BEHIND THE BRAND:
LUTEA

Anne-Sylvie originally studied Sculpture, Installation, and Performance at the ERG (School of Graphic Research) in Brussels followed by further study in Pedagogy and Agriculture in Spain. But after a brief spell working in printmaking where she started formulating dyes for textiles, and inspired by a book on plant cultures for pigments, she decided to focus on traditional and environmentally-conscious alternatives to non-natural colours.

Her studies in pigments and dyes were self-led, seeking out workshops and texts by experts in the field, including the French botanist and dyer, Michel Garcia, and Belgian colourmaker Isabelle Roeloefs. Over time she set about investing in the equipment she needed to carry out pigment extraction and began rigorous tests to find the plants she wished to extract pigments from. Once Anne-Sylvie had achieved the best lightfastness and colour quality, she perfected twelve beautiful translucent shades for watercolour painting and Lutea was born.

We visited the Lutea laboratory to experience Anne-Sylvie’s artisanal colourmaking process first-hand. Based in a property near Jodoigne in Belgium, where she also lives, her workspace is a compact, organised space with whitewashed stone walls, well-worn concrete floors, and busy wooden sideboards. The sound of bubbling water fills the laboratory while mist rises from steaming vats. A system of racks and shelves cluttered with scales, sieves, flasks and beakers, muslin bags, and all the apparatus required for carrying out extraction, filtration, grinding, and bottling up of pigments keeps things in order. 

Being located in the heart of Belgium makes it easier for clients, artists, and students to visit. For Anne-Sylvie, education is an important aspect of Lutea, keeping the traditions of this ancient practice alive for future generations. Outside of her work producing the Lutea colours, she also works regularly with artists, extracting specific pigments to order from a wider variety of plants. She says, “The range of colours from plants, fungi, insects and molluscs is very wide and can be the subject of numerous research”.

If you’ve ever browsed Lutea Extra Fine Natural Watercolours on our website, it’s likely that the range of 12 earthy colours appears rather small in comparison to other professional watercolour ranges with 30, 40, or more colours. But there is a good reason why Lutea’s range is smaller. Each of the pigments used to create the range has been painstakingly extracted by hand. For example, indigo is extracted from Persicaria Tinctoria while the reds and pinks of Garance are extracted from Ribia Tinctoria. The yellow of Gaude is extracted from Reseda Luteola. The plant-based pigments chosen for the Lutea range have been used since antiquity, and are colours that have been sought out and enjoyed by painters for centuries.

The plants Anne-Sylvie works with are either cultivated by herself at a local communal farm, recycled from local agricultural residues, or gleaned from local wild plants. Only the cochineal insects come from the Canary Islands, the Logwood from Latin America, and the Madder from France, Iran, or Morocco.

In total, Anne-Sylvie works with twelve plants and one species of insect: Walnut husks (Brown), Meadowsweet flowers (Green), Thyme (Dark Orange), Cosmos Sulphureus flowers (Orange), Madder roots (Red and Pink), Cochineal (Carmine), Goldenrod (Yellow), Strawberry leaves (Grey), Logwood extract (Purple), Tormentille plants (Grey), Weld (Yellow) and Persicaria Tinctoria and Rubia Tinctoria (Indigo). She is currently researching a new colour derived from Avocado peel.

The indigo Anne-Sylvie grows and farms herself, at a foundation located at the Balbrière Farm in Ottignies, Belgium, called ‘The Growing Tree’, a short drive away from the Lutea laboratory. The foundation is made up of a number of outward-looking businesses and activities, with a focus on holistic ecology and sustainable living practices.

The cocktail of dyes found in plants tends to have a multitude of functions; not only do they colour the plant, but they can also aid in attracting pollinators (insects such as bees), defend against predators and offer sun protection.

These natural dyes are extracted using a ‘herbal tea’ process, immersing the plants in hot water. Each colour requires water of a certain temperature and immersion for a specific amount of time. This bathing may happen several times over to get the correct level of extraction sought for a particular colour. Metallic salt added to the colour formula will also influence the colour of the pigment. Once the pigment is formed in the liquids, the colour is filtered and cleaned by pouring through cotton muslin bags. The resulting matter is then dried and finely ground to a quality suitable for fine art materials.

A dye solution in which a metal salt has been dissolved constitutes a chelate: a hybrid molecule of organic/metallic nature. Such a solution can be used, in certain cases, as a fluid ink. If an alkaline (or basic) substance is added to this solution, the metallic salt decomposes and turns into an insoluble ‘metallic hydrate’. Coloured particles then form in the solution consisting of the now insoluble metallic substance with which the dye is associated. The set of bright and colourful particles settle at the bottom of the liquid and form a pigment lacquer. 

All lacquers can be frozen to facilitate and improve the filtration process. Different extractions can create different colours. For example, a succession of extractions of dyes from the crushed roots form the reds and roses of Madder, to create different reds, pinks, and orange pinks. 

All the ingredients and related factors can influence the outcome of extraction and filtration processes; such as the climate, the fertilisation, the soil quality, and the rainwater that the growing plant experiences. The set of variables found within the process of natural plant-based pigment extraction is vast. This adds to the preciousness of the colour, a quality in common with refined oil, perfume, or a fine wine.

Towards the end of the grinding process, Anne-Sylvie observes the colour obtained in the form of pigment before grinding it to optimum particle size and integrating it into a watercolour binder. At its optimum, light is able to pass through it fully.

Several grinding stages in different machines are necessary to obtain the desired fineness for grinding with paint binders. This process can take up to three different grinding machines. Each pigment needs to be ground to a specific size in order for the appearance and performance of the pigment to be at its optimum. One tonne of indigo leaves will, in the end, produce just ten kilogrammes of pigment.

Some of the pigment Anne-Sylvie makes is put into bottles and labelled to be sold as dry pigment for artists, while the rest is taken to Isabelle Roeloefs, the artisan Belgian paintmaker of Isaro watercolours and oil paints. Isabelle blends the pigment into a high quality gum arabic-based binder before returning the paint to Anne-Sylvie, who then labels the tubes prior to distribution.

Lutea’s production is a small-scale, comparatively sustainable, low-impact operation. Lutea watercolour paints are truly unique in that Anne-Sylvie single-handedly extracts the pigments for every colour in the range. This incredible labour of love gives her art materials a handmade authenticity while offering artists the beauty and richness of the earth’s natural colours.

Made using the finest pigments from natural raw materials, these extra fine watercolours are vibrant and have superb lightfastness. The range is an amazing opportunity to rediscover rare and beautiful natural colours extracted from carefully chosen noble plants and one scale insect.

A range of naturally derived rare dry artist pigments that offer the possibility to create paint mixtures which cannot be achieved with synthetic colours. Many of the pigments have been extracted from plants grown under the care and expertise of artisan and founder of Lutea, Anne-Sylvie Godeau.