For most of art history, animal products were ordinary studio supplies. Painters made black from charred bones, red from crushed insects, and brown ink from the cuttlefish. They bound pigment with egg yolk and milk protein, and they prepared canvases with glue made from animal hides. None of this was hidden. It was simply how materials were made before modern chemistry offered alternatives, and it is why so many historical techniques carry animal ingredients inside them.
This page tells that story: which materials came from animals, why artists relied on them, and what replaced them. It is part of the vegan art hub at VanArtHub, where the materials in modern painting get the same plain treatment.
Key takeaways
- Bone black and ivory black share the pigment code PBk9 and are made from charred animal bones.
- True ivory black was once made by charring scraps of ivory; the name survives, but the pigment sold today is bone black.
- Carmine red is extracted from cochineal insects, and sepia was historically made from cuttlefish ink.
- Egg tempera binds pigment with egg yolk, casein paint binds it with milk protein, and rabbit-skin glue prepared canvases for painting.
- The famous account of Indian yellow, said to be made from the urine of cows fed mango leaves, is debated by historians.
The earliest palettes
Cave painters worked with earth pigments such as ochres, and with charcoal, tens of thousands of years ago. The pattern set then held for a very long time: artists used whatever the world around them supplied, which meant earth, minerals, plants, and animals, with no line drawn between them. A pigment was judged on its colour and its permanence, not on its source. That practical attitude explains almost everything else on this page.
Black from bones and ivory
The deepest traditional blacks came from burning animal remains. Bone black and ivory black share the modern pigment code PBk9 and are made from charred, carbonized bones. This is a living material, not a museum fact: Golden Artist Colors states that its Bone Black pigment is made from carbonized cattle bones, and lists it in several of its colours, including some Neutral Grays and hue formulations.
The name "ivory black" records an older recipe. True ivory black was made by charring scraps of ivory, according to the pigment reference ColourLex, which also notes that modern ivory black is almost always actually bone black because ivory became scarce. The label outlived the material. An artist who wants a non-animal black today can reach for carbon black (PBk7) or Mars black (PBk11); Golden's Just Paint journal describes both as slightly cooler in tone than bone black.
Colour from insects and the sea
Carmine, one of the most famous historical reds, is a dye extracted from the dried bodies of female cochineal scale insects. Sepia, the warm brown of countless old drawings and washes, was historically made from the ink of the cuttlefish. Shellac, a resin secreted by the lac insect, went into finishes and into many India inks, where it still appears. These sources sound surprising now, but they were once as normal as any mineral pigment, and some remain in production. Our page on animal-derived pigments tracks which of them a modern paint tube might still contain.
Binders from the kitchen
A pigment is only coloured powder until a binder fixes it to a surface, and two of the great historical binders came from foods. Egg tempera uses egg yolk. Casein paint uses milk protein. Not every traditional binder was animal-based, though. Gum arabic, the standard watercolor binder, is sap from acacia trees, and linseed oil, the binder of classical oil painting, is pressed from flax seed. The historical studio ran on a mixed economy of plant and animal ingredients, and the plant half survives unchanged in many modern paints.
Glue, gesso, and paper
The hidden layers of a painting leaned on animals as much as the visible ones. Traditional gesso and traditional canvas sizing use rabbit-skin glue, which Golden describes as refined rabbit collagen. Its modern replacements are synthetic: acrylic gesso, and acrylic sizing such as Golden's GAC 400 for stiffening fabric. Paper carried its own animal layer too. Many fine watercolor papers are sized with gelatin, and Arches states that its watercolor paper is gelatin-sized to the core, so even a drawing on fine paper can rest on an animal product.
The debated case of Indian yellow
Indian yellow shows how murky material history can get. The traditional account says the pigment was made from the urine of cows that were fed mango leaves. Historians continue to debate the details of that story, and it is best treated as a debated historical account rather than settled fact. The lesson reaches beyond one yellow: recipes travelled by word of mouth, names shifted between materials, and some famous origin stories rest on thin records. Careful writing about art materials says what is documented and flags what is not.
| Material |
Animal source |
Historical use |
| Ivory black / bone black (PBk9) |
Charred ivory, later charred bones |
Deep black in drawing and painting |
| Carmine |
Cochineal insects |
Red dye and pigment |
| Sepia |
Cuttlefish ink |
Brown ink and washes |
| Egg tempera |
Egg yolk binder |
Panel painting |
| Rabbit-skin glue |
Rabbit collagen (per Golden) |
Canvas sizing and gesso |
What changed the picture was chemistry. Synthetic pigments and binders now cover nearly the whole historical palette without animal sources, a shift described on our page about plant-based pigments and inks. Readers interested in the wider story of how art's relationship with nature evolved can continue with the history of sustainable art on our sustainable art side.
Common questions
Why is ivory black called ivory black if it is made from bones?
The name is older than the current product. True ivory black was made by charring scraps of ivory, and when ivory became scarce the pigment was made from charred bones instead. Modern ivory black is bone black, pigment code PBk9, sold under the historical name.
Is carmine still made from insects?
Yes, true carmine is still extracted from dried cochineal insects. Many modern paint ranges use synthetic red pigments instead, so the only way to know about a specific product is to check its pigment list or ask the maker.
What was Indian yellow made from?
The traditional account says it was made from the urine of cows that were fed mango leaves. Historians debate the details of that story, so it should be treated as a debated historical account rather than a settled fact.
Did historical paintings contain animal products?
Many did. Bone black pigment, carmine, sepia, egg tempera binder, casein, and rabbit-skin glue in canvas preparation were all standard materials, so animal ingredients run through a large part of historical painting practice.
Are modern versions of these historical colours vegan?
Often, but not automatically. Carbon black and Mars black are non-animal alternatives to bone black, and many modern reds are synthetic, yet bone black itself is still widely sold. Check pigment codes and ask the maker, because formulations change.
The history explains the habit of asking. If you love traditional media, browse our original oil paintings and fine art paintings, and ask us about the materials behind any specific work; we will put the question to the artist before you buy.
