What plants can be made into paint?
Turmeric, sunflower petals, bay leaves, dandelion flowers, marigolds and celery leaves also work. Green: This is probably the easiest. You can use artichokes, spinach, peppermint leaves, lilacs or just plain grass.
The red paint is made from coreopsis flowers + bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). The yellow is made by adding lemon juice to the dye.
How to make your own natural paints: Push berries or other soft fruit through a sieve to extract your pigment, then mix with just a small splash of water! Grind petals, leaves, or other dry items before mixing with a tiny, tiny bit of honey! Powders are the easiest!
Recipe for Homemade Salt and Flour Paint
Blend 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of salt. Add 1/2 cup of water… and mix until smooth. Divide it up into three sandwich bags and add a few drops of liquid watercolor or food coloring to each bag.
Many people do not think of plants as assets to art or even using plants for pigment. In today's activity we will collect some dandelion and use it to extract pigment to make some natural eco-art.
In a small saucepan, mix 2 cups of water with 1 cup of each fruit or veg. Bring to a boil over medium heat and leave to simmer for about one hour. Turn off the heat and allow the water to cool to room temperature. Strain the juice into glass containers.
A great source of ink-making plants can also be from your kitchen.... Red Onions Skins, Beetroot Peelings, and even the slightly bad/stale/bruised fruits (grapes, berries, etc) can be a perfect excuse to make something good out of.
Painting with Plants - YouTube
- Place blueberries in a microwave safe bowl. Add a tablespoon or so of water to the blueberries (This is just to thin it a bit; you will need more water if using fresh berries).
- Mash the blueberries with a fork. ...
- Microwave for 1 minute.
- Use paintbrush to paint a beautiful picture with the blueberry paint!
Natural paints, made with raw ingredients such as clay, marble, earth and mineral pigments can significantly improve the air quality in your building, positively impacting your health. Additives such as starch, casein, linseed oil used along with plant and mineral pigments result in less energy intensive finishes.
How do you extract color from plants?
- Remove the desired portion of the plant.
- Chop or tear the blossoms, leaves, etc. ...
- Combine in a large kettle.
- Add enough water to cover the plant material.
- Simmer on range until the plant material looks faded and dye has transferred to the water (about 1 hour)
Plants are typically green because they reflect green and yellow light, but if they absorbed all colors equally, they would appear black.

Natural paints, made with raw ingredients such as clay, marble, earth and mineral pigments can significantly improve the air quality in your building, positively impacting your health. Additives such as starch, casein, linseed oil used along with plant and mineral pigments result in less energy intensive finishes.
- Mix 2 Tbsp. casein powder with 5 oz. warm water, and let sit overnight.
- Discard the water that accumulates on the surface.
- Mix 1 Tbsp. borax with 4 oz. ...
- Mix a spoonful of the casein mix with pigment in a glass bowl or on your palette.
- Paint on wood, paper, or canvas. Add water if you want a watercolor effect.
- Breaking rocks into smaller pieces. First, break the rocks into pieces that can be finely ground using a mortar and pestle. ...
- Grinding. Grind the pieces using a pestle and mortar until you have achieved a very fine powder. ...
- Sifting. ...
- Make paints. ...
- Make sustainable art.
Painting with Plants - YouTube