This week in Suhu's Studio, me and my peers are going to experience smashing the rocks for its pigment. Cleanness and neatness is a must in our lecturers studio, so he laid out a mat/cloth for us to work in so the rocks doesn't dirty the floor. We will be using red rocks to obtain red pigment.
The rocks that are used to obtains its pigment
Work space
Pigment of the rocks
Smashing the rocks to bits
First, we have to identify the rocks surface, any other color other than red are to chipped away so it will not ruin the color .In my case, the rocks surface contains blackish and yellowish surface, black is considered fine as long theres red in it, the yellow however are to be removed. Using a hammer and a rock solid mold. We identified, chipped and placed the rocks into the mold, ready to be smashed. We took turns smashing the rock, the process is indeed tiring as the rocks are not easily shattered to small pieces easily and requires a lot of force. Smashing the pigment to tiny pieces takes almost 10 - 20 minutes each round. So, we mostly do about 2 rounds before tiring ourselves and switching turns. It was indeed a tiring and time consuming process. It makes me wonder how artist in the past endure this process without technology for years.
Scooping the pigment
Into the grinder
Grinder placed on top the roller
Hours pass, we finally finish smashing the rocks and we were all tired. On our final step, we scooped the pigment into the grinder to be processed further. We tighten the cover of the grinder and placed it on top of the roller. As we turn on the roller, the sounds of the rocks smashing was heard and it was really loud. Our lecturer told us, as the rocks are smashing the sound would gradually decrease as the pigment is bring processed. So, to end our day we left the grinder running for an estimate of 32 hours and the next week we would experience swilling the pigment.
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