Maya Blue: Pigment Trials

The final step in making the Maya Blue pigment involves heating it. Without this step, the indigo pigment does not gain any special durability. When I was reading about this process, I was surprised at it’s implied simplicity: Mix together and heat. However, something that I am finding out is true for many of these processes is that colour achieved depends on very small variables. An extra hour in the kiln, or 25 °C of heat, can make a significant difference in the end.

It took many attempts to create the blue colour I wanted. But, in the process I found that making Maya green, on the other hand, is quite easy! Batch after batch I saw a slow progression toward blue-ness. My breakthrough came about 4:00 am when, not being able to sleep, I composed a graph of every article and report I had collected on Maya blue. From this I gained a better idea of where good colours might be found inside a set of reasonable limits.

A few more series of test crucibles were needed to really nail the colour, but I could see right away that I was on the right track. As a final test I subjected my new pigment to acetone which normally dissolves all forms of indigo. The clear liquid that resulted means that I have created genuine Maya blue and that I have a very special colour to use in this project.