Pigments Gums & Resins
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Verdigris Pigment
Starting at: £4.90
Verdigris is an artificial pigment that dates from antiquity. Originally, it was produced by exposing copper to vinegar; nowadays acetic acid is used. It is acidic, so can contribute to the deterioration of paper supports. For this reason, it is more suited to oil or tempera painting than it is to watercolour. In tempera painting, it should be bound in animal glue or isinglass glue rather than egg york. When used in oil painting it should be held in a resin oil or balsam such as Venice Turpentine, as it can turn brown when ground directly into linseed oil. It is a fast-drying, transparent pigment, with a visible crystalline structure.
Larger quantities are available by request.
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Ivory Black Genuine Pigment
Starting at: £38.00
PBk9
Genuine Ivory Black is produced by burning reclaimed ivory, such as piano keys. These are antique, mainly Victorian pieces, using ivory with started out as hippo or walrus teeth, and offers a higher carbon content and greater tinting strength than modern-day equivalents, which are usually derived from animal bones. It is a particularly slow-drying pigment.
Larger quantities are available by request. While stocks last.
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Smalt Light Pigment
Starting at: £5.20
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PB32
Smalt is a kind of cobalt blue glass or frit, and its use as a pigment dates from the 1600s in the glass-making regions of Saxony. We offer two shades, light and dark, which are determined by the particle size of the pigment; the more finely ground the powder, the paler the colour. Before the introduction of Ultramarine Blue, Smalt was available in a wide variety of grades. It is a very transparent pigment, which is easily overwhelmed in mixtures due to its weak tinting strength. It works best in water based media. When ground in oil, it can become almost invisible in dried oil-paint films because its refractive index is so close to that of linseed oil.
Larger quantities are available by request.
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Smalt Dark Pigment
Starting at: £5.30
PB32
Smalt is a kind of cobalt blue glass or frit, and its use as a pigment dates from the 1600s in the glass-making regions of Saxony. We offer two shades, light and dark, which are determined by the particle size of the pigment; the more finely ground the powder, the paler the colour. Before the introduction of Ultramarine Blue, Smalt was available in a wide variety of grades. It is a very transparent pigment, which is easily overwhelmed in mixtures due to its weak tinting strength. It works best in water based media. When ground in oil, it can become almost invisible in dried oil-paint films because its refractive index is so close to that of linseed oil.
Larger quantities are available by request.
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Lapis Lazuli Pigment
Starting at: £10.20
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PB29
Lapis Lazuli is a natural mineral pigment, mined in Afghanistan and South America. For many centuries it was the most reliable blue pigment available, and became particularly significant during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, when its inclusion in a work of art denoted the wealth and status of the patron, or the holiness of a painting's subject. In commercial paint production it has largely been replaced by the more affordable Ultramarine Blue, although it still has a place on modern palettes due to its unique soft violet tone. It is a transparent pigment, with a low tinting strength.
Larger quantities are available by request.
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Pearl Lustre Pigments 7g
Starting at: £4.70
Pearl Lustre Pigments 7g. Colour swatch on the left indicates colour on a White Background and Colour on a Black Background on the right. Learn More -
Pearl Lustre Pigments 100g
Starting at: £12.90
Pearl Lustre Pigments 100g. Colour swatch on the left indicates colour on a White Background and Colour on a Black Background on the right. Learn More -
Pearl Lustre Pigments 1 kg
Starting at: £94.00
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Pearl Lustre Pigments 1 kg. Colour swatch on the left indicates colour on a White Background and Colour on a Black Background on the right. Learn More -
Alumina Hydrate Light
Starting at: £8.30
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 -
Fumed Silica
Starting at: £13.60
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An inert substance with coarse texture and no colouring capability. Use in grounds and to provide tooth to mixed paints. Also used as an adulterant. Can be used for thickening acrylic and oil mediums. Learn More -
Plaster of Paris
Starting at: £5.50
For moulding when mixed with the same volume of water. Sets quickly and will not shrink. Learn More -
Gypsum
Starting at: £5.70
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 -
Marble Dust
Starting at: £4.70
Imparts textue when added to acrylic mediums and primers. Used in lime mortar. Meets paint pigment specificitions in its fine form. Mesh size: Course (Irregular granules), Medium (16) and Fine (100). Learn More -
Pumice Powder
Starting at: £5.70
Volcanic rock in powdered form. Used to provide tooth to grounds. Learn More -
Whiting
Starting at: £4.00
Whiting is powdered Calcium Carbonate, which can be mixed with rabbit skin glue to create a chalk-based ground for oil, tempera, distemper or encaustic painting. Traditionally, whiting was an important ingredient when preparing painting surfaces in the north of Europe, as opposed to gypsum (Calcium Sulphate), which was widely used south of the Alps. Learn More -
Fullers Earth
Starting at: £6.30
Fullers Earth is used to remove plant debris and other impurities from cold-pressed linseed oil, as its large particle size and unusual shape attracts unwanted matter and pulls it down, away from the surface of the oil. Our Fullers earth consist sly of Bentonite.
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Gesso di Bologna
Starting at: £12.00
Gesso di Bologna is a bright white Calcium Sulphate, or gypsum, from Italy, which can be used as a substitute for whiting in the preparation of gesso. It is ground to a particularly fine powder, which makes it a suitable ground for gilding, as the small size of the particles allows for greater compression when burnishing. Learn More -
French Chalk
Starting at: £5.50
French Chalk is a term commonly used to describe talcum powder and is also known as talc. This grade is very fine magnesium silicate It is sometimes used as a filler in pastels, to make soft sticks that produce velvety marks as it has a soapy like consistency.
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Precipitate Chalk
Starting at: £6.30
Precipitate Chalk is fine and white. For use in aqueous mediums as a ground for oil and tempera paintings. Learn More -
Rottenstone Pink
Starting at: £7.00
Fine abrasive powder used historically for polishing daguerreotype plates. Can be used to age wooden frames and object's d'art. Learn More -
Rottenstone Grey
Starting at: £7.00
Fine abrasive powder used historically for polishing daguerreotype plates. Can be used to age wooden frames and object's d'art. Learn More -
Gum Arabic
Starting at: £4.25
Gum Arabic is a resoluble binding agent, commonly used in the preparation of watercolours, but also useful as an adhesive, a size, and in the production of soft pastels. It is a natural product, harvested from the Acacia tree between October and May. The highest grade of Gum Arabic comes from the Kordofan region of Sudan. It is exceptionally pale and pure and therefore particularly suited to watercolour painting, while Nigerian Gum Arabic (while stocks last) is better suited to stone lithography and other printmaking techniques. Please see the Formulas & Recipes section on our homepage for a recipe to make your own watercolour paints using Gum Arabic (currently under construction). Learn More -
Gum Benzoin
Starting at: £14.70
Gum Benzoin is used as a fixative, slowing the dispersion of essential oils and other materials into the air. Is occasionally called for in some old varnish recipes where it was employed primarily for its odour. Learn More -
Gum Copal Manila
Starting at: £6.00
Gum Copal Manila is derived from the resin of a coniferous tree native to the Philippines. It is not to be confused with other copals, which are the product of fossilised plant materials. It can be dissolved in alcohol to make a spirit varnish, to be used as a substitute for shellac, or as a fixative for pastel and charcoal drawings. Please note, that when used as a fixative it may darken the colour of the image. Learn More -
Gum Damar
Starting at: £10.00
Damar is a pale, almost colourless tree resin, which is soluble in turpentine, but not in alcohol or mineral spirits. It can be used as a varnish or as a glossy painting medium in conjunction with vegetable oils, and is generally preferable to other resin-based varnishes, such as mastic varnish, as it retains its colourless appearance for a longer period of time. In encaustic painting, the inclusion of damar resin imparts toughness and gloss to the paint surface. Learn More -
Gum Mastic
Starting at: £20.30
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Gum Mastic is a tree resin, which dissolves into a clear varnish with alcohol or turpentine, but not with mineral spirits. Mastic varnishes are more prone to blooming and darkening with age than damar-based varnishes, and painting mediums that contain gum mastic can deteriorate in unpredictable ways. For this reason, it is primarily used in restoration, rather than in the production of artwork. Learn More -
Gum Sandarac
Starting at: £8.60
Gum Sandarac, derived from a coniferous tree, is available in powdered or lump form. It can be dissolved in alcohol to create a varnish that is suitable as an isolating layer in oil painting and as a traditional top coat for egg tempera. It forms a brittle layer, so is only suitable for use on a rigid support. Another application is as a surface preparation for calligraphy; the ground gum can be dusted across a piece of prepared vellum or paper to create a resist, which shrinks ink strokes slightly, making them appear finer, with crisp edges. Learn More -
Gum Tragacanth
Starting at: £20.00
Gum Tragacanth is a natural tree gum with pigment-binding properties. It can be used to make a very matte watercolour, but is most commonly used in the production of soft pastels.
Please see the Formulas & Recipes section on our homepage for a recipe to make your own pastels using Gum Tragacanth (currently under construction).
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