Pigment comes from...

Pigment provides the colour that artists use.

Early pigments came from natural materials like plants and animals, or were produced by simple chemical processes by taking colour from a mineral such as Malachite.

Metals were treated with liquids such as vinegar or heated
with a substance
like sulphur to
obtain pigment.

The pigments used by the cave painters of long ago were ground from brown-red earths or clays such as iron oxide and yellow ochre. They were often mixed with animal fat to make them waterproof.





As time went on many more natural pigments were found and artists had a much wider range of colours to use.

The first artificial pigment was produced in 1856 - a purple colour called mauvein. This paved the way for modern synthetic colours or dyes.