More and more artists are stepping away from the paint tube and toward the mortar and pestle—grinding their own pigments, making their own binders, and rediscovering techniques that predate the modern art supply store. Few people capture this shift better than Lucy Mayes, a UK-based artist and pigment maker behind the brand London Pigment. Trained at The Ruskin School of Art (Oxford) and The Royal College of Art, Lucy has spent years exploring the materiality of color—and now she's distilled that expertise into a new book, The Natural Pigment Handbook.
We're starting a new series here spotlighting books we love in the pigment and paint-making space, and Lucy's is a standout. Below, we're sharing some of her core insights on what's actually driving the handmade materials movement—and why it resonates so deeply with what we do at Natural Earth Paint.
What is fueling the handmade art materials movement?
1. Authenticity and Control
When you make your own paint, you're no longer limited to what's in a tube. Artists crafting their own materials can dial in exact textures, colors, and finishes—and that hands-on control creates a deeper, more authentic connection to the finished work.
2. Sustainability
Commercial art supplies aren't always kind to the planet. Many contain harsh chemicals or come from polluting manufacturing processes, and they are often packaged in plastic. Making your own materials opens the door to genuinely eco-friendly alternatives—natural earth pigments, or binders as simple as egg yolk, gum arabic, or seed/nut oils.
3. A Revival of Traditional Techniques
Grinding pigment by hand. Making paper from scratch. These aren't just nostalgic exercises—they're a way of preserving craftsmanship that predates industrial production, while giving the final artwork a texture and character machine-made materials can't replicate.
4. Customization and Innovation
Handmade materials aren't one-size-fits-all—they're built around the artist's vision. That freedom to customize also breeds experimentation, pushing people to test unconventional materials and rethink what "art supplies" even means.
5. A Deeper Connection to Nature
For many artists in this movement, materials aren't just tools—they're sourced directly from the earth. Foraged pigments, plant-based dyes, natural inks: these choices often carry an ecological or philosophical thread straight through into the finished piece.
6. Community
Perhaps unexpectedly, this movement has built real community. Workshops—online and in person—have become spaces where artists trade techniques, troubleshoot recipes together, and pass on knowledge that might otherwise be lost.
Ultimately, the handmade materials movement is about more than saving money or going green—it's a return to slowing down and understanding your materials the way artists did for centuries before mass production. That's a philosophy we deeply share here at Natural Earth Paint.
If this resonates, The Natural Pigment Handbook is well worth adding to your shelf—and if you want to start experimenting yourself, our kits (watercolor, oil paint) are a great place to begin.
Images courtesy of David & Charles Publishing.
