SKU:GB101113
When rainwater seeps into underground mines it becomes contaminated with toxic levels of heavy metals and acidity. The contaminated water then flows into streams and rivers where the metals oxidize and turn yellow, orange, and red. Officially, the term is “Acid Mine Drainage” (AMD), and it’s left once-thriving ecosystems unable to support life.
This reclaimed pigment process begins with collecting contaminated water in large tanks. To neutralize the water’s acidity, a base is added, then oxygen. This causes the dissolved iron to crystalize and settle. The result: clean water on top and non-toxic iron oxide pigment on the bottom. The clean water is returned to the river where it is safe for aquatic life and the iron oxides are dried into lightfast and safe artist pigment. The pigment is heated to various temperatures to achieve each color.
Gamblin has volunteered countless (wo)man hours formulating, testing, naming, designing, and creating Gamblin Reclaimed Earth Colors: Rust Red, Iron Violet, and Brown Ochre. Purchasing this set not only benefits the project financially, but it literally and directly creates a demand for the pigment and a demand for clean rivers. The sleeve and insert for this product are recyclable, and the
structure of the packaging has a function; it’s a primed panel made in
Oregon by American Easel. It’s the ideal painting surface
made with U.S.-grown poplar sides and a Baltic birch face.
Brown Ochre is naturally opaque and warm with a golden undertone. This pigment isn’t heated to the extent of the other colors, so it retains the deep yellow/brown hue of the raw iron oxide.
In its transparency, Rust Red carries the warm color of rusty water. From the tube and in mixtures, it is exactly what you’d expect: an earthy red-orange.
Meet the first mauve color Gamblin has ever made. Straight from the tube, Iron Violet is a deep, earthy violet with a unique texture. Add white and it becomes the violet you see in the clouds at sunset or dawn.