Where does pigment for making paint come from?

Okay, I suppose this simple question relates to science. My question for the day is how is paint made, house and car paint for example. I know we are encouraged to do our own research. The Internet is vague. There are numerous links that talk about the history of paint and paint manufacturing, etc. Basically it says paint is orignated and made from pigment. That's good. But what is pigment? Dictionaries and Internet links only describe pigment as being probably some kind of material derived from minerals and organic materials of some kind.

One link even tells how to make homemade paint. Eureka! I thought I was about to find out what pigment is. El wrongo! It didn't say anything about where or how to get some pigment to make your paint. So if someone wanted to get their own pigment, where would they start? What would they look for? Would they just go digging around looking for some rocks or colorful ore? Get some pretty flowers and grind them up?

Real simple question -- but silly I suppose.