Consider the early painters, who acquired their colors from minerals and other obscure sources such as the dried urine of cattle fed on mango leaves. \u00a0I’m not kidding! \u00a0A bright, golden-yellow color called “Indian Yellow” was produced this way until recently it was determined it is cruel to the cattle, causing urinary discomfort. \u00a0 Another color, called “Egyptian Mummy,” was actually made from–you guessed it–the ground remains of ancient cadavers.<\/p>\n
Historically speaking, visual artists of past generations were limited to the kinds of art they could create by their medium (or mediums) of choice. \u00a0These mediums were often hard to obtain and sometimes costly and therefore limiting to the artist.<\/p>\n
Renaissance painters (and some die-hard purists to this day) had to labouriously grind and pulverize these minerals and substances then mix them with\u00a0the addition of a binding medium, such as flax (linseed) oil.<\/span><\/p>\n Today’s artists have a much more readily available array of mediums to choose from than their predecessors did. Those same colors or approximations of them, such as Indian Yellow are now created with other minerals or synthetic compounds and are mass-produced by artist supply companies and can be purchased just about anywhere–including online.<\/p>\n