Search results for 'red'

PB33

Manganese Blue is an articficial mineral pigment, that is prepared by heating sodium sulphate, potassium permanganate and barium nitrate to 750-800 degrees Celcius. It has been produed as a pigment and as a colourant for cement since the 1930s, and is notable for its quick drying time in oils, its high transparency, and its bright, slightly greenish colour. Its weak tinting strength can cause it to be overwhelmed in mixtures, and it has a tendency to granulate as a watercolour. It is no longer used in commercial paints, but many manufacturers offer a Manganese Blue Hue, which is typically based upon Phthalocyanine Blue.   

Production of this pigment has now ceased, due to environmental and health concerns, therefore it is only available while stocks last.

Toxicity: C

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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

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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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. 

Larger quantities are available by request.

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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

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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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

PB29

Ultramarine Blue 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/C

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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

A glass slab with wooden cradle for the grinding of pigments.

The friction created between the sand-blasted surfaces of the glass slab and muller facilitates the thorough mixing of pigment and medium, creating a consistent and strong paint body. This slab can be used to manufacture many types of paint including watercolours, egg tempera and oils.

Mulling is of particular importance when making oil paint; simply mixing pigment and oil together using a palette knife will result in an unstable substance with poor plasticity, which contains a large amount of excess oil and unevenly distributed pigment particles. Thorough mulling in a figure-of-eight motion will enable the pigment to be fully combined into the binder, strengthening the resultant paint film.

PLEASE NOTE: This item is in stock but it is a call to order item due to the fact that we cannot guarantee its safe delivery, however well we package it. Please ring us to discuss your delivery options.

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PR106 Vermilion is an artificial pigment based on mercuric sulphide, which occurs naturally as Cinnabar. The synthetic form contains fewer impurities than Cinnabar, and was in use in China as early as the fourth century. It was present in Europe from the ninth century, and was the most widely used red pigment until the introduction of Cadmium Red in the early twentieth century. It has good tinting strength and opacity but, like many red pigments, it dries very slowly in oil media. Larger sizes available on request. 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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Made from pulverised historic London bricks collected from the foreshore of the Thames near Tower Bridge and Wapping this deep red pigment is essentially a variety of red ochre. During the Victorian era, London Clay was dug up and fired on construction sites to produce the building materials for the city. Red brick pigment has a medium grain size and is opaque. Learn More

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

PW1

Flake White Pigment, sometimes referred to as Lead White or Cremnitz White, is an artificial mineral pigment, lead carbonate. It is no longer available as a paint, due to its extreme toxicity. For this reason, great care must be taken when handling the dry pigment.

It is not usuable in water-based media, but works well in oils. It creates a flexible paint film that dries quickly. Although opaque, small quantities do not dominate mixtures, and can help slow-drying pigments to dry. For this reason, it has been a popular mixing white historically; in fact, until the mid-19th century, Flake White was the only white pigment available to artists. Although varnishing is generally considered optional for oil paintings, it is recommended for works containing Flake White, as contact with sulphur in the atmosphere can cause it to blacken. It creates a warm white, which can yellow over time when mixed with linseed oil.

Toxicity: D

Permitted uses: Restoration of art works and protected buildings when alternatives unsuitable.

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