Workshop

REDiscover workshop on making madder colours inspired by Winsor & Newton's 19th-century recipes took place at the Slade Material Research Project Methods Room on the 6th of March, 2024. Below, you may find three videos and photographs of the event.

We brought together artists, scientists, and pigment manufacturers to experiment and share their unique approaches to preparing these ancient colours. This fruitful experience aimed to foster creativity and improve the dialogue between artistic and scientific experimentation among all those interested in colour and pigment making.

Three madder lake pigments were prepared in varying shades of pink and red, all from the same amount of ground madder roots. For the red shade, the coloured solution from the first washing of the roots was used, followed by the addition of potassium carbonate and alum. During the preparation of this pigment, the roots were soaked for an hour prior to undergoing a second wash. To achieve the pink shades, a hot alum solution was passed through the slightly macerated madder roots. This solution was then split into two portions: potassium carbonate was added to one, and sodium borate to the other.