g reen leafy portions of the plant /tems or flowers without chlorophyll contribute nothing to the ink4s coloring Blanch in boiling water %uree %eriodstyle, you might strain this through a screen, or mash it in a mortar mortar 3ortunately, we ha$e this really nice 21st century gadget called a blender >nless you4re deadset on authenticity, authenticity, use it 3ilter the slurry to obtain the green juice ' found that the pureed mass retained fluid well enough that ' had to force it through the cheesecloth ' use as a filter /pecifically, /pecifically, ' put it in my small cheese che ese press and e#tracted the juice that way way 8$aporate the juice to desired consistency 9ou 9ou may simmer the fluid on your sto$e top or simply set a pan out to e$aporate naturally .but sloooowl+ .but sloooowl+ dd egg white to thicken your ink as desired ccording to Theophilus .7n Fi$ers rts and other sources, gum arabic was also commonly used But, though ' ha$e not researched medie$al trade routes and prices, ' suspect that a substance imported from half a continent or more away awa y would be more difficult and e#pensi$e to obtain than the whites of simple eggs of chickens or swallows .frican or 8uropean =igh 5uality .and e#pensi$eE ingredients were probably difficult to wheedle out of one4s superiors This issue remains a problem in the mundane 21st century world, as any clerk trying to get authoriAation au thoriAation for new typewriter ribbons er, toner cartridges .oops showing my mundane age again and copier paper during an austerity dri$e can attest Being on a none#istent budget budge t myself for this project, ' ha$e opted for the most readily a$ailable .and cheapore$enfree components 'f you are new to homemade inks, you4ll want to play with the $iscosity of your ink 'f you use a fine pointed pen, '4$e found that a thinner ink works better than the thicker .high $iscosity ink that works best with chiseltip IcalligraphyJ pens 'f you use powdered egg whites .readily a$ailable a$ ailable in the baking section of most grocery stores, and easy to deal dea l with when making ink, bear in mind that as your ink 1< of 20
Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
sets, it will thicken somewhat after mi#ing This isn4t an issue when you use freshly separated egg whites 'f, as ' did, you prepare a greater 5uantity of ink than you e#pect to use immediately, immediately, you may wish to add ad d a tablespoon of salt per 5uart 5u art of ink as a preser$ati$e 't is not absolutely necessary, necessary, but may help for long term storage lso, lso, salt is a common mordant, fi#ing colors-dyes in a material /alted ink may be less susceptible to running should some clumsy oaf spill an ything on your document
' need to work on the $iscosity a little more, but you can get the idea ' also prepared a green ink from fir needles, on the theory that scribes and artisans would try an+thing when when push comes to sho$e
Must to be contrary, the firbased ink was mi#ed with whole eggs instead of just egg whites 'n the section on tannin-iron ink, ' mentioned that Theophilus pro$ided an ink recipe that used ferrous .iron sulfate /ince this establishes the chemical as period, and since it4s green, ' just had to try it, with e gg white as the binder&
This is crowding .again my arbitrary definitions of ink-paint, since the material stays on the paper surface %ure ferrous sulfate should be a brighter green ' ha$ en4t run a chemical analysis, but '4m assuming that 6 due to the source of my sulfuric acid& car battery 6 there was already a fair bit of lead sulfate in solution before ' added the iron '4$e heard that some 1@ of 20
Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
artist ha$e the habit of licking their brushes to b ring the bristles to a fine point ' $ery much ad$ise against that when using this Igreen $itriolJ ink Pigments
These are colored powders that are mi#ed with a binder to make paints ' don4t hesitate to call these paints since these really do get glued to the paper pape r surface There is little if any staining effect =istorically, =istorically, artists would reduce to powder darned near any colored rock or mineral they could get their hands on /o that4s what '4$e started doing, too =owe$er, because of the hardness or these materials, ' start by breaking them into tiny pieces, then pul$eriAing them with an impro$ised mortar-pestle&
/mall pipe with nipple cap for the mortar, ground down spike nail for the pestle ' then transfer the powder to a my usual mortar to finishing reducing it to the fineness re5uired for pigments *enerally, *enerally, ' mi#ed one part p art pigment to one part egg white for the following tests (y sense is that less of the binder will work for pictures or documents that will be hung on a wall and won4t be handled But ' had in mind /C award scrolls that are likely to get rolled up and passed from hand to hand before finally reaching the awardee (ore egg white binder seems to be more durable 2ed "iron o'ide#chal$ 'ron o#ide, depending on its o#idation state .and the mi# of o#ides in $arious stages can range in color from yellow through red to brown The brown you4$e seen already ' also had on hand some iron o#ide of a much brighter red This was mi#ed with powdered chalk 9ou 9ou can $ary the chalk ch alk content to achie$e different shades of red
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
.range "terracotta$ ' had some old, broken terracotta flower pots on hand, which allowed me to try another iron o#ide $ariant, that being the pigment that gi$es terracotta clay its distincti$e color color ' pul$eriAed and ground the fired clay into a powder 't already being a clay, clay, ' didn4t bother with a chalk e#tender, as with the red abo$e
Blue "a3urite$ ' was fortunate enough to disco$er some small s mall fragments of the mineral aAurite while rock hunting Aurite is a rather pretty blue (i#ed with egg whites, but not chalk e#tender, since the powdered material appeared light in shade, ' got this 't turned out darker than the powdered form suggested a nice heraldic blue for painting d e$ices ' e#pect a little chalk would yield a good sky blue
4ello! "egg$ ' considered using powdered sulfur as a yellow pig ment, but ' while ' was scrounging, ' considered the powdered eggs in my kitchen 't was worth a try, try, eggs 6 whole, yolks, and whites 6 were definitely used in period
?ot bad nd the whole egg ser$es as pigment pigment and binder all in one 5ilver#+ray#Metal %owdered metals were also used in period .and still are today, accounting for metallic
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
fleck automoti$e paint jobs, for instance /il$er and bronAe powders were comparati$ely common .e#pensi$e, granted *old flakes were used, but ob$iously sparingly due to the e#pense /adly, e#pense is still an issue for me ' ha$e some sil$er, but not so much that '4m willing to grind it away in an e#periment ' do, howe$er, ha$e a pound of finely powdered aluminum luminum, of course, is not period for medie$al reenactors since it wasn4t isolated as a distinct element until 1G2@ But since that doesn4t bother armored combat fighters who use it in their armor, we won4t let incon$enient facts stand in our way either as we play with the generally g enerally period idea of idea of powdered metals 'f, howe$er, you are planning the ultimate period award scroll in hopes of a :aurel, for authenticity4s sake start grinding up your best table ser$ice The obsessi$e-compulsi$e authenticity ma$ens will undoubtedly note your sacrifice and award you appropriately
3ine mesh powdered aluminum with egg white binder That4s That4s something we can work with gain, adding an e#tender like chalk will let you $ary the shade ..h+ do .h+ do ' ha$e a pound of powdered aluminum (i#ed with clear lac5uer, another binder option for artists to consider, it makes a good modern metallic paint lso, if you4$e notice the gray glassbreakage sensor strips for alarm systems, that4s aluminum sometimes it4s a metallic tape, sometimes it4s painted on 't4s a decent conducti$e trace you can apply to nearly any surface you can mi# the powder with clear nail polish to repair small breaks in rear automoti$e window defrosters grids, too 6 much cheaper than replacing the window nd if you reall+ need reall+ need to get a fire going for a bardic circle, despite pouring rain and waterlogged wood, mi# one part aluminum with + parts iron o#ide .see abo$e to make thermite ignite it with a common sparkler it will burn ot burn ot 9our soaked wood will ignite ignite But if you want a shiny surface for the arms on an o scroll Mica
'n 'ndia, artists sometimes used sheets of mica as painting "can$asses" ' don4t ha$e sheets of mica (y rock hunting did turn up smaller lumps and flakes of mica 't happens that mica is another ancient pigment pigment it was ground to a fine powder as used as white paint in se$eral prehistoric ca$e paintings But there are other materials that can be used for a white .chalk was and still is used =a$e you e$er noticed how much fine bits of mica look like glitter
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
=ere4s a closeup of an aluminumpainted surface with powdered mica dusted o$er the surface ' waited for the aluminum paint to dry, then applied a thin coat of egg whites o$er that Before the whites dried, ' sprinkled mica $ery generously o$er the gray area 7nce that dried completely, completely, ' brushed off e#cess mica
't isn4t as clear in a still photo as '4d like, bu t the hopedfor glittery surface effect is there To gi$e you a better ide a of what you can do with this
Fon4t laugh ' warned you that '4m not an artist 7), then laugh This is just to gi$e you sense of what4s possible side from my humiliating lack of artistic skill, ' also mi#ed the red paint improperly 't seemed acceptable when ' prepped it, but it 5uickly became clear that it was much to too thin ' got some running, and bleed from the e#cess water, darn it '4ll console myself with the thought that new artists can learn from my error, a$oid it, and proceed directly to their own little goofs ' did attempt mi#ing powdered mica with the aluminum to make a onecoat
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Period Inks and Pigments from the the Modern Kitchen
Carl “Bear” Bussjaeger
paint, but it didn4t turn out well >nless your paint is thick, the mica doesn4t stay in suspension well constant mi#ing is needed nd the aluminum coats the mica flakes and masks the glitter, defeating the purpose ' actually e#pected that, but wanted to try it, if only to sa$e someone else the effort of the failed e#periment
5ummary
'f it stains .grass, berry juice, fabric dye, et cetera, you can probably make an ink from it (ake it as dark as you can manage 9ou 9ou can dilute it for lighter shades 'f it4s opa5ue .preferably colorful and you can pound it to powder, you can use it as a pigment for pain or ink Browse through Theophilus4 paint recipes and you4ll see that this was the usual techni5ue in the (iddle ges dd neutralcolored e#tenders like chalk for lighter shades 8gg whites and gum arabic were common binders and thickeners ' imagine that the less generously endowed 6 financially speaking 6 were more likely to use egg whites than gum arabic due to importation costs 3ish glues were also used "'singlass", an animal gelatin,N was used as a pigment binder as well as siAing for paper and parchment in period 3ish glues can can obtained through woodworker supply sources '4$e also used con$entional unfla$ored gelatin .right from the grocery store successfully (ilk, with pigments, was used as a paint .or "white wash", pick your definition well into the 1Hth and 20th centuries '4m unsure how medie$ally period the practice was while effecti$e, it depends on ha$ing an abundance of e#cess milk beyond what is needed simply as OfoodO but eggs e ggs were used, so why not no t Casein e#tracted from milk would also ser$e as a paint binder, but casein 6 isolated, not part of milk or cheese 6 is not period, ha$ing been produced in the mid1Gth century ' ha$e some concerns about the color stability of some of these inks-paints specifically the chlorophyll greens and the egg yellow yellow '4m going to sa$e samples of each, without any special handing han ding or storage, to see if and how aging affects the colors N 'singlass, a gelatin made from fish bladders, and also used to clarify beer ?ot to be confused with "isinglass" which was mica *enerally, you can tell which material is meant through conte#t 'f your topic is glue, pigment binders, paper treatment, or brewing, they mean the fish bladder preparation 'f the subject is heat or electrical resistance, or windows or peepholes, it4s mica
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