I thought I would just update you all about the state of my verdigris pigment production. Well, the good news is that it’s going well so far.

This photo was taken the first time I had the copper out of its pot. This was about a week after starting, and I was amazed at how fast the verdigris had formed.

Verdigris pigment production - one week in

Verdigris pigment

Here’s the pigment I scraped off…

Verdigris pigment in a pot, week one.

…and here’s what it looks like in a little pot – the diameter of the pot is 4cm, just to give you an idea of scale.

I put the copper back, waited for a fortnight, repeated the whole process, and this is how much pigment I have now collected –

Verdigris pigment in a jar after three weeks

I’ll leave it for another fortnight, there or thereabouts, after which I should have enough pigment to heat it with a balsam. And then we’ll find out whether this whole experiment has been worth doing – or a complete waste of time!