Pigments, Colors & Other Stories

Pigments, Colors & Other Stories

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Pigment Guide #2: How to turn minerals into pigments
In the second post of the Pigment Guide, you'll learn the nitty gritty of making your own pigments: from found rock to soft, colored powder.
 • María C.J
What is treasure? And why do we seek it at all costs?
In 1539, a Franciscan friar named Marcos de Niza came to Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, a governor of New Spain (present-day Mexico) with a marvelous…
 • María C.J
Invite your friends to read Pigments, Colors & Other Stories!
Share the newsletter with friends and family, and get special rewards when they use your referral links to subscribe.
 • María C.J
Pigment Guide #1: Finding pigments in nature
In the first post of the Pigment Guide, I cover all you need to know to go outside and finding mineral pigments in nature.
 • María C.J
Symbols in The Expulsion from Paradise
Genesis is the first book in the Torah or Old Testament.
 • María C.J

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Bonus post #4: "Art for art's sake" in Prehistory
Why did our prehistoric ancestors paint? Did they have a clear intention, or is it possible they were just playing around?
 • María C.J
The Smith and the Devil: the archetype of the trickster in all human stories
Once upon a time, a blacksmith made a deal with a malevolent supernatural being—in later versions the Devil, Death, or a Djinn—to give his soul in…
 • María C.J
The birth of beauty
What is beauty? When did we start to interpret the world as beautiful or ugly? And how does beauty fit into cognitive evolution?
 • María C.J
Bonus post #3: a winery, a shipwreck and a treasure hunt
Not long ago, I was walking with my family in the town of Montilla (Córdoba, Spain) and, as we passed by an old stone mansion, my dad said to me: do you…
 • María C.J
The fascinating palette of yellow pigments in South Asia (II)
In the second post about historical yellow pigments in South Asia I talk about saffron, orpiment and turmeric.
 • María C.J
A color challenge 🌈
I asked my Substack readers to give me a topic about history or culture and promised I'd find a connection to color. These were their questions, and my…
 • María C.J
Pigments, Colors & Other Stories
Pigments, Colors & Other Stories
An interdisciplinary look at color, art, cognition and the things that make us human.
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Pigment Guide
The Pigment Guide is a series of posts where I will teach you how to make paint from earths and soils (plus other recipes and techniques to make your own binder, charcoal, watercolors, and more) using the natural resources available in your landscape.
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Pigment Guide #2: How to turn minerals into pigments
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