[Jehan Chumomisto]

The next brightening Jehan awoke and did a few small things around the vardo before going to see Anagaja for his continued lesson. When he arrived she was waiting for him sitting in a chair answering “Come in” to the knock at the door. Jehan entered to see that there was nothing ser out on the table besides jars of hard pigments of different colors. He sat down in the chair that he was used to sitting in with a curious look in his eye at the old woman. “We shall start the brightening with some information you Jehan. But first I will leave the floor open to any questions you may have about anything.”

She paused for a moment and Jehan shook his head “I don’t have any questions yet” he said being honest. He couldn’t think of anything at the moment and couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps he was slow in getting them. The smile and the clap of the old womans hands reassured him that that wasn’t the case at all.

“Then I must be a better teacher than I though eh?” she laughed and she too looked at the jars. “These are the pigments that are used for tattooing, I am going to give you a basic rundown on them all and if we have time maybe let you have a hand and mixing some of them, sounds good no?” She asked as Jehan nodded. “Black comes from Carbon, usually soot as I have already told you. Brown comes from Ochre, which is naturally yellow in color however when it is dehydrated by heating it turns to a brownish color. Red is a potentially dangerous one as it is made of rust and can potentially make some users sick” Allergies is what she was talking about though she did not say the word. “This is why you always test the ink in a small spot on a person before doing the tattoo.

“Orange comes from Ochres as well however orange colored one which are submerged in water and then condensated before being collected. Yellow come from plain ochres as well as ginger plants. Blue is usually made from cooper salts as it is the safest way to do so. To achieve green you must mix pigments together usually rust and copper salt. Violet is Manganese Violet or Various aluminum salts. Which can be any of the following: Lead White, Titanium dioxide, Barium Sulfate, Zinc Oxide and can be used either on it’s own or to lighten the colors of ink.”

She thought for a moment before continuing. “It is easy to mix pigments if you want to alter a color or create a new one if you don’t have the pigments for another. Much the same way as painting. You will spend most of your time experimenting with colors from now on until you have become really good. Is there anything I left out? Any questions now?”

Jehan shook his head again “No, not yet…It is pretty straight forward.”

“We shall see” she smiled a rather toothless smile.