Make Fresh Milk Paint, Nick Kroll (book)

Make Fresh Milk Paint by Nick Kroll, Lost Art Press. Make your own fresh milk paint from household materials, a little hydrated lime and any pigment you like, for about $6 a quart and ten minutes' work. Nick Kroll spent two years developing and testing his recipe, based on historical casein paint recipes plus a little modern ingenuity.

The paint goes on like an acrylic and dries fast, so you can apply four coats in a day. Once dry it has a low lustre and hardens to an incredibly durable finish, which can be left as is or topcoated with wax, oil or whatever you prefer. With inexpensive powdered pigments you can mix any colour, from natural earth pigments to synthetic hues.

In the 100-page pocket book, Nick shows how to make the paint with kitchen equipment: a blender, saucepan and strainer. The base is fresh quark, available in many stores or easily made from skim milk and vinegar. Mix water, a little hydrated lime, the quark and pigment, and the paint is ready. The book is 4" × 6 1/2", sewn and bound in cloth-covered boards.