How do colourants emerge? What ís a colourant? What is colour?

These are all questions that might arise when you think of a painting plants-project. Questions – for a big part – already answered by science. Other interesting questions keep arising during our research. Some examples:

Why do some plants, like Alkanna tinctoria, Rubia tinctorum, and Galium odoratum colourants in their roots?

Are there possibly techniques that can simplify the extraction process?

Is it possible to influence natural colourants, by (for example) changing the pH?

What is photostability and what determines whether a colour is fadeless?

Which binders are best used for different printing techniques and to what extent does this depend on the used colourant or pigment?

A complete overview of the research questions we treat can be found in this overview. Whenever the results of these research questions are known these will be published on this site.
General information on the physical, biological and chemical background of the painting plants-research will be added to the website soon.