Pigment Database

Putting this here because this subject heading hardly ever gets used. There are often questions on particular pigments on this site - consistent, it not necessarily frequent.  You will know about the Handprint website, which contains much useful information about watercolour.  There's another site, with information across all or most media, which is worth keeping as a link, and that's https://www.artiscreation.com/Color_index_names.html Its official name is the Color of Art Pigment Database.  There are few if any colours you won't find there, but the drawback is you have to find the pigment name and number for yourself; Google is usually quite adequate for that - say you wanted to find the characteristics of Benzimidazolone Crimson (well, one of us did, the other day!), you can Google that, find the pigment letters and number, and consult the database - and it'll give you most or all of the information currently known about it, and the other names under which the colour is listed. Used alongside the MITRA site, based in the University of Delaware, it's extremely useful.   About MITRA - they're conservative and literal; I wanted to investigate Gamvar, for instance, the varnish made by the Gamblin paint company, which the makers tell you can be applied as soon as an oil painting is dry under the finger-nail test (i.e., you press your fingernail into the paint, and if it leaves no indentation, the paint is supposed to be dry enough for varnishing).  MITRA won't tell you that this claim is untrue or only half the story, but it will, if you look for guidance on varnishing, suggest good varnishes, and it is quite clear that varnish should not be applied until the paint has cured for six to eight months.  So don't go searching for something like "can Gamvar be applied before the recommended time is up?"; take the advice as stated (or of course run the risk of not doing so). They won't give advice which ought to be obvious if you read the basic guidance - but if you follow that guidance - well then, you won't need to seek double assurance. I've nothing against Gamvar, by the way, but do think their advice on their varnish is open to opinion - they may be absolutely correct, but it's worth thinking about; and this anyway is only one example out of many.  Take a look at oils and solvents, too - those questions also crop up - Linseed, safflower, poppy, walnut, stand oil, sun-treated oil, "bodied" oil, resins, solvents - Turps, White Spirt, OMS: what on earth are we to choose, from so much choice?  Well, the answers are available, from university conservation departments, and from manufacturers (who do have a vested interest) - this might not interest you very much on a technical level, but when you really do need to know if a colour is safe, advisable, durable, mixes well with others, a bit of research can save longer term distress.