Lapis Lazuli was the finest and most expensive blue used by Renaissance painters. In this blog post I show how to make Lapis Lazuli for oil Paint. I will take you through the steps of how I make the paint and apply the paint on canvas or panel.
Step 1.
I first take lapis lazuli powdered pigment out of the jar with my palette knife and make a pile of pigment on my glass plate.
Step 2. Adding Medium to the Lapis Lazuli
Since Lapis Lazuli is ground rock, it can be difficult to work with if you use raw oils to make the paint. Using a bodied oil will help create smoother brushstokes and avoid sinking in of the Lapis Lazuli.
I use Sun-Thickened Walnut Oil as my medium to make the Lapis Lazuli oil paint.
Step 3. Creating a thick paste
I do not mull the Lapis Lazuli with my muller slab as I find the blue looses intensity and greys. The more you mull Lapis, the duller the color seems to get.
I use my palette knife to create a thick paste without loosing the intesity and chroma of the Lapis Lazuli.
Step 4. Applying Lapis to your surface
I use Turpentine as my medium. The Turpentine will allow me to modify the viscosity of the Sun-Thickened oil in the paint.
I apply the paint in thin layers. I can let these layers dry and glaze over new layers to make the blue more intense and luminous.
Here are the art materials you will need:
I hope this quick tutorial was helpful. You can check my video on how I make Lapis Lazuli on my youtube channel Here!