Casein paint, derived from milk casein (

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

protein), is a fast-drying, water-soluble medium used by artists.

Description

It generally has a glue-like consistency, but can be thinned with water to the degree that fits a particular artist's style and desired result. It can be used on canvas panels, illustration boards, paper, wood, and masonite. Because the dried paint film is inflexible and brittle, it is not appropriate for heavy

impasto Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides tex ...

on flexible supports like canvas; canvas laminated to board is more suitable. Casein paint is reworkable and can be used for underpainting. It generally dries to a matte finish.

Uses

Casein paint has been used since ancient Egyptian times as a form of distemper paint, and is still used today. One of the qualities for which artists value casein paint is that unlike gouache, it dries to an even consistency, making it ideal for murals. Also, it can visually resemble

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

more than most other water-based paints, and works well as an underpainting. Casein paint loses its solubility with time and exposure and becomes water-resistant. It is suited most to inflexible surfaces, including furniture. It can be buffed to a soft velvet finish when dry, or varnished for a gloss finish.

Manufacture

The binder for casein paint is made by dissolving casein in an alkali, usually lime, ammonium carbonate, or borax. Casein itself is precipitated from milk by the action of an acid or the enzyme rennet. Lime casein works well on porous surfaces, even outdoors, though it has a short shelf life and must be used with pigments that are balanced against the binder's low pH. Ammonium carbonate casein has similar strengths and weaknesses. Borax casein has a shelf life of several weeks, is pH neutral, and can be used outdoors through the addition of

linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colorless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...

Casein artists

Yantonai Dakota artist Oscar Howe of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

used casein extensively. Santa Clara Pueblo artist Pablita Velarde created a series of more than 70 paintings of everyday Native American life in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

for Bandelier National Monument between 1937 and 1943, painted mostly on masonite using casein paints. Casein was widely used by commercial illustrators as the material of choice until the late 1960s when, with the advent of acrylic paint, casein became less popular. John Berkey continued to use casein in combination with acrylics in most of his paintings. ''Dick Tracy'' (1960), and ''Popeye'' (1960), two early paintings by Andy Warhol, who had been a commercial illustrator before becoming a fine artist, were painted with casein.

References

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External links