Several base materials were used throughout the history for making different paints. There are two main groups of them: artificial and natural based. In the latter case we discern mineral, floral, animal and fungus origin paints. They were used equally for paintings, fabric dying, wall painting, ceramics, and even make up.
Prussian blue is an artificial color also. It was first created about 1705, with mixing potash, ferric sulfate and grease. Mountbatten pink was named after the famous general about 1940 who used this as camouflage color to hide the destroyers for the enemy at twilight and dawn. It was mixed from mauve, light pink and grey. For example, white lead, cadmium yellow and Tiffany blue are artificial colors also.
In ancient Egypt copper carbonate was ground, mixed with grease or resin for making malachite green and used as eye shadow make up, around b.c. 2500. Verdigris was also a paint material in Greece since b.c. 300. The green patina was scraped from copper and used as a pigment. It can be created by soaking copper in vinegar or vine also. For example, galena (greyish black) and raddle are mineral colors too.
Turmeric is a floral based paint which is created from the root of the plant. It was used since about b.c. 3000 in India, the dresses of Hindu brides were colored with it. Julius Caesar mentioned the blue paint made of woad in his description of his campaign in Britain, where the enemy used it as a deterrent war make up. For example, the red of mudder is a floral paint also.
There are less animal based paints. Purple was made of a species of lice, they were dried and ground. Montezuma I. got this material as tax. The red coat of British uniform was dyed with this paint until the 20th century. For example, Tyre purple is an animal color also.
Litmus lilac was made of a species of lichen by drying and grinding. It was very popular about 1300 in Florence. Several species of fungi are used for making paint with ammonia or vinegar, which encompass the range of colors from pastel yellow, through rust red and brown to deep dark green.
Nowadays more paint factory keeps on producing paints based on natural pigments, just as several textile factories work only with these kinds of dyes – since they don’t emit pollutants. Ask for help of an interior designer for choosing one.