Page 6 - Artist Materials Advisor

Cinnabar has been mined and used as a precious resource by many cultures around the globe since at least the tenth millennium B.C. Cinnabar is also known as “vermilion.” The two terms are used interchangeably by both ancient authors and modern scholars because chemically, the two substances are the same, which is red mercuric sulfide (HgS). But “cinnabar” refers to the mineral, while “vermilion” is the synthetic pigment. Until the discovery of cadmium red in the early twentieth century, vermilion was the most widely used red pigment around the globe and the most vibrant red...

Lead white is the most important white pigment used in painting throughout history. It was known to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans and was commonly used in the preparation of ointments and plasters, as well as cosmetics. It was first identified in the literature as a pigment by Pliny, who mentions it, among other colors, as used by the ancients to paint ships...

One of the topics taught at the Painting Best Practices workshops is the optics of paint films. For example, we discuss and demonstrate how light interacts with paint films to create glossy or matte surfaces. Gloss is an observed phenomenon when light is reflected from a surface and thus, to a degree, is a relative effect. When light is reflected in a coherent manner, it creates a specular reflection, which we observe as “gloss”. If the light is scattered it causes diffuse reflection that we observe as “matte”...

Italy is a land of painters and popes, pasta and polenta, and medieval castles and alpine mountains. Most importantly, it is the land of romance. Italy is also a land rich in minerals from which many different colored pigments have historically been used in some of the world’s most important works of art. This article examines a few of the many earth colors available from Italy by Natural Pigments...

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired worldwide for its form, composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of the human form. This article discusses his painting materials, such as supports, grounds, imprimatura, binders, pigments, and his use of glass powder...

Pearlescent pigments are usually mica platelets, synthetic or natural that have been coated with titanium dioxide, iron oxide, or another metal oxide. Platelets of coated mica can vary in size, shape, and thickness. The degree of these characteristics and the thickness of the coating determine the color and appearance of the pigment. Additionally, thickness and the coarseness of the particles determine the sparkle...

Maintaining studio safety is paramount to keeping you, your loved ones, and your pets safe from harm. There are simple yet effective steps you can take to keep yourself healthy regardless of the medium you use. These suggestions may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how easy it is to become forgetful. Here are a few tips to keep your studio safe...

To start painting in Ceracolors colors, you only need paint and water. It handles basically like watercolors or gouache. But for nearly endless possibilities in texture, transparency, viscosity, and sheen, take a look at the wide world of mediums. Think of Ceracolors mediums like paint without the pigment. They're made of the same waxy stuff and can be added to any color in any quantity...

While we do not know why oil painting on copper enjoyed popularity from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, we may be able to provide some reasons based on historical evidence linked to artistic tradition in both the cultural and economic context of the period. This article details the reasons why copper enjoyed brief popularity and may provide the initiative for today’s art renewal and the second renaissance of copper painting...

When we think of Mars, we think of the red planet angrily growling at us in the night sky. Its earthy red color is linked to blood and the Greek god of wars. The planet appears distant and non-threatening to us. But Mars is closer than you think. And it is in more colors than red. Mars is a group of synthetic iron oxide colors in a range from orange-red to violet, yellow, brown, and black. The variations of the iron oxide pigments are distinguished by a color descriptor, i.e., ‘Mars red’. Read the article for the complete story of Mars colors...