In second grade children are leaning about native Americans. We are doing a more in-depth study into painting than we did back when we painted our butterflies at the beginning of the year. If by any chance you have any of these items please bring to the art room....We will boil them to extract the color, then use the color extraction to create paintings.
- Bloodroot will give a good orange to reddish orange color.
- Sassafras (leaves)
- Onion skin
- Lichen (gold)
- Carrot - (roots) orange
- Lilac (twigs) - yellow/orange
- Barberry (mahonia sp.) yellow orange (with alum) very strong & permanent. Any part of the plant will work.
- Giant Coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) Yields bright permanent orange with alum.
- Turmeric dyed cloth will turn orange or red if it is dipped in lye.
- Pomagrante – with alum anywhere from orange to khaki green.
- Butternut - (seed husks) - orange
- Red cabbage
- Mulberries (royal purple)
- Elderberries (lavender)
- Saffron - (petals) blue/green
- Grapes (purple)
- Blueberries
- Cornflower - (petals) blue dye with alum, water
- Cherry (roots)
- Blackberry (fruit) strong purple
- Hyacinth - (flowers) - blue
- Japanese indigo (deep blue)
- Red Cedar Root (purple)
- Raspberry -(fruit) purple/blue
- Red Maple Tree (purple)(inner bark)
- Nearly Black Iris - (dark bluish purple) alum mordant
- Dogwood - (fruit) greenish-blue
- Oregon Grape -(fruit) blue/purple
- Pokeweed (berries)
- Hibiscus (flowers)(dark red or purple ones) make a red-purple dye.
- Daylilies (old blooms)
- Safflower - (flowers, soaked in alcohol) - red
- Logwood (is a good purple but you have to watch it as it dyes quick when the pot is fresh. Also it exhausts fast. We use alum to mordant and using iron can give you logwood gray.)
- Huckleberry gives a good lavender color and I have used it not only for a dye but also for ink.
Wild plum root will give a reddish or rusty brown.
- Oak bark will give a tan or oak color.
- Sumac (leaves)
- Dandelion (roots) brown
- Broom - (bark) yellow/brown
- Walnut (hulls) (deep brown)(wear gloves)
- Tea Bags (light brown)
- White Birch - (inner bark) - brown
- Juniper Berries
- Fennel - (flowers, leaves) - yellow/brown
- Coffee Grinds
- Acorns (boiled)
- Hollyhock (petals)
- Colorado Fir - (bark) tan shade
- Yellow dock (produces shades of brown on wool)
- Beetroot (Dark Brown With FeSO4)
- Red Leaf Buds (of many maple trees )- red-brown color when dried. Found on branches before new leaves appear only present during early spring and throughout fall.
- Amur Maple ( Acer Ginnala) - black, blue, bown from dried leaves.
- Ivy - (twigs) - yellow/brown
- Artemisia species provide a range of greens from baby's breath to nettle green.
- Artichokes
- Tea Tree - (flowers) green/black
- Spinach (leaves)
- Sorrel (roots) - dark green
- Foxglove - (flowers) apple green
- Lilac - (flowers) - green
- Camellia - (pink, red petals) - green
- Snapdragon - (flowers) - green
- Black-Eyed Susans
- Grass (yellow green)
- Pigsweed (entire plant) yellow green
- Red Pine (needles) green
- Nettle
- Broom - (stem) green
- Larkspur - green - alum
- Plantain Roots
- White Ash - (bark) - yellow
- Purple Milkweed - (flowers & leaves) - green
- Lily-of-the-valley (light green) be careful what you do with the spent dye bath. The plant is toxic so try to avoid pouring it down the drain into the water supply.
- Barberry root (wool was dyed a greenish bronze-gold)
- Red onion (skin) (a medium green, lighter than
forest green)
- Yarrow - (flowers) yellow & green shades
- Mulga Acacia - (seed pods) - green
- Peach - (leaves) yellow/green
- Coneflower (flowers) - green
- Broom Flower
- Virginia Creeper (all parts); alum mordant; Peach.
- Achiote powder (annatto seed
- Plum tree (roots) (salmon color on wool with alum)
- Weeping Willow (wood & bark) makes a peachy brown (the tannin
acts as a mordant)
- Virgina Creeper - (fruit) - pink
- Saffron (stigmas) - yellow
- Safflower (flowers, soaked in water) - yellow
- Syrian Rue (glows under black light)
- Red Clover (whole blossom, leaves and stem); alum mordant; Gold.
- Yellow cone flower (whole flower head); chrome mordant; Brass to Greeney-Brass.
- Onion (skins)
- Alfalfa (seeds) - yellow
- Marigold (blossoms)
- Willow (leaves)
- Queen Anne's Lace
- Heather - (plant) - yellow
- St. John's Wort - (flowers & leaves) - gold/yellow
- Burdock
- Celery (leaves)
- Golden Rod (flowers)
- Sumac (bark) - The inner pith of Sumac branches can produce a super bright yellow color.
- Weld (bright yellow)
- Cameleon plant (golden)
- Mimosa - (flowers) yellow
- Dandelion flower
- Osage Orange also known as Bois d'arc or hedgeapple (heartwood, inner bark, wood, shavings or sawdust) (pale yellow)
- Daffodil flower heads (after they have died); alum mordant
- Mullen (leaf and root) pale yellow. *careful, because the little fuzzy hairs can make one itchy!
- Hickory leaves (yellow) if plenty of leaves are boiled and salt added.
- Tea ( ecru color)
- Yellow, Curly, Bitter, or Butter Dock (despite various leaf shapes, all have a bright yellow taproot) gives you a yellow/flesh color.
- White mulberry tree (bark) Cream color onto white or off-white wool. Alum mordant.
- Paprika ( shade of pale yellow - light orange)
- Beetroot (yellow) (alum & K2Cr2O7)
- Turmeric (spice) --bright yellow
- Oxallis - the one with the yellow flowers. Use the flower heads, some stem ok. It is nearly fluorescent yellow, and quite colorfast on alum mordanted wool.
- Dahlia Flowers (Red, yellow, orange flowers) make a lovely yellow to orange dye for wool.
- Mulga Acacia -(flowers) - yellow
- Sunflowers - (flowers) - yellow
- Saffron (stigmas) - yellow
- Safflower (flowers, soaked in water) - yellow
- Syrian Rue (glows under black light)
- Red Clover (whole blossom, leaves and stem); alum mordant; Gold.
- Yellow cone flower (whole flower head); chrome mordant; Brass to Greeney-Brass.
- Onion (skins)
- Alfalfa (seeds) - yellow
- Marigold (blossoms)
- Willow (leaves)
- Queen Anne's Lace
- Heather - (plant) - yellow
- St. John's Wort - (flowers & leaves) - gold/yellow
- Burdock
- Celery (leaves)
- Golden Rod (flowers)
- Sumac (bark) - The inner pith of Sumac branches can produce a super bright yellow color.
- Weld (bright yellow)
- Cameleon plant (golden)
- Mimosa - (flowers) yellow
- Dandelion flower
- Osage Orange also known as Bois d'arc or hedgeapple (heartwood, inner bark, wood, shavings or sawdust) (pale yellow)
- Daffodil flower heads (after they have died); alum mordant
- Mullen (leaf and root) pale yellow. *careful, because the little fuzzy hairs can make one itchy!
- Hickory leaves (yellow) if plenty of leaves are boiled and salt added.
- Tea ( ecru color)
- Yellow, Curly, Bitter, or Butter Dock (despite various leaf shapes, all have a bright yellow taproot) gives you a yellow/flesh color.
- White mulberry tree (bark) Cream color onto white or off-white wool. Alum mordant.
- Paprika ( shade of pale yellow - light orange)
- Beetroot (yellow) (alum & K2Cr2O7)
- Turmeric (spice) --bright yellow
- Oxallis - the one with the yellow flowers. Use the flower heads, some stem ok. It is nearly fluorescent yellow, and quite colorfast on alum mordanted wool.
- Dahlia Flowers (Red, yellow, orange flowers) make a lovely yellow to orange dye for wool.
- Mulga Acacia -(flowers) - yellow
- Sunflowers - (flowers) - yellow
