I have an achiote tree (Bixa Orellana) in my garden. It’s more commonly known as roucou, uruku, or annatto after its seeds which are used as food colouring and natural dye, but which were originally used by the indigenous people of the Caribbean and South America (where it comes from) as sun and insect protection and body paint. Dominica’s Kalinago keep this tradition alive.
Roucou was also imported to Polynesia where it was used by the indigenous people in similar ways, and where the artist Gaugin is said to have also used it as a pigment in some of his work.
Combining crushed roucou seeds with gum arabica and honey, I made a watercolour pigment that I tried out on a simple sketch. It worked really well and I like the colour.
