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Making Paint
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Introduction:
This craft explores the properties of
a colloid as you make your own paint. You will learn how paint is
made, and then you will be making your own paint and using this
paint to create a picture. You are also encouraged to experiment
with mixing the different pigments to explore primary and secondary
colors.
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While today most artists buy their own paint, at one time painters
had to make their own paint. There was no paint for sale. Today,
some painters are faithful to this tradition. By making their own
paint, artists can produce the exact colors they want, and the consistency
of paint they want -- thick or thin. |
Paint is a special kind of substance. Paint is special because
it is made of tiny particles of color that float in a liquid
instead of dissolving in it. What happens when you take sugar
(or salt) and mix it with water? (Try this!) Do you see any
of the sugar or salt floating around? Scientists say that sugar
and salt are soluble in water since they completely dissolve.
The dissolved mixture is called a solution.
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| Some substances
are different. For example, look at a bottle of Italian Salad Dressing.
You will see some seasonings and other particles floating around.
They don't dissolve. Instead, each of these particles is suspended
in the oil and vinegar but still visible. This is called a suspension.
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One special kind of suspension is called an emulsion. An emulsion
happens when a watery liquid is mixed with an oily, fatty, waxy
or resinous liquid in such a way that the oily liquid is suspended
in tiny droplets in the watery liquid. Milk is an example of an
emulsion. In whole milk, butterfat is suspended in the watery "skim
milk" liquid in microscopic droplets.
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| Paint is a special
type emulsion called a colloid. Colored microscopic particles are
suspended in an oily liquid (emulsifier) such as oil, liquid egg
yolk, or even glue. When emulsions are spread out in a flat thin
layer, like paint on a surface, the oily, sticky emulsifier is able
to harden. Since the particles suspended in the paint (pigment)
are colored, the dried colloid is colorful. |
Back in the early 1400's, most painters used paint made by grinding
up bits of earth and minerals and mixing it with egg yolk and water
to make a paste. This paint was a colloid because bits of color
or pigment were suspended in egg yolk, the emulsifier, which was
suspended in water. This type of paint was called egg tempera. Leonardo
Da Vinci was one of the first painters to make oil paints. He
made them by mixing colored powders into linseed oil and then
mixing the linseed oil with water. Oil paint is a colloid because
tiny bits of pigment are suspended in the oil that is then suspended
in the water. Acrylic paints are also a colloid. In acrylic paints,
pigment is suspended in a liquid plastic called acrylic, the emulsifier,
which is then suspended in water.
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Making Paint: Teacher Notes
Download: (Abobe Acrobat Reader required--download
free reader)
Print the "Making Paint" activity worksheet.
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Part A: Let's Make Paint!
To make your own pain, get a partner and gather the following supplies:
- paintbrushes
- paint container
- hammer
- tablespoon
- teaspoon
- 2 freezer style Ziploc baggies
- large stick
- colored chalk
- 1 tablespoon white glue
- 1 popsicle stick
- paper or object to paint water
- paper towels
- small dixie cups
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Procedure:
Place one Ziploc bag inside the other
Place 1 large stick of colored chalk into the inner baggie and close
both bags.
Using the hammer, break the chalk into a fine powder. You want to
make the powder as smooth as possible. It will be harder to break
up the small chunks once you have taken the chalk out of the baggie.
Your paint will end up lumpy if you do not break up the chalk fine
enough.
Pour the powder into a clean paint container -- if desired mix your
powder with some of another color to experiment with the colors
you can make.
Add 1 teaspoon of water to the container
Using a popsicle stick, mix the chalk powder and the water until
you have a fine paste. The smoother the paste, the smoother your
paint will be.
Add 1 tablespoon of white glue to the paint container
Add water slowly until you have paint the consistency you desire.
It will probably take about 3 tablespoons.
Discussion:
- Why is the paint you made a colloid?
- What material is suspended in the water?
- What colors where you able to make by mixing different colors
of pigment?
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Part B: Let's Paint!
The fun continues. Use your imagination and the paint you made and
that made by other members of the group to make your own masterpiece.
Everyone should grab a brush and start creating!
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