WHICH?Pigment Characteristics I think it’s now time to introduce you in-depth to some of the kids in this class. Because, when you see them neatly stacked in similar little jars on shelves, it is hard at first to comprehend, besides their variety of hues of course, what powerful and different chemistry is sitting there looking…
Author: stillatthecentre
My passion for the moment is centered on art materials.... who does what, how well they do what they do and what goes into all these adult lollies in which you can indulge without putting on the slightest weight! I also enjoy meeting artists who have a special way of using their materials... travelling around the world and meeting all these creative and dedicated human beings.
6) Post-Modern pigments… from the 1950s till now
WHEN?Pigments in HistoryThe sixth circle Some pigments are coined Historical, some Modern, and some should be (in my humble opinion) called Contemporary or Post-Modern. Historical is a term that is definitely given to pigments known before 1704—when perhaps the first ‘modern’ synthetic mineral pigment, Prussian Blue, was created entirely in a lab (and entirely by…
5) Pigments from the industrial colour revolution of “The Long Nineteenth Century” (1798-1914) and beyond
WHEN?Pigments in HistoryThe fifth circle “Nothing is perhaps more peculiar than the process by which one obtains Prussian Blue, and it must be owned that, if chance had not taken a hand, a profound theory would be necessary to invent it” humbly admitted in 1762, the chemist Jean Hellot. If we discard then the discovery…
4) Renaissance pigments to… the eve of the Industrial Revolution
WHEN?Pigments in HistoryThe fourth circle You might be surprised at the number of centuries/art periods I have chosen to group into this circle. Yet, compared to the astonishing explosion of new pigments in the previous centuries, the Renaissance/Baroque/Classical/Romantic periods can hardly claim but a handful. I’m not debating the number of masterpieces produced during those…
3) Pigments in Medieval times to… the Primitives
WHEN?Pigments in HistoryThe third circle Some would argue that the innovation most critical to medieval painting in Europe was the synthesis of Vermillion—a truly alchemical affair! Imagine combining mercury and sulphur to create a black form of mercury sulphide, which, once pulverised and sublimated by intense heating, turns into a divine red that could be…
2) Pigments in Antiquity
WHEN?Pigments in historyThe second circle a) From 3000 B.C.E. to the end of the last Egyptian Dynasty Eventually, many centuries + the 3000 years of Egyptian rule later, well… it might seem that not much has changed at first glance! An inspection of the colours available to a pharaoh or his grand vizier shows pigments…
1) Pigments from eternity to c.3000B.C.E.
WHEN?PIgments in HistoryThe very first circle A timeline of pigments, such as the elegant one produced by Vivien Martineau here, should, in truth, begin like hers million upon million of years ago, in deep, deep time. My timeline unfolds from when those I have termed Art Pigments arrived in human hands. However, I am well…
Some pigments are born, some die
WHEN?Pigments in History A few years ago, the art world received this shocking piece of in-news one morning: Vantablack, an exciting new black pigment that had been all the buzz, had just been ‘bought’ by artist Anish Kapoor for his exclusive usage. A new colour is cause for much celebration and, by that, I mean…
Colors are not possessions
WHEN?Pigments in History “Colors are not possessions; they are the intimate revelations of an energy field… They are light waves with mathematically precise lengths, and they are deep, resonant mysteries with boundless subjectivity.” Isn’t Ellen Meloy’s definition of Colour in her Anthropology of Turquoise simply delicious? Still, we might as well admit it right now,…
C) Pigments (vs Colour)
WHAT?II. What’s in paint? One morning I woke up and told my husband: I’m going to write a book about colour! To which Vianney replied, being the tireless supporter of my wildest dreams (and privy to my darkest hours of doubt): That’s a great idea, but… do you know anything about colour? No, of course…
in bed with mona lisa 