STUDIO LAURA DAZA
BURNT SIENNA
Colour Transitions
Rembrandt photo webmuseum
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BURNT SIENNA
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Introduction
Introduction
The inspiration for this project comes from my love for Italy and colours. Burnt sienna pop up as an intuitive project. While developing my previous project Colour provenance I discover this fascinating colour story. When moving to Italy I became quite interested in their traditional colours, earths and authentic techniques for colour making during the Renaissance such as roasting siennas and umbers for obtaining more colours. I decided to hunt and search this traditional colour. As a colour alchemist and with the guidance of a geologist, through trial and error I learnt how to identify earths, extract, ground, purify, mix, sieve, and apply natural colours on surfaces.
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Introduction
The phenomena that yellow ochre when heated converts to red ochre has been known since the Paleolithic, which not only makes it the first synthetic pigment but also the earliest form of pyrotechnology.
Introduction
Still life Burnt sienna
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Introduction
Introduction
Raw sienna and burnt sienna pigments
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Burnt sienna Burnt sienna pigment is the result of heating yellow coloured ochre, which becomes a reddish-brown and it takes the name of the Italian city of Siena, where it was widely produced during the Renaissance.
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Burnt sienna
Burnt sienna
Colour transition
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Burnt sienna
The project
Burnt sienna pigment is the result of heating yellow coloured ochre, which becomes a reddish-brown and it takes the name of the city of Siena, where it was widely produced during the Renaissance. This heating transformation process was also used to increase colours in the painter’s palette; used by artistis including Caravaggio and Rembrandt, due to its effective use, excellent coating power and tincting strength. Burnt sienna hopes to celebrate and reinterpret this ancient technique of colour making by exploring the application of these colour transitions onto contemporary objects.
Burnt sienna
Still life Burnt sienna pigment
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Burnt sienna
Material exploration
Burnt sienna
Burnt sienna pigment
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Burnt sienna
Material and colour board
Burnt sienna
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Burnt sienna
The colour
The original pigment is a type of yellow ochre, traditionally known as ´raw sienna’ and it takes the name from the city where it was widely extracted from, Siena in Italy. The yellow ochre is rich in goethite minerals that when heated it changes its colour to a reddish-brown. This phenomenon of colour transition is caused by a process of dehydration, which affects the mineralogical composition and therefore colour changes. Today, this ‘yellow earth’ is almost forgotten and under appreciated been replaced by new synthetic alternatives.
Burnt sienna
Raw sienna pigment
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Burnt sienna
Yellow ochre
Burnt sienna
Extracted earth samples
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Burnt sienna
Burnt sienna
Collecting samples
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Pirotechnia The phenomenon that yellow ochre when heated converts to red ochre has been known since the Paleolithic.
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Pirotechnia
Pirotechnia
Material and colour exploration
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Pirotechnia
The process
Inspired by this traditional colour transformation technique of burning colour, I created a series of step-heating experiments starting from 200 degree celcius up to 900 degree celcius, to characterise the thermally induced transitions. Various degrees of heat will produce a series of shades from yellow through red and reddish-brown. I worked at a geological laboratory with the guidance of a geologist we roasted the yellow pigment.
Pirotechnia
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Pirotechnia
Pirotechnia
Burnt material samples
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Pirotechnia
Pirotechnia
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Working in a geological laboratory to study and clean the collected samples
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Pirotechnia
Burnt samples at different temperatures from 200 - 900 degree celcius
Pirotechnia
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Pirotechnia
Kiln used to fire and roast pigments
Pirotechnia
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Colour Application Based on ancient rituals of colour alchemy, the collection focuses on translating colour and capturing these coloured particles onto the surface to create unique prints.
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Colour application
Colour application
Pigment application to fabrics
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Colour application
Material exploration
This project hopes to celebrate this ancient technique of burning coloured pigments, by exploring the potential use and application of these colour transitions onto contemporary objects. Also inspired by the Italian Renaissance technique for fixing pigments and embellishing surfaces called ‘scagliola’ a collection of vessels and prints was crafted, which mixes new materials to create beauty out of recycled paper and handcrafted colouring matter.
Colour application
Material board
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Colour application
Colour application
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Special thanks to all the people who made this project possible. I want to thank my beloved and supportive husband and family. and IPG Instituto di prove geotecniche