Painting with Soil | Montana NRCS
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Painting with Soil

Soils are an important foundation for the landscapes that surround us. Soils also make an important contribution to the beautiful colors we see in nature every day. Though many of us forget to appreciate the beauty that the various soils of Montana bring to our lives, artists often use soils as pigments in bricks, pottery, and art work because of their natural beauty. Often, the colors of soil blend with those of vegetation, sky, and water.

The color and texture of soil painting is a fascinating and creative opportunity for students of all ages. Use these instructions to help your own students to collect and process soil for making paint. This is an art project that will capture their imaginations as well as teaching some fundamental properties of soil.

Materials

Many of these materials may be readily accessible art supplies at your school. Be sure to collect only soils from your local area or your state. Do not obtain soil samples from other states or geographical regions. Soil contains living organisms such as fire ants that you would not want to import to your backyard!

  1. A variety of soil samples with differing colors and textures (dried in the air)

    • About 2/3 cup of each color of soil is needed for a classroom project (20-25 students).

    • The quantity is based on the texture of the soil and the sifting process. A little more soil is needed for those with larger particles like sand, rocks, or minerals (1 cup). A little less is needed for finer soils (1/2 cup) since they go through the sifters nicely.
  2. Resealable gallon-size plastic freezer bags
  3. Rolling pin
  4. Sifters

    • Three different mesh sizes are needed. The smallest mesh should be close to the size of a tea leaf strainer.
  5. Paper plates
  6. Plastic cups

    • Small, short cups such as three-ounce cups work best.
  7. Popsicle sticks or other sticks for stirring.
  8. Water
  9. Clear acrylic medium

    • About one to three teaspoons of medium will be mixed into each soil paint mixture.
  10. Paper

    • Water color art paper works best because it is thicker than “normal” paper and withstands the wetness of the paint without deteriorating.
  11. Fine, black felt tip markers
  12. Paint brushes

    • Students may like to use a variety of sizes. Fine brushes can be used for detailed areas of a painting while medium is good for most other areas, and larger brushes can be used for stippling effects.

Procedure

  • Prepare the soil samples
    1. Collect samples of soils with different colors and textures (about 2/3 cup).
    2. Remove “trash” from the samples you collected. Try to pull out grass, rocks, roots, bugs, etc.
    3. Air dry the soil samples.
    4. Once they are dry, place the soil samples in resealable freezer bags - one for each type of soil.
    5. Use the rolling pin to break down the large peds (natural soil aggregates) in each sample.
    6. Pour the contents of one bag into the sifter with the largest mesh.
    7. Sift the soil through onto a paper plate. Discard the large particles that separate out during sifting.
    8. Pour the contents from the paper plate into the sifter with the medium mesh.
    9. Sift the soil through onto a paper plate and discard the large particles.
    10. Pour the contents from the paper plate into the sifter with the smallest mesh.
    11. Sift the soil through onto a paper plate and discard the large particles.
    12. Repeat steps 6-11 for each bag of soil, keeping the colors separated until you end up with several plates full of fine soil particles that are now ready to be made into paint.
  • For each soil color, pour the finely sifted soil into the three-ounce plastic cups, filling them approximately two-thirds full. You should have enough soil to fill about five cups with one color for groups of students to share.
  • Add enough water to each cup to make a batter the consistency of a “mud brownie.” Stir until combined.
  • Add about one teaspoon of acrylic medium to each cup. Stir until combined and smooth. More medium can be added to get the right consistency.
  • Be careful. Add the liquids sparingly. If you add too much water or acrylic medium, it may dilute the soil so that the color does not come through well in paintings.

“The trick with painting with landscapes is that it’s normally hard to get the color right. But, when I paint with soil, the color comes from nature – and it’s exactly right.” Janis Lang, artist

Artwork Tips and Techniques

A pictograph (cave drawing) is an easier drawing for younger students. This style of drawing is less complex and can be completed in shorter time periods.

When time allows, students can develop a landscape drawing. In landscape drawings, use geographical terms to describe objects and include them in the fore ground, middle ground, and background. Use drawing techniques to add perspective. Add shading and other small details before painting. Using a pencil, start with a basic drawing. Once finalized, have students define the details of their project with the black felt tip markers. The black permanent ink pen will show through the soil paint. Using a variety of brushes, add color to your drawing with the paint samples.

Tip: To accomplish a landscape drawing in a shorter time period, give the students a partially completed drawing. Then, have the students draw in the other elements of the landscape.

Tip: Make a soil painting greeting card by putting information about local soils and soil painting on one side of a page, folding it, then draw and apply soil paint on the front of the card.

For More Information

Learn more about soils and find educational materials for other natural resource topics on the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Education Web site. Drawings to use in painting can also be downloaded and printed from the NRCS Web site.

You can also purchase prepared soil samples from the Montana Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS). To order the soil, submit the Soil Painting Kit form on the Montana SWCS Chapter Web site. Educational materials for soils will be added to the Chapter Web site as they are updated. Check back for new tools.

NRCS is interested in your feedback. Send an e-mail message to NRCS Public Affairs to tell us how this exercise worked in your classroom.

If you encounter any problems with the files provided on this page, please contact Webmaster at 406-587-6945.

This information is also available in Acrobat Reader format.

Painting with Soil (PDF; 263 KB)

Last Modified: 09/18/2008