Search results for 'Red pigments'

PB35

Cerulean Blue is an artificial mineral pigment that is prepared by heating a mixture of Cobalt Chloride and Potassium Stannate. It was first synthesised in the early nineteenth century, becoming more widely used from 1870, when Rowney introduced Coeruleum Blue into their range. It produces a very bright, clear, and unusually opaque blue, hence its name, which is derived from the Latin for "sky-blue", or perhaps "heaven-blue". It has a very low tinting strength meaning that, although it is stable in all media, some artists may choose to bind it in poppy rather than linseed oil, so that the colour isn't affected by the colour of the binder. It creates a fairly flexible paint film, and is a fast-to-medium drying pigment.

Limeproof

Toxicity: B

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NR9

The madder plant was once widely cultivated for the red dye extracted from its roots. Its earliest known use is in ancient Egypt, and there is evidence of its widespread adoption in Europe from the medieval period. Madder Lake, the pigment that is derived from the root, has now largely been replaced by synthetic alizarin pigments, but it is still used as an ingredient in some commercial paints. It provides a very transparent pigment, with a weak tinting strength, which can be used in all lime-free media, although it is very slow-drying in oil. It is fugitive to sunlight, so paintings containing Madder should be stored appropriately, but it remains one of the most lightfast plant-based pigments. 

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Squat and Powder Jars in glass and plastic. *Please note, our glass jars are fragile, although they are packed very carefully we cannot guarantee they will arrive safely. Cases of jars are stored offsite, please allow extra time for your order to be processed and dispatched. Learn More

Dragon's Blood is a natural, resin, mentioned by Pliny in his Natural History. It has a weak tinting strength, and its rich red-colour can be fugitive in direct sunlight. It is fully soluble in alcohol, and can be used to add a warm, transparent tone to spirit varnishes. Also available in lump form.

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Shellac is a natural resin that is deposited by the female lac insect on the branches of trees in India and Thailand. It is soluble with alcohol, but not with mineral spirits or turpentine. It forms a tough yet flexible film, with many applications. It is suitable as a top coat for gilding when applied thinly, a sealant for porous surfaces, an isolating layer for tempera paintings, a base for pigmented inks, a protective layer for collograph plates, and a warm varnish for wooden floors and furniture. As it is prone to darkening with age, it is not recommended as a varnish for oils, and its solubility can reduce over time. There are various grades of shellac. When mixed with alcohol, it may initially form a cloudy mixture, due to traces of wax in the shellac, but this should become clear once it has dried. The highest grades of shellac are Clear Dewaxed Shellac, which has been de-coloured using the carbon filtering method, Lemon Shellac, and Orange Shellac, which are pale in colour. Button Shellac is less refined and therefore produces a reddish varnish. It was, in fact, widely used as a red dye before synthetic dyes became available. Learn More

** While stocks last ** Blue Verditer, sometimes referred to as Bremen Blue, is a synthetic form of Azurite, or copper-calcium carbonate. It has a weak tinting strength and is sligtly transparent. It works best in water-based binders, as the acidity of linseed oil can cause discolouration. 

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This warm earthy yellow is made from the quintessential London ‘stock brick’ of the 18th and 19th centuries. This pigment has a medium grain size and is transparent. Learn More

NR9

Madder Lake pigment is derived from dye that has been extracted from the root of the madder plant, and attached to alum as a base. It has largely been replaced by synthetic alizarin pigments, but it is still used as an ingredient in some commercially-available paints. It provides a very transparent pigment, with a weak tinting strength, which can be used in all lime-free media, although it is very slow-drying in oil. It is fugitive to sunlight, so paintings containing Madder should be stored appropriately, but it remains one of the most lightfast plant-based pigments. It requires a wetting agent to aid dispersion.

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PG19

Cobalt Green is a synthetic pigment that consists of compounds of cobalt and zinc oxides. It is sometimes referred to as Rinman's Green, after the Swedish chemist who discovered it in the late-18th century. It is a permanent, opaque colour, with a weak tinting strength. It dries quite quickly in oil, requiring a high oil content and  forming a hard, fairly fleixible paint film. Cobalt Green is available in light and dark shades; the colour is determined by the amount of zinc oxide present.

Toxicity: B

Please note, unfortunately we are not able to send this product outside the UK.

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Shellac is a natural resin that is deposited by the female lac insect on the branches of trees in India and Thailand. It is soluble with alcohol, but not with mineral spirits or turpentine. It forms a tough yet flexible film, with many applications. It is suitable as a top coat for gilding when applied thinly, a sealant for porous surfaces, an isolating layer for tempera paintings, a base for pigmented inks, a protective layer for collograph plates, and a warm varnish for wooden floors and furniture. As it is prone to darkening with age, it is not recommended as a varnish for oils, and its solubility can reduce over time. There are various grades of shellac. When mixed with alcohol, it may initially form a cloudy mixture, due to traces of wax in the shellac, but this should become clear once it has dried. The highest grades of shellac are Clear Dewaxed Shellac, which has been de-coloured using the carbon filtering method, Lemon Shellac, and Orange Shellac, which are pale in colour. Button Shellac is less refined and therefore produces a reddish varnish. It was, in fact, widely used as a red dye before synthetic dyes became available. Learn More

Volcanic rock in powdered form. Used to provide tooth to grounds. Learn More

PB29

Ultramarine Blue Light is an artificial mineral pigment that is produced by heating clay, soda, sulphur and coal to high temperatures. Its name comes from outremer, or over-the-sea, as a reference to the highly-prized Lapis Lazuli pigment which had been imported into Europe from Afghanistan since the Middle Ages. First manufactured in France and Germany in 1828, synthetic Ultramarine provided a brilliant and affordable blue to artists, and it remains one of the most popular blues on artists' palettes today. 

It is a transparent pigment, with a high tinting strength and excellent lightfastness. It reacts to alkali, therefore it is not suitable for use in lime-fresco; we do offer a Limeproof Ultramarine Blue for this purpose. It is stable in all other media, although it can be tricky to grind in oil. Instead of creating a thick, buttery paste, it can remain stringy and deteriorate when stored in a tube. To correct this, many commercial paint manufacturers include additives and waxes in their recipes; if you intend on grinding your own paint, you could try replacing 10-15% of your Linseed Oil with Poppy Oil to improve the consistency. Ultramine Blue provides a slow-drying, fairly hard paint film, which can tend towards brittleness.

Toxicity B

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Beeswax is derived from melted honeycomb, and is available in two grades. Bleached Beeswax Pellets are white, having been bleached by the sun, and are an appropriate choice for using with pale colours, although they may revert to yellow over time. Natural Beeswax Pellets are yellow in colour, and offer a more flexible structure with a higher resin content. Beeswax has a melting point of 63-66°c, and may turn brown if over-heated. It is the most widely used wax in artists' materials, having a wide range of applications. Please see below for more details.

 

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Ivory Black is a natural pigment of impure carbon, derived from charred animal bones. It is semi-transparent, very lightfast, and offers good tinting strength. It is a particularly slow-drying pigment, which forms a soft, rather brittle paint film in oil.

Compared to other blacks, such as Vine Black, Ivory Black possesses warmer, brownish undertones. It should not be used at full-strength in an underpainting, as subsequent layers are likely to crack. Otherwise, it is a very useful all-purpose black for many types of paint, excluding mortar, fresco or cement.

Toxicity: B

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Colophony is a by-product of the distillation of turpentine. It is soluble in most solvents, but considered an adulterant in varnishes and paints, as it forms a weak surface that is prone to darkening and cracking. It is, however, a key ingredient in wax-based etching grounds, imparting hardness, and can be used in powdered form (rosin) to make aquatints. Learn More

Ammonium Carbonate is a highly Alkaline substance that reacts with the lactic acid present in casein to form a robust binder for tempera paints. It should only be used in a well-ventilated area, please see below for the Material Safety Data Sheet. Learn More

Gypsum is powdered Calcium Sulphate, a traditional ingredient in gesso grounds used in southern Europe. One of the advantages of preparing your painting surface with gypsum is that it allows for a particularly even absorption of the paint film. It can also be added to acrylic primers to increase absorbency or add tooth to a surface. Learn More

PR106

Cinnabar, composed of mercuric sulphide, is a mineral pigment found in crusts or veins in sites of volcanic activity. It has good tinting strength and opacity but, like many red pigments, it dries very slowly in oil media. Due to its high toxicity, it is no longer an ingredient in commercial paints, but is a prominent colour in historical palettes.

Generally, Cinnabar refers to the natural mineral, while Vermilion refers to the synthetic pigment. Cinnabar has been mined since at least the tenth millennium BC, and used as a painting material, gemstone, and ritual object by many cultures around the globe. Toxicity D.

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Our clear reagent bottles are manufactured in the EU and are made of high quality soda lime glass. They have a solid base and good wall thickness. 

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PB27

Prussian Blue is a synthetic organic pigment that was discovered by the paint maker Diesbach, apparently by accident, in Germany in the early eighteenth century. For many years, it was used not only as a colour in its own right, but also as a component of the original Hooker's Green. The other ingredient, gamboge, is highly fugitive, which is why many watercolours painted with Hooker's green have taken on a bluish tone with with age.  

It is a very transparent and heavily staining colour. It dries quite quickly in oil, and can therefore wrinkly if applied too quickly. It is suitable for use in oils, watercolour, and egg tempera. However, it shouldn't be used in conjunction with alkali substances, such as Lead White or Calcium Carbonate as it can turn brown, so it isn't suitable for fresco. For the same reason, it isn't used with acrylic resin binders due to their alkaline nature, so most paint manufacturers will replace Prussian Blue with a mixture of Phthalo Blue and black in their acrylic ranges. It requires a wetting agent to fully disperse into a binder.

Toxicity: B

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PBr7

Raw Sienna is a natural earth pigment that dates back to antiquity. Our Raw Sienna comes from areas of Tuscany where the earth has been coloured by iron-rich minerals. It provides a good tinting strength, excellent lightfastness, and a fast to medium drying rate in oil. It is stable in all media but, like umber pigments, can be difficult to disperse in an acrylic binder. It is similar in composition to Yellow Ochre, but whereas Yellow Ochre contains a higher proportion of clay, Raw Sienna contains a higher proportion of silica. As a natural material, the exact colour and qualities of the resultant pigments can vary, but generally this difference creates a paler, more opaque Yellow Ochre, and a darker, more transparent Raw Sienna.

Toxicity: B

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Viridian Green is a synthetic inorganic pigment, similar in composition to Chromium Oxide. However, unlike Chromium Oxide, Viridian contains water molecules within its crystal structure, imparting a greater degree of transparency. Sometimes referred to as Verte Eméraude, Viridian was discovered in France in 1838, patented in 1859, and made available in the UK in 1862. It is stable in all media, and offers excellent lightfastness and good tinting strength. It requires a high oil content, and dries slowly to form a hard, fairly flexible paint film.

Toxicity B

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Egyptian Blue is stable in all media, highly transparent, with a weak tinting strength. A synthetically produced calcium copper silicate, it is considered to be the earliest artificial pigment, dating from antiquity and widely used in ancient Egypt. Larger sizes available on request Learn More

Shellac is a natural resin that is deposited by the female lac insect on the branches of trees in India and Thailand. It is soluble with alcohol, but not with mineral spirits or turpentine. It forms a tough yet flexible film, with many applications. It is suitable as a top coat for gilding when applied thinly, a sealant for porous surfaces, an isolating layer for tempera paintings, a base for pigmented inks, a protective layer for collograph plates, and a warm varnish for wooden floors and furniture. As it is prone to darkening with age, it is not recommended as a varnish for oils, and its solubility can reduce over time. There are various grades of shellac. When mixed with alcohol, it may initially form a cloudy mixture, due to traces of wax in the shellac, but this should become clear once it has dried. The highest grades of shellac are Clear Dewaxed Shellac, which has been de-coloured using the carbon filtering method, Lemon Shellac, and Orange Shellac, which are pale in colour. Button Shellac is less refined and therefore produces a reddish varnish. It was, in fact, widely used as a red dye before synthetic dyes became available. Learn More

PV16

Manganese Violet is a synthetic organic pigment, discovered in Germany in 1868 and formed by combining manganese chloride, phosphoric acid and ammonium carbonate. It is very lightfast, but sensitive to alkalis and oils. It is semi-opaque and fast-drying, with a low tinting strength and low absorption of oil. 

Toxicity: C

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Empty Aluminium Tubes. Learn More

PR101

Mars Violet is an artificial mineral pigment. Its pigment code, PR101, refers to a wide spectrum of synthetic iron oxide pigments including yellows, oranges, reds, violet-browns and green-browns, which replace many natural earth colours, to provide pigments without impurities and with great opacity. It has a good tinting strength, is lightfast and stable in all media, and has a medium drying time in oil. Although it is similar to Caput Mortuum and Indian Red, it is less transparent than the former and warmer than the latter.

Toxicity: B

Limeproof

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Alumina Hydrate is an inert pigment with highly absorbent properties, which can be ground into oil paint as an almost colourless extender. It is often used as an additive in commercial oil paints, particularly in conjunction with transparent or lake pigments, as it provides stability and a homogenous consistency without effecting colour or gloss, although it may effect the pigment strength. When combined with linseed oil, it produces an almost transparent painting medium for extending oil colours. Sometimes referred to as Lake Base. Learn More

PG19

Cobalt Green is a synthetic pigment that consists of compounds of cobalt and zinc oxides. It is sometimes referred to as Rinman's Green, after the Swedish chemist who discovered it in the late-18th century. It is a permanent, opaque colour, with a weak tinting strength. It dries quite quickly in oil, requiring a high oil content and  forming a hard, fairly fleixible paint film. Cobalt Green is available in light and dark shades; the colour is determined by the amount of zinc oxide present.

Toxicity: B

Please note, unfortunately we are not able to send this product outside the UK.

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