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Colour identification by Pigment Number
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Message
Posted
I meant to share this link with people, but I don't think I ever did. If you want to check the composition of your colours from the pigment numbers (eg PW2, PR 4) on the tube or pot, this is a useful place to go.
http://www.artiscreation.com/Color_index_names.html#.WyJaiTf0mUm
Posted
You can still be serendipitous. All this guide enables you to do is identify what colours are in the tubes you buy. It's not a test - you don't have to memorize them..... However, it's entirely up to you all: I do my poor best to help, never expecting reward or encouragement - not even the occasional flask of brandy or box of cigars.....
Posted
Easier, he said - with the faintest hint of a smirk - to baffle some than others.....
Tee hee.
But look - now, come come: I meantersay - this isn't baffling anyone with anything, really. It's just that (and remember, you forced this explanation on me...) if you paint in oil you need to know what goes in your paint, because there can be adverse reactions if you don't: you may think the manufacturers will protect you from such consequences, but the truth is that they sell what they can shift; or, as they would prefer to put it, they sell to meet the demand. That's why you still get paints like Alizarin Crimson being sold; and why some are labelled 'Permanent', when actually they're not. Watercolourists also need to know that some paints, commonly sold, will fade - but as it's not always immediately clear what's in some tubes of mixed pigment, you've no way of knowing what will and what won't.
(This is why the late Thea Cable was so right to use only single watercolour pigments - generally, that protected her from many of these issues.)
The good news of course is that most acrylic colours are more than adequately lightfast: which is why I put this in the oil thread, because so far as is currently known anyway, acrylic paint doesn't present anything like the number of problems that can be found with traditional media. Told this story before, but will do it again while I'm at it: around 45 years ago, I worked in an art shop - we sometimes sold pictures from there: a very skilled gentleman presented us with two gouache paintings for sale - brilliantly done, but I knew what would happen, and it did: they faded away to almost nothing in places - rather than pure gouache, he had substituted poster colours in places: well, they just disappeared, though the gouache didn't fare much better - gouache has generally improved lightfastness these days: poster paint hasn't. He liked the colours and applied them, knowing very little about their constituents - had he read a bit more, or had access to the link above, he paintings might still exist today as something other than hardly coloured drawings.
Now I could keep this information, wickedly, to myself, and chuckle malevolently as other people's paintings fade: but because I'm the generous, public-spirited chap that I am - without, as I say, even the HOPE of reward, though don't hold back - I share it with you all. I'm too good to you really......
Posted
Wow. I have to admire anyone who can do this kind of work. It must have taken ages! I find this kind of thing fascinating - but having said that, I could quite happily read through the whole thing and then forget almost everything straight after. I look at pigment codes if I'm about to buy paint, but I don't retain the information!
Everyday is a school day though: NV1 Tyrian purple: "1 gram of this dye is made from the secretion of 10,000 sea snails. " It must have been a special kind of purple ...
Kay M
Posted
I retain some of it - but nowhere even approaching all of it; some genius, I forget who (there we go again....) said the important thing wasn't having the information, but knowing where to find it when needed. (For those more interested in watercolour, the Handprint website is very useful - it could do with an update, but then as Kay says, anyone who can do this kind of work is to be admired; and having done it, you can see why they might feel in need of a long, long rest.)
Posted
Pat - gliding past the book question: it's on my 'to do' list, VERY near the top... the site does contain information about the colours it provides Pigment letters and numbers for, but some of it is a bit speculative and you would need to go from there to examine the individual pigments: i.e., knowing what they are to investigate their properties. This becomes less onerous if you use a limited palette, which on the whole I do. Until you know what the letters and numbers mean, you can't really do that - i.e. you know the tube says Cadmium Red, but is it? Is something else mixed into it, and if there is, what is it? This is where the site is useful.
Handprint is a lot better, I agree, and I wish he'd update that site and give us another for oil paint (although many of the remarks about the trustworthiness of colours also apply to oils: but the structure of oil paint is far more complex, owing to the chemical reactions it undergoes over years and centuries).
PS - Wondering if I had missed something, I took another look at the site: if you scroll down, you'll find more information, plus a key; and if you click on the individual pigment numbers you will indeed find information about lightfastness among other things.
Edited
by RobertJones
Posted
How do, Davey - casein paints (I've not used them yet) are much better known in the USA than here; I've seen some wonderful work created with them. I think they're based on milk, or a component of milk. They were knocked out of the reckoning in this country by the advent of acrylics, but in the US people continued to use them, finding them pleasanter in use. I would certainly try them if I were you - they are available. The pros are that they would seem to be permanent, responsive to the brush, with a range of attractive colours - desaturated, as well as vibrant; so good for both landscape and portraiture. The cons..... not sure there are any, really: you need to choose your surface well, I think, but some wonderful painters have used them. You encourage me to have a go - maybe we could start a trend together.... I'll certainly be giving a thought to giving them a try, and if I find a good link to them will post it in a day or two. One thing I know - those who love them really DO love them. And that's got to say something.
Posted
Thanks Robert that seems a favourable review.
I was thinking that I might try something new soon... 2 more pictures and I will have completed my efforts with the Bargue plates. I almost pulled the trigger on a full box set of oils earlier, but I wasn't sure what to do... a set of "Royal Talens" water soluable oils seemed OK but I don't know if the brand is any good or a much more expensive set of Sennelier.
I actually went on Ebay to buy a set of grey scale oils... in the end I just bought an A3 sketchpad. I haven't got any time though anyway at the moment, I started a teaching job recently which is something I haven't done before and I am trying to keep my evening commitments going at the same time so I am flat out with no time for me but I am not sure how long it will last, there is no money in teaching so not sure how long I will stick at it.
Posted
Great links Pat - very useful.
I've come across the Shiva (?) brand of casein paints in the past - made in the USA. I've got really interested in this now - want to try Golden acrylics, and casein paint .... oh my aching bank balance! Please, no one enthuse about tempera or I'm in real trouble - to find new products to play with at the age of 67 nudging 68 and having been painting since I was 16, does at least keep you interested, curious, and - I suspect - alive.