So you are on your journey to making your own watercolor paint. Congratulations! Maybe you have already read:
and
If not, it is completely fine to start here! This post talks about making watercolor pigment from rock. If you are interested in making watercolor pigment from plants, please visit How to Make Watercolor Lake Pigment
Soil and rock come in all different colors. That's great because you definitely want your paint to come in all different colors! Here's how you can begin.
Ethically source your rocks from your backyard or somewhere it is allowed to collect rock. A lot of state parks have their rocks protected by law, and you don't want to trespass on other's property without permission. Make sure you are doing it the right way, stress free!
When you have collected your rock, wrap it up in an old towel, find and wear some safety glasses, and whack it with a hammer. Once it is broken up into smaller pieces, put those in a mortar and use a pestle to grind it up to a powder. The finer the better. Once you have ground it as much as possible, you have pigment! You can store this pigment in jars or go ahead and make paint right away.
I like collecting rock and soil from places I visit. Talk about collecting memories!!!