how to make paint cheaply

A buddy requested i look into a way to produce paint cheaply from materials found naturally in a tropical climate.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I started by trying to understand some resourceful ways other chemists may have come up with.

Some suggestions a quick google search turned up;

A. flour, water, food coloring (or colouring if you like)

B. coffee grounds and oil as a solvent

C. searching for pigments in plants

1. leaves
2. fruits
3. stem colors
4. bugs? ... i feel like people who object 

sourced from

http://www.kidspot.com.au/things-to-do/activities/homemade-puff-paint

http://www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk/exploring-science/make_your_own_paint

Once we get the process going, it may need a color stabilizer, probably based on a transition metal ion at a +2 oxidative state.

Hmm, why not use the metals themselves as the primary color you ask? reason being to keep toxicity levels low.

With a viable product color hue, solvent and stabilizer, we would then need to see how the product measures against other industrial paints for domestic use on a set of criteria like these;

http://www.drylok.com/formulas/oil-based-drylok/

target client; habitat for humanity, big brothers big sisters, ..well, organizations with low budgets but high manpower service type projects.




well, as is, there are several components of cheap paint;

1. thickener/bulking agent (this is the main ingredient for overhead cost reduction; flour, salt, fine sand, wood shavings, saw dust, ground up sea shells,  . to save cost, flour and salt)

2. stabilizing agent. i believe getting the patent for the stabilizing agent is the key for this model, especially because a bulking agent is used.

3. pigment; charcoal, grease, used coffee grounds, india ink, algae, bugs,  (on second thought, berries and leaf colors would are hard to stabilize)

4. binder (linseed oil, acrylic, ... maybe hot wax from crayons? that solves two issues of color and binder but sharply raises overhead)

5. solvent or dispersing agent (for outdoor use, probably hydrophobic, oil based or epoxy. this might be the biggest cost factor

sourced partially from ;

http://www.corrosion-club.com/paintcomponents.htm

https://www.springville.org/wp-content/uploads/PublicWorks/Paint.pdf

http://www.sinopia.com/Paint-Binders_c_286.html