Revealing the Mysteries of Genuine Indian Yellow: From Raw Pigment to Handmade Watercolor
Channel: Dirty Blue Tube
Date: 2023-09-05

For my modern version; check https://creatoriq.cc/3L7SbG1


What you see here is a ball of purree. This is one of the names for dried up cows urine in this state. Yes, we're talking about genuine Indian Yellow aka pigment number NY20, which stands for Natural Yellow. 

It's said that cows were fed only mango leafs to concentrate that deep yellow color. The urine of these cows was collected and dried, made into these balls and shipped to artisans who refined these and made vibrant yellow pigment out of them, to be used by artists. 

Since this process led to a lot of malnourished cows, it was unethical to continue this practice. After this, it became unavailable in the early 1920's. 

It has known many replacements as a pigment, from natural pigments like gamboge to mixtures and single pigments, like PY153, my Indian Yellow I use in my palettes, which is also discontinued. 

This original pigment was mostly used in the 19th century by a lot of European artists. A famous example is Starry Night by Van Gogh, it shows the beautiful yellow in its moon and stars. 

What I make here is not from the refined version of this pigment but from pigment dust that was found in the original wrapper, it came straight from the ball. 

Yes, it does smell a bit. But it's not sickening. I have to say that some indigo's but also purpurism smell worse when made into paint. It might have lost a lot of its smell over the years though..

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