Casein Recipe

Let me begin by acknowledging the amazing DB Clemons, who has recipes and instructions for many things on his website, and provided the recipe I modified for my own use.

About Casein

First, what is Casein, and why would you want to make your own fixative?

Casein is the protein that is found in milk, and the foundation of cheese. So, a natural and even edible product! But what is the connection to art?

Artists have used casein to make their own paint since ancient times, and it makes a paint similar to egg tempera. It was widely used by illustrators until acrylic paints were developed. You could still use it with dry pigments to make your own paints. But my purpose in making casein has been to make my own spray fixative for working with dry pastels.

If you use a casein spray to fix your dry pastels, you will avoid all the petrochemicals and propellants in many of the commercial spray fixatives. You CAN purchase commercial casein fixative from a handful of suppliers, but why not try making your own?

Supplies you will need

  • Dry milk powder

    You can start with liquid milk, but it's cheaper to use dry milk powder. One bag of this will last you quite a long time in your studio.

  • Borax

    Borax is sold in the laundry section of your grocery store. You don't need much, so just use the rest to make your laundry nice and fresh.

  • Distilled water

    Tap water would probably work, but if you can use distilled, you will avoid adding a minerals to your fixative that may be present in your local water.

  • White vinegar

    The stuff you have on hand will be fine. Typically it is 5% acetic acid.

  • Isopropyl alcohol, or pure ethanol

    This is what I dilute the casein in to make the fixative spray

Kitchen Tools

  • A candy thermometer - some kind of thermometer you can immerse in the liquid will help you get the time and temperature right

  • Cooking pot - a standard saucepan will work fine and not be damaged by the process

  • Small mixing bowl - you will need this to mix up the borax

  • A sieve - used to strain the protein curds from the whey liquid

  • A mason jar - used to store the casein mixture

  • A spray bottle – what you will use to hold your fixative spray

Recipe for Casein

Using the recipe on the dry milk, mix up 8 ounces liquid milk (250 ml). Stir well to ensure the powder is properly dissolved.

Heat the milk to 150 degrees F (65 C) but no higher than 190 F (87 C)

Add 2 Tbsp of white vinegar and stir in. The milk will curdle rapidly.

Crumble the curd into small pieces and wash under the tap to rinse off all other liquid.

Dissolve 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) of borax in 2 Tbsp (30 ml) of distilled water.

Put the crumbled curd into the mason jar, and add the dissolved borax. Stir every few hours until the curds are dissolved into a gluey base. This is your casein.

Tips

Crumble the curd quite finely. The first time I tried this recipe, I did not do that, and it took forever to dissolve.

DB Clemons is able to get his casein dissolved in a few hours. Mine typically takes a day or two. I assume this is due to using the milk powder. It definitely helps to make the curds smaller. You need real patience, don't give up and throw it out. Set it aside, watch and wait. As an artist, you should be good at that part!

DB Clemons adds some preservative to his casein mixture. I have tried a drop of Tea Tree oil, and that does not seem to be a problem. He uses Thimerosol, but I don't have access to that. It's easy enough to make small batches.

Recipe for Fixative

Clemons uses a recipe that is one part casein, 2 parts grain alcohol, and 5 parts distilled water.

I use Isopropyl alcohol and no water, because I don't want my paper to buckle. Isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) has about 30% water in it already.

I have tried various proportions, but about 1:4 or 1:5 seems about right. E.g. 50 ml of casein glue to 200 mls of isopropyl alcohol. My suggestion to you is to try some mixes until you get something you like.

Once it is mixed in a spray bottle, preservative is not really an issue, because there is all that alcohol.

However, I have found that the casein does clog up the sprayer over time. To avoid this, ensure you shake the mixture thoroughly before using, and give the sprayer a wipe when you are done. One does seem to accumulate small spray bottles from here and there, so when one seems beyond repair, I grab another one from my stash. Soaking the sprayer portion in a small quantity of alcohol can also help.

I find one or two light coats works well. Although the wetness of the alcohol initially makes the colours darker, once it is dry there is very little change.

Let me know how you make out with this! I'm keen to hear your experience!