“Travel back in time” and learn how the old masters made paint. Using all organic materials you too can produce vivid, rich colors to begin creating your very own masterpiece.

1. DIY Vegetable Paints
This PowerPoint is part of
the Science Projects Series

2. Pigments
• A pigment is a
substance that gives
color to another
substance.
• Pigments can be found
throughout nature in
clays, herbs, berries, fr
uits, vegetables, etc.

3. Pigments
• For this DIY project
pigments of organic
materials will be
responsible for color
of the paints.

4. Advantages of Organic Paint
• There are many
advantages of organically
made paint including:
– Non-toxicity and even
edible in some cases
– Sustainable because they
are made from renewable
resources and require less
energy to be produced

5. Materials
• Boiled Water
• Small containers
• Tablespoon
• Powdered Sugar
• Organic Materials (in this case
beets, lemons, purple cabbage, & instant coffee)
• Strainer
• Baking Soda
• Flour (optional – adding flour to the paints will
give them a thicker consistency)

6. Magenta

7. 1. Chop beets up into small cubes
2. Place cubed beets into a Ziploc bag
3. Mash beets in Ziploc bags until flattened
4. Take two tablespoons of mashed beets and place it
into a small container
5. Pour two tablespoons of boiling water into container
with beets and let it stand for 10 minutes (do not use
too much water as the color will not be as
concentrated)
6. After 10 minutes strain the mixture into a separate
container
7. Combine the strained beet juice and three
tablespoons of powdered sugar
8. Begin painting a masterpiece!

8. Purple

9. 1. Finely chop cabbage
2. Take two tablespoons of the chopped cabbage
and place it into a smaller container
3. Pour two tablespoons of boiling water into
container with beets and let it stand for 10
minutes (do not use too much water as the color
will not be as concentrated)
4. After 10 minutes strain the mixture into a
separate container
5. Combine the strained beet juice and three
tablespoons of powdered sugar
6. Begin painting a masterpiece!

10. Blue

11. 1. Follow the same directions for making purple
paint
2. Once your purple paint is made mix in two
teaspoons of baking soda
3. Voila! Begin painting a blue masterpiece

12. Fun Fact!
• Scientific theory: Cabbage juice is an indicator
of pH therefore it can reveal whether a
substance is an acid or a base. Cabbage juice
will turn pink when you add an acid, such as
vinegar and blue when you add a base, such
as baking soda.

13. Yellow

14. 1. Grate half a cup of lemon skins.
2. Take two tablespoons of the grated lemon skin
and place it into a smaller container
3. Pour two tablespoons of boiling water into
container with beets and let it stand for 10
minutes (do not use too much water as the color
will not be as concentrated)
4. After 10 minutes strain the mixture into a
separate container
5. Combine the strained lemon skin juice and three
tablespoons of powdered sugar
6. Begin painting a masterpiece!

15. Green

16. 1. Mix the yellow paint made from lemon skins
and the blue paint made from the baking
soda cabbage paint mixture.
2. Voila, you have green!

17. Brown

18. 1. Take one tablespoon of instant coffee and
place it into a small container.
2. Dissolve the powder coffee in a two
tablespoons of hot water. (You can add more
coffee to achieve a stronger hue).
3. Combine the coffee and water mixture with
three tablespoons of powdered sugar
4. Begin painting a masterpiece!

19. For more information on topics like this visit our
Resource page at www.Microempowering.org