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In this live group session to launch the course, there will be introductions from the teachers and an overview of the course.

Exploring the basics of what, why, and how of Lake Pigment Making.

We will be covering the introductory chemistry of lake pigment making as well as an overview of the history of the practice.

Looking at how you can set up a work space and what equipment and materials you will need to get started.

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Putting Lake Pigments Into Context: An overview of creatives who have used lake pigments- alongside how lakes have been applied as a technology/applications e.g manuscript illumination, Renaissance glazing techniques

This session explores the use of lake pigments throughout history and into the present, highlighting how artists and craftspeople have engaged with them as both material and technology. Building on Part One; the introductory session in which Lucy offers an overview of the history of lake pigments, this session expands the timeline with contextual references and additional detail, providing a deeper understanding of how lake pigment-making evolved as a practical technology for artists seeking to work with local organic colour sources.

We’ll examine how lake pigments were used in various historical contexts, including manuscript illumination, Renaissance glazing techniques, textile dyeing, and even hair colouring. Particular attention will be given to their role in expanding colour palettes, creating layered visual effects, and enhancing surface quality.

The session will also introduce contemporary artists and makers who are reviving and reinterpreting lake pigment practices today, exploring how this ancient craft is being adapted within modern creative and ecological frameworks.

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How can delicate and ephemeral flowers be transformed into lasting colors? This session will look at some of the methods that have been attempted, and the chemistry that makes them more or less successful. Pink, violet, and blue flowers will be our case study, demonstrating common pitfalls and confusion points when creating lake pigments: dye selection, pH manipulation, and lightfastness.

- Proto-lakes from antiquity (Vitruvius & Eraclius) evolve into medieval lakes (Theophilus)

- Hot water & ice extraction of anthocyanins

- Dye selection: substantive/adjective spectrum

- What is pH, its role in laking, and effect on colour

- Best practices for lightfastness

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This is an in-depth examination of the common reagents used in laking; their sources, supply chains, and availability from suppliers and the industry. It also considers the environmental impacts of the process, including water and energy consumption. We will explore strategies to reduce or offset the environmental footprint of lake pigment production.

Additionally, we will evaluate the tools and equipment used in laking, focusing on sustainability, durability, and energy efficiency. Typical laking methods will be reviewed, with attention to how everyday practices can be adjusted to support more sustainable workflows. Specifically, we will closely examine the extraction, manufacture, and supply chains of key materials such as alum, distilled water, alkalis (e.g., sodium carbonate), fillers (like calcium carbonate and clays), and the organic dyestuffs themselves.

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Building on Part Four: Sustainability – Can Making Lake Pigments Be More Sustainable?, this session explores how to produce key laking reagents from scratch using low-impact, traditional methods. Alongside an overview of their historical use and production, participants will be guided through practical, replicable recipes.

We will make potassium carbonate by leaching, filtering, and evaporating plant ash, an alkali useful for creating lake pigments and adjusting pH in dye extraction and botanical inks. Sodium carbonate will be derived from burned seaweed (kelp), halophytic (salt-tolerant) plants, or by heating baking soda, serving as an important alkali in pigment precipitation. Calcium carbonate will be produced by grinding oyster, mussel, or eggshells, with the option of gentle calcination (below 700°C) for purification. This material is used as a filler, extender, or base for lake pigments such as madder.

Aluminium salts (such as aluminium sulphate) will be sourced from food-grade materials or, for those interested in more advanced techniques, made by roasting clay with potassium salts or by processing aluminium-accumulating plants like common horsetail (Equisetum arvense). These salts serve as mordants and essential laking reagents. Iron salts will be created by soaking rusted iron in vinegar or rainwater to adjust tone and colour, and copper salts may also be introduced for further colour variation and experimentation.

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We turn our attention this session to the ways that knowledge, recipes, and plants wander and proliferate. Our focus is buckthorn, a hedgerow plant that pops up in medieval recipes for sap green and spawns a variety of colors in later centuries, including lakes and ‘pinks’. Buckthorn eventually wanders not only through artists’ manuals and books of secrets, but also into new ecosystems. Because this is a designated invasive species in parts of North America, we’ll touch on plant varieties and substitutions, as well as ethical foraging guidelines more broadly. Building on the previous topics, this session will utilize homemade calcium carbonate and demonstrate tools of the medieval workshop.

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In this session join Julie Beeler, creator of the Mushroom Color Atlas, for an immersive session exploring the art of making natural lake pigments from mushrooms. Using a single mushroom rich in diverse pigments, we’ll transform it into four distinct colours. Together, we’ll delve into techniques for working with exhausted dye baths, discuss the roles of substantive and adjective dyes, and aim to capture every ounce of colour. Through acidic extractions and simple dye bath modifications, you'll discover how one mushroom can yield a surprising spectrum of colour.

In the realms of natural colour, every rule has exceptions. This session delves into those intriguing, contrarian colourants which function as pigments by means other than laking. Segments on the hues of safflower, the gallo-tannin complex, murex purple, and a demonstration of indigo pigment extraction will illuminate these chemical oddities and expand our pigment palette.

In the early 19th century, chemical analysis was brought to bear on colour-making processes, laying the path towards synthetic organic colors. European chemists grappled with the unique and expressive colours of madder root, vying to develop dozens of new, purer shades. This session will peek behind the curtain of that specialised (patented, commercialised) knowledge, before concocting some madder lake pigments that are open-source: fermentation is wild and free!

SESSION RESCHEDULED TO THE 10TH NOVEMBER

Curious about using mushrooms for color? Fungal pigments often require a shift in pH to reveal their full spectrum of hues. In this session, Julie Beeler—creator of the Mushroom Color Atlas—will guide you through alkaline extraction techniques for creating lake pigments from fungi. We’ll explore the traditional uses of Echinodontium tinctorium (commonly known as Paint Fungus), which has been used by Indigenous communities including the Syilx, Nlaka’pamux, Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Kwakwaka’wakw for ceremonial body paint and medicinal purposes. According to research by Turner & Cuerrier (2021), the fungus was historically burned, ground into powder, and mixed with deer grease to produce a vivid burnt red pigment. Building on this knowledge, we’ll experiment with alkaline extractions that can also be applied to a range of organic materials—including plants, roots, bark, and food waste.

This session offers an overview of the wide range of hues that can be achieved through lake pigment making. By exploring both common and lesser-known historical recipes, we will examine the rich possibilities of building a full, nuanced palette from botanical and insect-based sources.

Together, we’ll examine historical laking methods in detail, exploring their unique characteristics, regional origins, and the practical challenges they present. Recipes covered will include carmine, Brazilwood, lac, logwood, weld, safflower (both yellow and red), quercitron, annatto, fustic, and kermes. Participants will gain insight into the colour qualities, stability, and uses of each pigment. We’ll work through a selection of these recipes from start to finish, while providing an overview of the remaining processes to build a comprehensive understanding of the broader laking palette.

We’ll also explore how to mix lake pigments, considering not only the aesthetic outcomes but also the implications for conservation, compatibility, and long-term durability. Whether you're aiming to reproduce a historical palette or develop your own contemporary range, this session will help you understand how lake pigments can be combined to create depth, harmony, and expressive potential.

With All Teachers

During this session, we so some final troubleshooting of common mistakes people encounter when lake pigment making. We will also give an overview of all the different potential applications for lake pigments so you can be inspired to transform your lakes in to different kinds of art materials, or incorporate them in to surface applications. This is an opportunity for course members to ask any remaining questions before the course wraps up, we will also reflect on the past year and set intentions for the next. We invite all members to bring their work to share during the session so we can be inspired by each-other's printing and painting explorations.