WHICH?
Pigment Characteristics

Well, actually, forget just for this once my comparison to school kids… paint can be dirty business, yes! But pigments? Pigments are always clean. Of course, Colour is discussed here, but the confusion exists. When painters and paintmakers talk of a “clean” colour, they usually refer to the fact that it hasn’t been “adulterated” by the addition of one or more pigments. Starting from the premise that a painter knows how to mix colours (or should), most ranges of professional paint offer mainly monopigmented options, yet some mixes are also available. These shortcuts usually have evocative names, not the name of a pigment. And while, at first, you might have some difficulty in telling them apart from historical names such as Alizarin Crimson or Ultramarine, you’ll know soon enough and become a bit cautious with names that resonate poetically, maybe, but mainly label a proprietary mix. In ancient times, when artists hardly had vibrant pigments in every colour space, mixing pigments was considered “artificial”, producing results that were not “pure” and, indeed, were probably rather dull. Today, nothing’s really wrong with a blend, especially if you are aware of it. Enjoy the colour as it comes out of the tube, and take care not to remix it too much (especially with another mix!) because, indeed, that’s the recipe for muddy brown.

However, when you buy Cadmium Red paint, that’s what it should be, Cadmium Red pigment in whatever binder: linseed oil, polymer emulsion, gum Arabic, etc. Yet, despite some companies trying hard to inform you, there is still no real international regulation forcing paint producers to state anything on tubes except dangerous contents. Fillers and extenders do not need to be mentioned, nor is there an obligation to specify that the paint is a hue. I sell the cheapest Cad Red in Australia: $12.25 for a 500ml tube!!! Yes, it’s infinitely cheaper, but it’s not caviar, of course, only some other fish egg not mentioned on the packaging and… that’s OK! (Legal, anyway.) More than dirty colours, we’re talking dirty tricks, I’d say.

PS: I, too, would suggest ‘clean’ colours as starting points on your palette. Mixing yellow and red will only bring out the orange present in both pigments, i.e. where these are not really good at absorbing light. Whereas a mono-pigmented orange will give you the full intensity of the orange spectrum, a luminosity no mix can achieve… and my hat to you if you get a hot pink or a vibrant teal via mixes of primary colours! Plus, we’ve waited long enough for true, permanent, secondary pigments (you know, a magenta, a purple, an orange and some good greens) to deny ourselves now the pleasure of their company.

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