Page 16 - Artist Materials Advisor

Natural Pigments introduces a new way of making traditional waterborne paint: Rublev Colours Aqueous Dispersions. Aqueous dispersions are pigments dispersed in water ready to be mixed with water-based mediums. These dispersions are specially made for traditional painting mediums, such as egg, casein, fresco, watercolors, and distemper (glue tempera). They are also ideally suited for use with gesso for making toned grounds for drawing and painting...

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, Kerria lacca (Order Hemiptera, Family Coccidae), on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. The insect secretes resin forming tunnel-like tubes as it traverses the branches of trees. This insect is in the same family as the insect from which cochineal is obtained. The resin is collected, processed, and sold as dry flakes that can be dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac. Shellac forms a durable natural coating that is useful as a primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odor-blocker, and high-gloss varnish...

Natural Pigments congratulates Julio Reyes upon winning the Draper Grand Prize at the 2012 International Portrait Competition for his painting Tread Softly. The finalists in the competition were announced at The Art of the Portrait conference Gala Banquet on Saturday, May 26, 2012, at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel...

The reaction of natural and synthetic mineral pigments with binders containing lipids, such as egg yolk, drying oils, etc., has been reported by various authors. Generally, the formation of metallic soaps with the free fatty acids in the binders is assumed to be the reaction. These metallic soaps may act as driers, accelerating the oxidation and polymerization of the binder and providing a hard and resistant pigmented film...

Natural Pigments congratulates David Gluck for his painting, The Trapper, which won an Exceptional Merit award at the 2012 International Portrait Competition. The top finalists in the competition were announced at The Art of the Portrait conference Gala Banquet on Saturday, May 26, 2012, in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel. The painting The Trapper depicts a man David befriended when he moved into an old factory district in Toronto. When David knew him, the man did not have a job or home, but he kept himself extremely busy collecting scrap metal...

Paint basically consists of two components: pigment and vehicle. Pigment particles do not dissolve in the paint vehicle but are suspended in the liquid. Making paint simply means mixing a solid and liquid component together into a smooth paste. Making paint is easier than you may think. You can start making small batches of oil paint with basic supplies, such as pigment, linseed oil, a spatula, and a clean, flat surface...

Unsized paper is called “waterleaf” paper. It is usually composed of hydrophilic cellulose fibers, meaning they ‘love water.’ This is a good quality while the paper is being made, but it can lead to unfortunate consequences once the paper is made. The extreme porosity of an untreated sheet of paper means that printing or drawing inks and water-based paints will soak into the paper spreading quickly and randomly. This is called ‘bleedthrough.’ Sizing retards some of the paper’s absorbency...

During the history of Art, from the earliest times to the present day, certain pigments have remained common to the artists' palette, and while some have dropped out of use, others have been added. Although a great deal of information on the subject has been collected from the examination of old records and, in addition, by the occasional analysis of the actual pigments used, the whole subject seems to me to be deserving of a more exact inquiry than it has as yet received...

The art of Lala Ragimov is inspired by the beauty and sensuality of her subjects, that range from great opera voices to nudes and fruit. The artist was born in Moscow. In childhood, she studied art from the works of great painters in museums and from books and nature. Through art school and after graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree from California State University Long Beach, she has continually researched the techniques of Flemish Baroque and Venetian Renaissance painters through conservation journals and restoration papers. She is dedicated to using those techniques, materials, and ideals in her work...

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (born 1571, Milan or Caravaggio; died 18 July 1610, Porto Ercole) was the most radical painter in post-Tridentine Italy. In his religious and mythological compositions, he mocked classical Roman tradition by depicting his models in an unidealized, naturalistic style...