Materials, Tools, Techniques and Safety
This unit rewards precision about what a material is and what it does to the body. Expect matching (tool ↔ craft), short notes on natural pigments, and safety questions where the “obvious” answer is wrong because traditional does not mean harmless.
Materials and tools by craft
- Painting: cotton gauze, tamarind-seed paste, chalk, conch-shell burnisher, bamboo-handled mouse-hair brush, natural gum binder.
- Palm leaf: mature dried leaves, iron stylus, soot-and-oil ink, cloth binding.
- Stone: point, claw, flat and bull-nose chisels, mallet, carborundum for abrasion.
- Wood: gouges, chisels, mallet, saw, clamps, seasoned timber.
- Pottery: wheel, beating paddle, kiln; terracotta needs controlled, slow firing.
- Textile: dye vats, tying thread, mordants (alum, ferrous sulphate), loom.
Safety rules that carry marks
Orpiment (haritala) is arsenic sulphide: grind it damp, wear a respirator and gloves, never eat or drink in the workspace. Stone and clay dust are respiratory hazards - wet the surface, wear a dust mask and eye protection. Fix the workpiece; cut away from the body; keep chisel edges capped. Firing areas need ventilation and burn protection. Mordants irritate skin and dye effluent must not enter drains or fields.
Worked example
Safety plan for grinding haritala: work outdoors or under extraction, wet-grind to suppress dust, wear N95 and nitrile gloves plus goggles, label the container with the hazard, wash hands before breaks, and store away from food. Naming the specific hazard earns the mark; “be careful” earns none.
Traps
Assuming “natural” equals “safe”; wearing loose gloves near a rotating wheel; dry-grinding toxic pigments; pouring mordant liquor into a drain; using unseasoned timber and blaming the tool when it splits.