Natural colors
Humanity has been painting with ochre, a natural pigment occurring in the Earth's soil, for hundreds of thousands of years. The masterpieces range from prehistoric, ochre pigmented images on cave walls to paintings on canvases and other works of art from medieval times onwards.
We are artists who create natural art materials for other artists.
The Essee motto is: Ancient wisdom in a new essay.
Grateful to everyone who supports the essay on natural medium based colors.
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Artist grade aquarelle
Essee honey paints are made of natural acacia gum, honey, clove essence, glycerin, Essee professional pigments and purified water.
We offer finest quality, artist grade aquarelle.
Color making tools
The color making set.
36 pigments, 3 palette knives, crystal muller, Arabic gum, color swatches, instruction in .pdf format and complimentary 2ml of Clove essential oil.
Available in Essee colors Shop
Pigments
Fine art pigment powder is the starting point of color creation.
The pigments give rise to colors that maintain their richness and intensity both when applied in lighter and more opaque layers.
We do recommend wearing a mask when mixing them because the powder tends to produce dust.
Binder
The binder is a substance capable of fixing the pigment in powder form to the substrate. Any type of technique requires its own binder, from which the technique itself generally takes its name. The only exception is the fresco painting (fresco), in which the colors are ground with simple water and the binder is formed by lime and plaster which, once dry, incorporate the color, fixing it.
Kneading
The kneading procedure: In order to work the powdered pigment into paint effectively, it will have to be worked thoroughly with the binder, by brushing, troweling, and pouring.
Homogeneous paste
Starting from raw materials gives the opportunity to create a color exactly as desired in terms of vibrancy, body, coverage, etc.
Place a pigment base on the glass, or marble, surface in the required amount.
Pour a small amount of liquid Arabic gum into a small crater previously formed in the pigment pile and slowly mix with a palette knife.
When you have obtained a homogeneous paste, start using the muller. The mass should be quite dense - if is very liquid, add more pigment and vice versa.
Mullering
The color in the making undergoes a very long mullering process to integrate the pigment into the mediums.
Don't be alarmed if some pigments absorb the medium initially but then reject it and become runny again!
This occurs because Arabic gum is prone to separating from certain types of pigments. Each pigment has its own properties, but they all dry out eventually and turn into solid watercolors.
Fill the paint into the pans or jars and let it dry. The watercolor may crack or fall in as it dries. If that happens, add more paste, enough to fill the vacant spaces, and let it dry again.
It usually takes about a week or more to dry completely.
Natural paint gets its lively quality from the tiny pieces of crystal within the pigment that reflect light, thus displaying the spectral diversity of color and bringing it to life.
