I had long used Golden Acrylic’s Micaceous Iron Oxide, part of their Iridescent colors, straight out of the tub or in glazes, shown above. It is this delicious heavy shimmering charcoal in a pot. In Horse with Red Ball, above, the dark grey is straight Micaceous Iron Oxide, The ridges of grey are a glaze, and the brown of the horse has it mixed into it.
Hematite is a form of iron oxide, a mineral that contributes to several different paint colors. It has an undertone of reddish brown, which when placed in a glaze gives it a shimmering red cast. In its natural form is is quite heavy, and is called the Shaman Stone by Native Americans. It is believed to have the power to attract, as in a magnet. The Greek word for blood, as in blood red, gives us its name αἷμα (haima.)
Daniel Smith’s Hematite was a color I looked for when I began trying watercolors, and I immediately mixed them with all my other new colors, below, to see the effects. The hematite is highly granulating, which you now understand; you can see how it separates the colors below.
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Michigan Hematite courtesy Wikipedia.
D.Katie Powell Art 
Katie – the earth tones and texture in that painting make me want to head for nearby Red Rocks. Haima, shaman, Native American, blood red, earth – a soulful combination captured in your art.
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Thank you. I’m nuts for the stuff!
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Darn! The horse image isn’t loading for me. I will have to try again tomorrow (it’s my slow internet). I love shimmery colors too, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried any of those. I knew about iron oxide, I love the red color, but I had no idea hematite was also iron oxide! I read that iron oxide was used in the ancient cave paintings a while back. That’s pretty cool about the Shaman Stone.
I’ve had several hematite rings that I’ve purchased from stone stores. They’re supposed to attract negative energy and will break when ‘full’! As hematite is fragile, this is a good marketing campaign… for me, the rings lasted a few months.
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