Natural mineral paints: red ocher

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Now it is not a problem for artists to find the right shade of red. Most modern paints are synthetic, invented in the technical era (after the eighteenth century). But how did the ancient artists create? How many colors were in their palette? The famous painter Titian said that it is enough for a real artist to have three colors: white, black and red. The rest of the gamut of shades is achieved by mixing these primary colors. As you can see, Titian himself could not do without red. What did the ancient painters use to depict purple, pink, scarlet, burgundy? There were many natural dyes that have the color of blood in the ancient era. But the most ancient of them is red ocher. What kind of mineral is this and how a persistent pigment is extracted from it, read in this article.

What is ocher

The very name of this mineral is Greek. But this does not mean at all that ocher was invented or first used in Ancient Hellas. No, mineral paint is found even on the most ancient rock paintings. Ocher, as they say, was among peopleunderfoot, and no technology was needed to use it as a dye. Picked up a pebble and draw. This natural mineral consists of iron oxide hydrate. And the Greek word "ochros" means pale yellow.

How so? Where does red ocher come from? The color of the natural mineral is really yellow. Depending on the clay, which is naturally mixed with iron oxide hydrate, it varies from light beige to brownish. Yellow ocher is found in abundance in every part of the world. Therefore, it became the first paint used by ancient Paleolithic artists.

What is red ocher

The color of blood and life has always been attractive to people. The artists wanted to depict a wounded beast in order to ensure a happy outcome of the hunt by sympathetic magic. But where to get a mineral of a suitable color? Anhydrous iron oxide is found in areas with active volcanic activity. Unlike the yellow hydrate, when mixed with clay it gives a warm shade of red.

The technology for obtaining the dye, as we can see, is quite simple. In places where there are no volcanic rocks, it is enough to simply burn the yellow ocher. The water from the mineral will evaporate and it will change color to red. A simple and inexpensive technology has led to the fact that red ocher is still widely used for the production of oil, glue and other paints, as well as in the manufacture of printed chintz. The harmlessness of the mineral should also be mentioned. Compared with minium and cinnabar, which also give red color, ocher does not bringno harm to human body. Members of the Himba tribe living in Namibia cover their hair and entire body with this mineral. The ocher thus protects them from sunburn and overheating.

How red ocher was made in ancient Egypt

It must be said that "color" and "essence" in this civilization were denoted by one hieroglyph. The Egyptians sought to get a deep, rich shade to ex alt the gods. Ocher gives warm, inexpressive tones. In search of richness and depth of color, the Egyptians pioneered the first synthetic dye. True, it was blue. The pigment was invented in the third millennium BC. First, glass was blown out of sand mixed with copper. Then it was carefully ground into powder.

The Egyptians also tried to get a bright shade of red. And cinnabar became such a dye. The mineral was rubbed and thoroughly washed. But ocher (yellow and red) was not forgotten either. It was used to give the image natural shades. The red color for the Egyptians had a double meaning. On the one hand, it symbolized the blood of Osiris. Ocher and cinnabar covered the clothes of the Mother of the World, Isis. But dangerous demons were also depicted in red, as well as the serpent Apep threatening all living things. But in the Old Kingdom, it was customary to paint the bodies of men with burnt ocher. This symbolized their life force.

Shades of ocher

This pigment is still widely used due to the richness of the palette. After all, you can experiment with the degree of heating of yellow ocher, getting orange tones. The main admixture to anhydrous iron oxide - clay - also contributes to the final color. Because of it, it can be dark red ocher or light, almost pink. Between them there are many more shades. The lightest ocher is Venetian red. This is a warm tone. Despite the fact that red, by definition, cannot be cold, ocher gives such a shade. It is very dark, almost brown. This color is called Indian or English ocher.

Searching for Red

We have already mentioned cinnabar. This is a very powerful, bright and deep paint. Red ocher looks rather dull in comparison. Cinnabar was obtained from processed iron ore. But bright red is not always appropriate in painting.

One more competitor of ocher was red lead. It's lead oxide. Minium gave a rich red color, but it is dangerous to he alth. No less harmful is vermilion. This paint was invented in China three thousand years ago. It was made by heating sulfur and mercury.

But the most expensive red was Tyrian purple. It was extracted from two types of molluscs. One snail gave only two grams of dye. Therefore, the clothes of the emperor of the Roman Empire were covered with Tyrian purple, and the senators were en titled to only one stripe of paint on the toga.

The use of mineral pigment in painting

According to Pliny, in the ancient world, the main place from which red ocher was supplied was Pontus Yuksinus in Sinop. Though oxideiron and loses cinnabar in the depth and brightness of color, it has one feature. The pigment mixes well with various other dyes, thus forming a huge range of color shades. Ocher absorbs oil and is very opaque. Artists in the Middle Ages and later used it to paint frescoes. It was used in oil paintings and drawings. The icon painter Dionisy widely used ocher of different shades in his painting.