Pigments, Paints, Pastels & Pens
Four Online Demonstrations With Caroline Ross available to sign up until the 3rd September
We're bringing back four of Caroline’s popular online courses for a limited time! You can enroll in any single course, or choose all four at a discounted rate. Gain full access to the course materials until the 31 March 2026.
Live Q&A Sessions
There will be two opportunities to join Caroline for a live Q&A. The first will be on Wednesday, 3rd September 2025, from 4–6pm BST. We are also adding another Q&A at the end of the course on Wednesday 25th March 2026 4-6pm GMT in case you have any further questions after you have had a go. She will be answering questions from all four courses during this session. There sessions will be recorded and available in the resources.
PDF Handouts Included
Working with rocks, clays, semi precious stones and (pre-made) plant lakes. Sourcing, finding, foraging and selecting sources and materials. Then testing, smashing, grinding, washing (levigation), sieving, drying, braying, mulling of pigments. Calcining (cooking) ochres to obtain a larger range of colours. Sharing kitchen and household tools only simple methods so you do not need to buy lots of specialist equipment, as well as sharing refined tools methods.
Traditional watercolours made with gum Arabic and foraged cherry tree gum. We will look at three methods: a basic method for use in the field or at home, a refined ‘artist’s quality’ method, and a wild foraged materials method. A selection of traditional and novel water based paints, including glair (egg white), tempera (egg yolk) and veglair. Ethical foraging, written and online resources, safety, handling and storage of materials.
Learn how to source, choose, and prepare raw pigments, powders, and clays to make pastels, including washing and sieving techniques. Session one covers making simple Conte-style pastels with blending and toning. Session two dives into traditional soft pastel methods, plus testing, labelling, and eco-friendly storage. You'll also make two spray fixatives—one egg-based, one vegan—for use with a blow diffuser or pump spray.
This course will give you everything you need to recreate the scriptorium sound in the comfort of your own home. Using simple tools, we will make traditional black and brown inks with oak galls and other tannins, with both a foraged and a refined studio technique. We will then make quill pens from feathers and reeds, traditional illuminator's brushes from the offcuts of the quill feathers and improvised and unusual brushes and drawing tools from a host of foraged, found and repurposed materials.
10% off when you sign up to access all four of Caroline's online demonstrations. - Pigments For Paints: A Deep Dive - Watercolour Paints: A Deep Dive - Making Pastels With Natural Pigments - Drawn From Our Ancestors
Live Q&As With Caroline
On Wednesday 3rd September 2025 4-6pm BST & Wednesday 25th March 2026 4-6pm GMT
Caroline will be giving two live Q&A covering all four courses. We will spend half an hour on each section. All members can join the whole session, or you can tune in to the relevant section.
4-4.30 - Pigments For Paints
4.30-5 - Watercolour Paints
5-5.30 - Making Pastels
5.30-6 - Drawn From Our Ancestors
For efficiency, we ask that you pre-submit your questions to Caroline. You can do so via the submission boxes in the resourcres, or emailing flora@plantsandcolour.co.uk
Sign up before the 3rd September!
To access all materials until the 31st March 2026
About Caroline Ross/Found And Ground
Caroline Ross, (also known by Instagram handle Foundandground), I am a natural materials artist and maker from Dorset, England. I forage for earth colour and wild materials, refine pigments, make paints and as well as making my art from paints I make, and teaching people how to make them, too. It is important to me that people rediscover their place in the wild and reconnect to the land where they live. By ethically sourcing and using materials of earth, as well as discarded, reused and repurposed things, we foster a sense of place, leave a lighter footprint, and we can make our art where earth matters. My forthcoming book ‘Found and Ground, a practical guide to making natural watercolours’ will come out with Search Press in June 2023. I am a regular contributor to the Wild Pigment Project, a member of the Wilderness Art Collective, and am part of the Dark Mountain Collective, regularly contributing to their books and events since 2015.
Newsletter for teaching, books and art news
Articles on subjects such as Tao, the embodied life, and art where earth matters, each week at Uncivil Savant - www.carolineross.substack.com
Caroline's book containing all the paint recipes, guides on foraging for materials and ink making is called ‘Found and Ground’
Policy on Sharing Course Content
Thank you for your interest in our programmes. To ensure a high-quality experience and to respect the intellectual property rights of our teachers, we ask all participants to adhere to the following guidelines:
Do Not Share Recording Links or PDFs: The content provided during our sessions, including recording links and PDFs, is the intellectual property of our instructors. These materials are meant exclusively for the use of registered participants. Please refrain from sharing these resources with anyone outside of the program. Unauthorized distribution can undermine the value of the content and the hard work of our educators.
Do Not Share Zoom Links: Each session has a limited number of spaces to maintain an interactive and engaging environment. Sharing Zoom links with individuals who are not registered disrupts this balance and can lead to overcrowding, detracting from the experience of all participants. Please ensure that Zoom links are kept confidential and are not shared with others.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in these matters. By following these guidelines, you help us protect the intellectual property of our teachers and ensure that all participants have a fair and enjoyable learning experience.