Milk Paint, Tempera and Casein Plastic recipes...

One day, Leonardo daVinci boiled together glue, eggs, vegetable dyes, saffron, p oppy dust, and whole lilies (among other things), and created a mixture that har dened into what he described as plastic glass. Leonardo painted different surfaces with many layers of his mixture and discovered that when the mixture dried, it could be carved into useful objects such as chess pieces, knife handles, candleh olders, and salt shakers. For centuries the recipe for Leonardo s plastic glass was lost to history, but in 2004 an Italian scholar searching through Leonardo s writings discovered all of th e ingredients Leonardo used to create his plastic glass and it worked! Alessandro Vezzosi followed Leonardo s recipe and painted cabbage and lettuce leaves, paper, and even ox intestines, just like Leonardo did 400 years before. When the mixtur e dried, it turned to Leonardo s plastic glass. While this recipe doesn t involve boiling lilies or eggs, combining the following ingredients over heat will result in a natural plastic that you can shape, dry, carve, and paint, very similar to Leonardo s plastic glass. PLASTIC GLASS What you ll need - 1/2 cup heavy cream - up to 1/2 cup white vinegar What to do 1 Pour the cream into a saucepan and heat. Do not let it boil. 2 When it starts to simmer, stir in two spoonfuls of vinegar. Slowly simmer over medium heat. You will start to see yellowish lumps (curds) forming. These curds are a mixture of fat, minerals, and the protein casein (a natural plastic). 3 Keep adding vinegar and stirring until the liquid turns mostly to curds. Take it off the heat, let it cool, then strain the liquid from the casein curds and r inse the curds in cool water. 4 Knead the curds until they stick together and have the consistency of a ball o f dough. Then shape it any way you like and let it dry overnight. EGG TEMPERA PAINT What you ll need dirt and two rocks egg yolk brush painting surface What to do 1 Here s an easy way to make your own paint. Go outside and find some interesting colored dirt, or even a crumbly piece of brick. Scoop up a little, let it dry ov ernight, and then crush the dirt between two rocks so it s powdery. 2 Mix the dirt with some egg yolk, and paint it on a piece of paper, a board, or even a flat rock. Try experimenting with dirt taken from different locations you ll be surprised at the variety of colors plain old dirt can have. 3 Try other ingredients: the pistils or stamens of daylilies, for example, will make a bright yellow paint, as will crumbled saffron. Charcoal will make a grayi sh black paint. Experiment with natural ingredients you can find around your hou se, yard, or park. Just remember that in order to work well, they need to be cru shed to a fine powder, then mixed with the egg yolk. MILK PAINT

Materials Lemon 1 quart skim milk Sieve Cheesecloth Dry color pigment or artists' acrylic paint. (Or grind your own as above) Steps Step 1 Mix the juice of a lemon with 1 quart of skim milk in a large bowl. Leave the mixture overnight at room ++temperature to induce curdling. Step 2 Pour it through a sieve lined with cheesecloth to separate the solid curd s from the liquid whey. Add 4 tablespoons of dry color pigment (available at art -supply stores) to the curd; be sure to wear a mask, and stir until the pigment is evenly dispersed. Artists' acrylic paint also can be used in place of powdere d pigment. Step 3 Add it one drop at a time, and stir constantly until you achieve the desi red hue. Whether pigment- or acrylic-based, milk paint will spoil quickly, so it should be applied within a few hours of mixing. Rest assured, its sour smell wi ll disappear once the paint dries. If you prefer, you can purchase milk paint ra ther than make it yourself.

Homemade Gesso: Couple things about this it is a little rougher than normal gesso but it does sa nd nicely. Because of the baby powder it will be a little chalkier when sanding so use a fine sand paper. Cure time is 24 hours but you can speed it up with a hair dyer or a heat gun. 1 part white glue (I used cheap white glue from the Dollar Store - you can a lso use PVA glue or Elmer's) 3 parts water (since I used the cheap white glue I should have decreased the water to 2 parts) 6 parts baby powder (since I used way more water than what I should have, I used more baby powder. I did not measure I tilted the baby powder container and squeezed - scientific I know) I added some Titanium White from the an almost empty 2 oz. tube of Liquitex (there was maybe a TBSP left in it.) I mixed everything in a air tight container the constancy is like a pancake batt er - it will settle (like normal Gesso) so you will need to mixed it before use. Surprisingly it takes paint really well, it also sands nicely. It also way ch eaper than "real" gesso For a somewhat Durable sculpting medium, on-the-cheap... Baker's Clay... 8 cups flour 3 cups salt (can be swirled in blender or food processor to make finer) 3 cups warm water optional 2 T. cooking oil (proportions can be varied a bit,,,I usually use 2 part flour, 1 part water. 1 p art salt) Mix flour and salt together, then add water and oil, kneading 5-10 minutes till smooth. If too wet, knead in more flour; if too dry, add a bit

more water. Wrap with plastic wrap and let set at room temperature at least 1-2 hours. Letting it set for a day or even longer allows the salt to partially dissolve, making a smoother dough. Shape as desired. Air dry or bake in oven at lowest temperature. (Get it thoroughly dry) Paint with acrylic or watercolor paints. If desired, dip or spray with glaze.