Natural Earth and Ocher pigments are composed entirely of natural colours from the earth. Due to their semi-transparent properties, they may not impart as intense of a tint as manufactured Oxides when used in opaque mediums like plasters or white paints.

Tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides) bark 

 red/brown

Pigment: 

obtained from Phormium tenax, Harekeke / the New Zealand flax plant.

PG17

Chromium Oxide Green

PG17

copper carbonate

The Arahura River

Kawakawa Pounamu, named after the kawakawa leaf,is the darkest green shade of all pounamu, ranging from emerald-green to almost black, and its rich and intense tone often includes tiny dark inclusions/flecks. 

As an opaque stone, it is only translucent at the extreme edges of a slab or when very thinly sliced and held up to the light.

Silicate of calcium and magnesium

Colour Index: PG - green

Hiding power: Opaque

Lightfastness: Good. Permanent to UV

Obtained from Kahikatea berries 

#PR102

Rose red: Quinacridone Rose pigment PV19

Cool red: Quinacridone Magenta pigment PR122

Red Ochre

Pigment: Indigo

Colour Index: VB1

Hiding power: Transparent

Lightfastness: Moderate

gentian violet

Our New Zealand made Activated charcoal is sustainably made shells from bi-products produced by our forestry and milling industries. 

Activated carbon has an almost unbelievable surface area. Just one teaspoon (5 ml) of activated carbon has a surface area of between 1 and 2 hectares (10,000 m² – 20,000 m²).

Adsorbance (as opposed to absorbance) is the measure of how much microscopic matter can stick to a surface. As you can imagine, a substance with a super-high surface area can have a lot of stuff stick to it. The superior adsorbance of Activated Charcoal is responsible for its detoxifying and cleansing properties.

The activation stage of activated carbon involves very high temperatures without burning (oxidising) the material. This process evaporates virtually all of the other elements and leaves a product that is made up of around 95% carbon, 5% oxygen, and trace amounts of other common elements. 

The remaining activated carbon is itself an effective adsorber of impurities, so anything that’s left besides carbon after activation is completely bound to the product. It’s pure because it’s a purifier!

Dioxazine violet PV23 (or it's cousin PV37)  is a lightfast to impermanent, semitransparent, heavily staining, very dark valued, dull violet pigment, available from about 30 pigment manufacturers worldwide for use in plastics, inks, paints and foods. The hue is similar to (but much darker than) ultramarine violet or cobalt violet deep. Its tinting strength is very high, on a par with phthalo green (PG7) and phthalo blue (PB15). 

PV23 is a good choice for color point 6 on the color wheel, is useful for reducing the saturation of paints on both the warm and cool sides of the color wheel, and produces potent dark shades when mixed with the likes of phthalo green (PG7) or quinacridone violet (PV19).

Dioxazine Purple is one of the bluest shades of violet I tested. But even so it is a violet, therefore falls between red and blue. It mixes well with most other pigments in our pallet. The red characteristic of this pigment mixes well with any yellow, orange, red or violet and the blue characteristic of this pigment mixes well with most blue, turquoise or green. "

"While Dioxazine Purple is classed as ASTM II it is right at the top end of ASTM II colors and has a reputation in industry for very little fading and only then in the lightest tints. In short, Dioxazine Purple is a very light-fast pigment that can be used with confidence by the artist."

 Dioxazine/Carbazole comes from coal tar.

"It can be created synthetically, but the process isn’t economically viable.