Autumn Colors - Pomegranate and Red Cabbage Lake Pigments

Summer has passed, but autumn offers new, unsuspected possibilities for extracting colors from nature. I got these two delicious plants that we usually like to cook and eat. Before, I had no idea what beautiful color can be extracted from a pomegranate and how rich in anthocyanin red cabbage is. My palette of pigments lacks enough saturated shades of yellow and especially blue and these two new pigments that I "cooked" in one day really pleased me.

What is a lake pigment?

The term "lake" refers to the insolubility of the pigment, which allows it to be easily dispersed in a binder for application on surfaces. Lake pigments created from plants involve extracting colorants from plant sources and combining them with a mordant to form insoluble compounds. The mordant helps fix the pigment and enhance its stability and adherence, resulting in a finely ground pigment powder that can be used for various artistic or industrial applications.

My Lake Pigment Recipe

• 50-100 grams of plant source

• 200-300 ml distilled water

• 6-7 grams of alum (potassium aluminum)

• 3-4 grams of calcium carbonate

Materials

• Plant sources (pomegranates and red cabbage)

• Potassium aluminum (alum)

• Calcium carbonate

• Kitchen scale

• Wooden stirrers

• Cooking vessel

• Jar or other glass container for mixing

• Filter bags

• Protective gloves and mask

Process

Boiling the Plant: The plant material is boiled in water to extract colorants from the plant. This process helps release the pigments into the water. For red cabbage pigment, use finely chopped leaves. The peel with the outer skin is used from the pomegranate, as it is rich in tannins.

Extracting Pigment: The water is now infused with the pigments from the plant material, resulting in a colored solution.

Alum Mordant Addition: Alum is added to the colored solution. Alum acts as a mordant, helping to fix the pigment to a surface. It is best to first dissolve the aluminum in a little hot water and add the resulting solution to the extract. Another method is stirring and heating. The alum is added to extract and the mixture is stirred and heated to ensure thorough mixing of the alum mordant with the pigment solution.

Adding Calcium Carbonate: Calcium carbonate is introduced to the mixture. This acts as a precipitating agent, causing the pigment and alum to form insoluble compounds. The addition of calcium carbonate results in the precipitation of the pigment-alum compound, forming solid particles.

Filtering and Washing: The solid precipitate is filtered to separate it from the liquid. The collected solid is washed to remove impurities and excess mordant.

Drying the Lake Pigment: The purified pigment is left to dry, forming a solid lake pigment. Once dried, the pigment can be finely ground for use in various applications.

The process may vary slightly based on specific techniques or desired color outcomes, but these general steps represent the creation of a lake pigment from any plant.

I usually use the ready dried pigment to make watercolor paints, but they can be utilized in many more artistic creations like gouache, acrylic and oil paints, textile dyeing, ink production, cosmetic products, and decorative arts.