WHICH?Pigment Characteristics Despite hot chilli, pimiento, sharing pigment’s Latin root, in my opinion, all pigments are pretty cool. I know not of a freezing process, although pigments are often rid of impurities in successive cold-water baths, yet cold or cool, in reality, they will never be… All these ‘temperature’ terms—even a ‘burnt’ one doesn’t count!—do…
Some pigments are heavy as nightmares, some light as dreams
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics There is a famous question every kid in France has heard in his childhood, which goes thus: What is heavier, a kilo of feathers or a kilo of lead? The kid (not quite aware of the difference between weight and volume, which at five is quite understandable) usually answers lead. What’s weird is…
Some pigments are toxic, some you should even eat… or inhale!
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics Some pigments are toxic, even today, and when I mocked requests for “natural” pigments, I honestly didn’t mean to trivialise the efforts of those who carefully advise us that Cadmiums, Cobalts or lead-based paints can be dangerous to ingest—possibly even to touch. If paints based on these pigments are still around, despite their…
Some pigments are thirsty, some are hydrophobic
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics Some pigments are thirsty, they are not going to turn into paint before they’ve had their fill of oil… and some. Lamp Black might be the worst offender if offence there is. This is why comparing quality between brands, as is often suggested you do by comparing pigment concentration like so, could give…
Some pigments are expensive, some are ‘dirt’ cheap
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics There was a time, not so very long ago, when the effort, skills and raw materials used in the making of any object were intrinsically valued. Regardless of the beauty or how impressive the final product was. An intricate, well-knitted sweater you would wear for years even if it scratched a bit. A painted…
Some pigments have family, some are loners
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics As promised, now is the time to dive into the pigments we play with on our palettes that get their hues from their chemical composition. The Cadmium family is a most interesting, if confounding, example of this. Establishing the family tree of the primo-genitor, Cadmium Yellow, was quite epic, I can tell you, and…
Some pigments always sit in the front row, some at the back
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics OK, we need a break from ‘serious facts’, so here’s this classification, a bit of trivia on the side. Thought I would share—not to mock—the confusion of the beginner holding his little piece of paper and desperate to find some colours on the list. I have no idea why they’ve made it so hard…
Some pigments are friendly, some are dangerous company
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics I need to address permanence here, a term not entirely synonymous with lightfastness in the paint world, although UV deterioration is an aspect of it. But, permanence needs a minute’s attention because if some pigments are friendly to other pigments, some are dangerous company… To and by itself, a permanent paint should experience…
Some pigments are lightfast, some are fugitive
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics Lightfastness! Don’t we love the word nowadays? Every company assures you of it, and most painters question it too. They have perhaps not even given a thought about their art surviving into the next decade—forget century—but in our precarious world, it has become the #1 quality of a paint, it seems. Hence one…
I had picked black… (Part II)
WHICH?Pigment Characteristics (I feel like giving you a warning that this section is for those really interested in that stuff!) Equipped with an understanding of their chemical nicknames, let’s now go back to the four black pigments/paints commonly found in art stores: Carbon and Lamp Black, Ivory and Bone Black, and tackle the four characteristics…
in bed with mona lisa 