Pigment Pressing Tutorial :)
Pigment Pressing Tutorial
This is only one way to press pigments. Everyone has their own little tricks and tips. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me :)
Let's start off with what I'm using:
Foil
Palette
Cotton Balls
Rubbing Alcohol (I use 91% and put it in a small dropper bottle for better control)
Toothpicks
Pigments
Scissors
A Quarter
Small Hammer
Measuring Spoon
and Denim Cut Outs
So start off by folding the foil so that you have atleast 3 layers of it:
Then place it over the palette and push the quarter into the hole:
Once you do that, you can use the back of your nail to shape the foil to fit the hole exactly since the quarter is probably smaller than the hole.
take it out and you should have this:
next cut the foil so you have only a little bit more than the shape of the hole:
then fold the excess down on the outside of the foil. Once you've done this, put the foil back into the palette, but try not to let any of the foil fold back up, it will fit kinda funky since it's too big, so it's ok to wrinkle it up a bit and i use the quarter to push down (it makes it easier):
once you've gotten it in, you can take the quarter out, and i use the back of my nail to push the foil up against the hole walls of the palette, this flattens it:
and it should look something like this now:
i fill it up halfway with alcohol and use a cotton ball to wipe it down:
now i start with putting the pigments in the pan, this is gold mode:
then i add chocolate brown:
i pat it down with a toothpick:
and then add some coco beach:
next i add some alcohol:
and keep adding until all the pigment in the pan is wet:
then i mix it around with a toothpick:
once all the colors are completely mixed, i now have somewhat of an idea of what this color looks like and i can add different colors depending on what i want the final color to look like:
and i just continue to add and mix until it's the right texture. one way to tell if you're mixture is ready to be left alone is the toothpick...if it looks like this:
then you need to keep adding more pigment. when it's ready it should look something like this:
and the toothpick should be free of too much pigment sticking to it.
now just use the toothpick to even it out in the pan, patting it down:
and then let it sit so the alcohol can evaporate. here's what it looks like once it's ready to be pressed ( I let it sit for 2 hours):
since it's a homemade pan i can't trust it to keep it's size once i press, so i put it inside the palette again to press:
place the denim on top of it, then the quarter, and push down on the quarter so that you have positioned correctly:
then you can use the bottom of the small hammer to push down and add more pressure:
then you're done! you can leave it in the palette or take it out:
i normally leave them alone overnight, so that i know they're completely dry when i want to swatch/use them because even though the isopropyl in the alcohol is gone, rubbing alcohol also contains water, and that takes longer to dry :)
Here are some past things that I've made by pressing pigments:
