Pine resin, that sticky, golden stuff from pine trees, has been important to people for ages. From old-time art to natural medicine, this gift from nature has played a big role. When a pine tree gets hurt, it uses this resin like a bandage to seal the wound and keep out germs. If you want to collect it, the best time is late winter or early spring, when the changing weather makes the sap flow easier.
Artists have always loved pine resin. It makes oil paints richer and last longer. It’s also key in a type of art called encaustic, and it gives wood finishes a shiny look. For centuries, woodworkers and instrument makers have used it to protect their creations.
But pine resin isn’t just for art. It has a long history in natural medicine too. Because it can fight germs and reduce swelling, it’s a main ingredient in homemade ointments and creams for minor cuts and skin problems. Its earthy smell also makes it popular for incense. And if you’re out in nature, it can even work as a natural glue or help you start a fire.
From painting to healing, pine resin reminds us that some of the most useful things come straight from nature. Whether you’re an artist, a crafter, or just curious about old-fashioned uses, this simple but amazing stuff has lots of possibilities.
What’s Inside Pine Resin?
When pine resin first comes out of a tree, it’s a mix of many things, mostly what scientists call terpenes. These terpenes give pine resin its smell and some of its healing powers. The runny part of pine resin, called turpentine, has things like alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, and limonene. These are what make pine resin smell the way it does and can also act as a solvent.
The thicker part of pine resin is called rosin. It’s made up of resin acids like abietic acid and palustric acid. These acids make rosin sticky, which is why it’s used in things like varnish and glue.
Pine resin can be grouped into a few types based on how it looks and what’s in it. Fresh pine sap, the sticky liquid that comes right out of the tree, is called oleoresin. It has a lot of natural oils in it, mostly terpenes. Then there are hard resins, which have less oil and are hard and brittle, like amber. Gum resins are another type, which are a mix of true resins and gummy stuff.
When you process pine oleoresin, you can separate it into turpentine and rosin. Turpentine is the liquid part that smells strong and has a bitter taste. It’s mostly made of different terpenes, and the exact mix depends on the type of pine tree. Some pines have mostly alpha and beta pinenes, while others have things like limonene or carene.
Rosin is what’s left after you take the turpentine out of pine oleoresin. It’s a hard, clear, and brittle solid that doesn’t dissolve in water but can dissolve in other liquids. Rosin is mostly made of resin acids, with abietic acid being a big part of it. The quality of rosin can vary, and it’s often graded by its color, from dark to very light.
The process of turning pine oleoresin into turpentine and rosin has been really important for using pine resin in many ways. It allows us to use turpentine as a solvent in things like paints and cleaners, and rosin’s stickiness makes it great for glues and coatings. The fact that rosin is graded by color shows that even small differences in it can be important for different uses.
Traditional Uses
Across North America, many Indigenous peoples had a deep knowledge of the healing powers of pine trees, using over twenty different types for medicine. They used different parts of the pine, including the needles, inner bark, and especially the resin, to treat many different illnesses. It’s interesting that different groups often used pine in similar ways, showing a shared understanding of its healing abilities.
For example, many traditionally made a liquid from the trunk of young white pines to put on cuts and wounds, using the resin’s natural ability to fight germs. They also chewed the soft gum resin to soothe sore throats. And heated resin was often used to draw out splinters and other things stuck in the skin.
Besides medicine, pine resin was a useful material for many practical things. Its natural stickiness made it a good glue, and it was often used as pine pitch (made by mixing the raw resin with charcoal powder) to attach tools to handles, fix broken things, and even waterproof items. Many groups in forested areas used pine pitch to seal the seams of their canoes, making them waterproof and long-lasting.
Pine resin was often burned as incense during sacred ceremonies and rituals. It was believed the fragrant smoke could purify the air, cleanse spaces of bad energy, and help connect with the spiritual world. Some burned pine needles and breathed in the smoke to treat headaches and backaches, showing how they used pine’s scent for pain relief.
The fact that so many different peoples have used pine resin and other parts of the pine tree in similar ways for medicine suggests a long history of learning about its healing powers. This widespread and consistent use across different groups, who figured these things out on their own over generations, indicates that pine has many helpful compounds with real medicinal effects. The fact that pine resin was used both as a practical material and in ceremony highlights how connected life was for many traditional societies.
Early Uses in Art
Using natural resins in oil painting isn’t new. When scientists have looked at early European oil paintings from the 1400s, they’ve found different natural resins, including those from pine trees, as important parts of the paint. Pine resin was specifically used in oil paint, especially in a technique called glazing. Glazing is when you put thin, see-through layers of paint over a solid underlayer. This was done to create rich, glowing colors and make the painting look like it had more depth. Adding pine resin to the oil paint made it glossier and more see-through, which helped artists get certain visual effects, especially in shadows or when painting colored fabrics, like greens. For example, in Girolamo da Carpi’s painting, “The Adoration of the Kings,” the green cloak was painted with walnut oil mixed with a little pine resin. Philippe de Champaigne also added small amounts of pine resin to the linseed oil he used for the red robe in his famous portrait of Cardinal Richelieu. Pine resin, along with mastic resin, was even found in the paint used for the coat in a portrait by Gabriel Revel. Even later, in the 1800s, famous artists like J.M.W. Turner often used pine resin and mastic gum in a gel-like medium called “megilp” in their work. However, using these resin-containing paints could sometimes cause problems in the paint over time.
The early use of pine resin in oil painting by European artists shows they understood how it could change the way paint worked, affecting its thickness, drying time, and the final look of the artwork, especially for making glazes more glossy and see-through. Artists during the Renaissance and later were always trying out different natural materials to improve their techniques. The fact that they used pine resin suggests they knew it could help form a film and change how light reflected off the paint, which was useful for making colors look more vibrant and deep. This shows an early connection between natural chemistry and art. However, the fact that using resins like pine could also lead to problems over time highlights that natural materials in art can be complex and sometimes unpredictable. It shows that while pine resin offered some immediate benefits to artists, they had to be careful when using it. This historical experience teaches us important lessons for artists today who might want to use natural materials in their work.
Pine Resin in Art and Craft: From Old Methods to New Ideas
Pine resin also has a long and important history in woodworking, serving as a useful natural material for many purposes. One of its main uses is as a natural sealant, protecting wood from water, mold, and rot. Pine tar, a thick substance made by burning pine resin in a controlled way, has been used for centuries to preserve wood, soaking into it and making it stronger. This process basically puts the tree’s own protection back into the wood, helping it last longer and resist the elements. It lets the wood breathe while still keeping water and harmful things out.
The natural stickiness of pine resin also makes it a good natural glue, especially when it’s turned into pine pitch. Pine pitch is traditionally made by mixing raw pine resin with charcoal powder and sometimes other things like beeswax or animal fibers to make it stronger and last longer. This old-fashioned glue was important for many woodworking tasks, like attaching stone tools, arrowheads, and knife blades to wooden handles.
Furthermore, pine resin and things made from it are used in wood finishes and varnishes. Rosin, the solid part left after distilling turpentine from pine resin, is a key ingredient in many traditional wood varnishes, helping to protect the wood and give it a nice look. Modern woodworking products, like Tried & True Superior Varnish Oil, use a mix of linseed oil and natural pine resin, which is popular for its durability and nice shine on indoor woodwork.
Historically, people who built boats used cooked pine resin, often mixed with ashes, to seal the seams of wooden canoes. This created a strong and waterproof seal, which was essential for these boats to work well and last a long time.
Encaustic Art
Encaustic painting is an old art form that’s become popular again recently. It involves using heated beeswax as a binder for pigments. In the traditional method, the beeswax is usually mixed with damar resin, a crystallized tree sap. Adding damar resin makes the beeswax harder, raises its melting point, and makes it more see-through, which gives encaustic art its glowing quality.
However, while damar resin is usually used in encaustic painting, some artists have tried using pine resin instead or along with it 57. For example, the artist Tracey Mae says she makes her encaustic art using beeswax, pine resin, and powdered pigments, and she specifically doesn’t use damar resin. This choice suggests that pine resin can give the encaustic mixture different qualities than damar resin.
The specific effects of using pine resin in encaustic art might include changes in how easily the wax can be shaped when heated, the texture and finish of the artwork when it cools, and even the smell of the medium while painting 57. Artists who work with encaustic techniques often experiment with different amounts of beeswax and resin to get the look and feel they want in their art 54. Using pine resin in this way shows a continued interest in natural materials in art.
The fact that some encaustic artists choose to use pine resin, either instead of or with damar resin, shows that pine resin can add unique and possibly desirable qualities to the encaustic medium 57. This gives artists more options for the texture, look, and smell of their work 57. Artists are always looking for new materials and ways to express their creativity 37. Trying out pine resin in encaustic art suggests it might offer benefits like a different level of hardness or flexibility, a unique smell when heated, or a particular way of mixing with pigments 57. This experimentation shows how art continues to evolve by using and adapting natural materials.
Modern and DIY Craft Uses
Besides its historical and more specialized uses, pine resin is still used in many modern and DIY craft projects. Its natural ability to repel water makes it good for sealing and protecting things from moisture. In do-it-yourself projects, raw pine resin can be melted and used to waterproof things like shoes, small boats, and containers.
The stickiness of pine resin is also useful in many craft projects. When mixed with other natural materials like charcoal powder or wood ash, it becomes a strong natural glue that can be used for many things, from joining objects to fixing things around the house.
The distinct and pleasant smell of pine resin makes it a popular addition to homemade candles. When added to candle wax, it can give off a woodsy pine scent when burned. Similarly, because it’s naturally aromatic, pine resin can be used to make DIY incense pellets or cones, releasing its earthy fragrance when burned.
Rosin, which comes from pine resin, is used in many industrial applications today. It’s a key ingredient in adhesives, printing inks, chewing gum bases, and in sizing paper, especially for photocopying and laser printing. Rosin is also used as a coating in the food industry, specifically for medicines and chewing gum (it has the E number E915). A related substance, glycerol esters of wood rosin (E445), is used as an emulsifier in soft drinks and as a coating on citrus fruits to help preserve them and make them shiny. The fact that pine resin and its derivatives are still found in both modern industrial products and DIY crafts shows its lasting usefulness and the value of its natural properties, even with all the synthetic materials we have today. Despite the many man-made alternatives, pine resin remains relevant because of its unique combination of stickiness, water resistance, and smell. Its use in DIY crafts reflects a growing desire for natural and sustainable materials and a connection to traditional skills. Meanwhile, its presence in many industrial products shows it’s cost-effective and suitable for large-scale uses.
In the coming weeks, we’re going to look more into using pine resin for art and food production. Check back soon!