Artists dry pigments.
So I had learned that in the art world you can get dry pigments, the concept being that it allows painters to mix their own paints (which seems pretty easy enough since your average tube of artists oils is what, pigments and an oil carrier, usually linseed oil I believe.) But then it got me thinking. MIG weathering pigments, and others like them, are pretty much exactly that, pure paint pigment. Correct? So I got to me wondering if it would be possible to use artists dry pigments to make your own weathering powders. But would it be really cost effective? The answer it appears may be yes......very much so. Take this artists website for example:
http://www.danielsmith.com/Item--i-G-284-030
1 lb of pigment goes for just a couple bucks more than a bottle of MIG stuff. Right out of the door I see a few colors that could easily pass for ready to use colors...bone black for "smoke", Buff Titanium Oxide for " MIG "dry mud", burnt sienna might pass for "Vietnam earth" and so on. Then there are the endless combinations you can mix on your own. But of course the key thing here is the big question.....are indeed the MIG pigments (and other similar products) basically the same thing? Meaning are they indeed nothing more than over glorified artists pigments simply premixed to their liking to make the colors they sell? Will an artist dry pigment act the same as a MIG (et al) act the same? So I guess that is my question, are these products similar? I am lead to believe yes since I did also find this website while doing some google-fu which shows you indeed how to paint and weather using dry pigments:
http://chestofcolors.com/how-to-paint-with-dry-pigments/
I am tempted to try this out myself to see if it works, because if it does it may open up a world of economical possibilities. But like the idea of sounding out more experienced persons here first of all for their opinion. 