Most pigments today are "synthetic" in that they are made in chemical manufacturing facilities. Even earth colors are made this way as most of the original deposits of the natural stuff have been depleted. The linseed oil itself is natural as that comes from the seeds of the flax plant. Hope that answers your question! :)
Holy cow, so helpful! I never understood what a "lake" was, and you explained it so simply. This was a wonderful video, thanks so much for posting it! I love all these old paint stories (Indian Yellow :-O)
I also thank you. There are so many videos, articles etc but you found a so comprehensive yet not simplistic way to explain. And fun also. i enjoyed this video so so so much. I thank you!
OK, I have to say more. I'm crazy for the history of pigments. You presented this masterfully and it was entertaining. We do have growing evidence of the effects the more toxic elements messing with the lives and health of painters. I'm saving this video to watch and share with friends. thank you for doing this.
I'm really glad you found the video so entertaining! :) Thanks again for the great comments. Most modern pigments aren't really that toxic except for the few historical ones I mentioned like Vermilion and Orpiment. If you buy those, then you have to be very careful when you work with them.
Walcott Fine Art I was told that we didn't have to worry about the toxicity of something if we were very careful. but just because something is labeled nontoxic doesn't mean you can be careless. it's not so much as toxicity, as it is toxic dose.
You are exactly right! If you are careful then you will be fine. :) There are some pigments that are truly non-toxic, but I agree, it is always best to err on the side of caution!
I'm assuming the original pigments would be wanted by, purists, historians, archivists/restorers and the occasional high end forger. I'm glad the pigments are still around. be assured, I won't be using them. most of my stuff gets scanned into a computer. I don't worry about fugitive colors that way.
Some people love the idea of using the really old traditional materials. I do to a degree, but it depends on what it is...I like the traditional mediums, lead white and painting on lead oil primed canvas. I have no interest in using any of these pigments I showed in the video. Just like you, I am just fascinated by their history and how they morphed into what we have today. :)
Very interesting. I am a hobby/miniature painter and a new popular high pigmentation matte acrylic brand (Kimera Kolor) is using py83 and pr170. Now I understand how they're priced so incredibly competitive!
Thanks Jason. I had no idea there were such toxic pigments. I learn so much watching your videos. You're an encyclopedia of art information, yet you present it in such an easy to understand way. Looking forward to your next video.
Yes! Well the original Asphaltum was basically the same bitumen that came from the mummies. It degrades quickly and isn't permanent. Any tubes of "Asphaltum" made today are hues made from permanent pigments.
There is a Van Gogh painting of sunflowers in one of the big London Museums. I saw it thirty years ago and the yellows had faded to an off white. The whole painting had kind of turned into a monochrome. It was sad to see. I always enjoy hearing Jason speak about colors. It's such a fascinating subject to learn about!
Thanks for the nice comment and for watching! You can find them on eBay. Also check out Ryan Demaree's channel. He has some interesting videos on old pigments. ruclips.net/user/RyanDemaree
Fascinating. I love your videos! I recently came into an old "japanned" tin box of "Murillo" brand watercolors in pans, most likely from the early late 1800s- early 1900s. It has a chrome yellow, which has turned a wonderful light yellow-green; OLD gamboge (a color I far prefer to New gamboge), Indian yellow (probably the one you're referring to ); a lovely deep rose red (with a tinge of blue) that is labeled Vermilion--I can't find an equivalent in any modern reds. I wonder if it was mislabeled; emerald green but I'm not sure if it's the toxic one you're talking about, as now it's a sickly pale greenish-gray and is the only one of the paints that is no longer usable. I haven't been able to find out much about Murillo watercolors so I don't know if it's student or artists grade but it's quickly become my favorite set. I like the fact that the colors aren't candy-bright and superduper clean and clear like modern watercolors. Half the colors are likely fugitive, unstable and/or toxic but that only adds to the fun and mystique :-)
Thanks so much for the nice comment! That sounds like a fascinating set of colors. I might get rid of that green just in case it's the real Emerald Green. You don't want to mess with that stuff. But, I know what you mean about the mystique of old pigments. :)
Truly fascinating! I loved watching this. Thanks to Walcott Fine Art i will always consider the long historical journey that each color has made before it goes in the tube.
Thank you for telling us the history of some colors and the meaning of term”lake” . I have some Holbein watercolor tubes that named opera pink and scarlet lake, now I know I should avoid use them if I think about sell my paintings, thank you very much,big thumb up!
Man, this is a great and interesting video. You seem to link all sorts of small facts and anecdotes to your outline which demonstrates you have a very deep knowledge. I also love your choice of background music.
Excellent simple explanations of something that I know I definitely struggled with as a young artist before RUclips lol. What's a lake and whys this one a hue and whys it cheaper and why are single pigment colors better in general and why does old holland have so many weird color names that no one else uses and etc. On and on so confusing and overwhelming as a beginner especially. Shame artist paints can't all just be standard across the board but then we wouldn't have any great names like Dragons Blood for example haha. Anyway awesome 👌 video again.
Thanks for watching! That means that the Winsor & Newton color is really a "hue", meaning it is a mixture of modern pigments meant to imitate Chrome Yellow. It's not genuine Chrome Yellow.
Thanks for watching and great question! Back at the time of the Roman empire, there weren't as many colors as we have today. Firstly, blue would have been very rare and costly. If you used it at all it would be only to show off the blue, not for mixing. Plus the reds they had back then would have made a dull purple anyway because vermilion and red lead are orangey. It wouldn't have matched the rich saturated purple of the snail dye. :)
Brilliant video, Jason; really informative. I really enjoyed it. :) I was pleased to see you included the toxic Emerald Green, which I believe was first replaced by Viridian, before being replaced by Phthalo Green.
Thank you so much for the nice compliment! Yes, you are right that Viridian came before Phthalo! Thank you for catching that. Mostly I was referring to replacing the color itself, not a substitute green paint. Viridian doesn't have the same bright saturation that Emerald Green did...Phthalo does. Sorry if I made that confusing. :)
No problem at all; the video was very clear. Your video makes me wonder actually what pigments we use today will be considered obsolete in one hundred and fifty or two hundred years. My guess is that they won't be removed so much for their toxicity - even cadmium paints are not very dangerous unless you want to eat the tube of paint - but rather, I imagine, because science will have developed cheaper and more efficient and environmentally friendly methods of producing colours. It's all rather exciting, I think.
Wow, I agree! It is exciting. If they were able to find a truly satisfactory replacement for Cadmiums (which they haven't!) that would be great...but you are absolutely correct that their toxicity is waaaay overblown. Just recently they discovered a new blue called "YInMn Blue" that not only doesn't fade, but is so efficient at reflecting infrared light that if you paint a roof with it, it can keep a house cooler. So far it's too new and expensive for anyone to have made paint from it. Maybe someday! :)
The thing that I find is most annoying about cadmium paints is not their toxicity, but rather their price, when compared with other pigments. Think of the price of Cadmium Yellow compared with the price of a similar yellow, for example; the cadmium paint is always more expensive. I mainly paint in watercolour and some people don't like using cadmium paints - yellow and red - because of how opaque they are in watercolour, however, I rather like the effect they can produce if used properly. In watercolour, I think it is always useful to have a mix of transparent and opaque paints and most pigments in watercolour are transparent or semi transparent. Furthermore, a light wash of cadmium red or yellow, for example, is still going to be pretty transparent. That's really interesting concerning "YInMn Blue". It sounds like it could have potential. We will definitely be using different pigments, I think, in one hundred and fifty or two hundred years. Think of how pigments have developed in pervious years, as your video shows. Ultramarine Blue, for example, was one of the most prized, rarest, and expensive pigments ever, being only used on extremely holy subjects like the Virgin Mary in religious paintings, until a synthetic French Ultramarine Blue was developed. Now, it is difficult to find an artist that doesn't use Ultramarine Blue on his / her palette, and I am no exception. :)
I do wish too that Cadmiums weren't so pricey...they are such great colors! It stems from the process of making it was well as Cadmium being a more rare element. Cobalt and Lead colors are expensive too. The more abundant and easy to make a pigment is, the less expensive it will be. The Ultramarine is a perfect example! Have you seen my videos "The Story of Blue"? It covers the history of Lapis Lazuli. The "abundance cutoff" basically comes at Iron on the Periodic Table. Elements lower than Iron on the table are much more abundant than the ones above Iron.
This was extremely interesting and educational. Thank you for producing it. Could you perhaps do a segment on what you believe to be the most iconic and colorfast pigments to select for a basic primary color palette plus black and white?
Congratulations on a video of rare quality. Earned an instant thumbs up and sub from me. Regarding cochineal; I believe that it travelled widely with the expanding British empire, back when they were Red Coats.
Thanks for watching and for the nice comment! Yes, those British red coats were no doubt dyed with cochineal! The Spanish had their monopoly on it for awhile, but it didn't last long of course. It was easy to smuggle the bugs back to Europe.
Ah, theeere's my Carmine PR170 from yesterday.. in the 'what to avoid segment' hahahah lovely. What would we do without knowledgable pigment nerds!.. Great info! I wonder if Emerald Green is the reason, that vials of poison are always portrayed as being this colour, in various movies/games/etc.
Actually yes!! You are right about the green poison...that's exactly where it comes from! I found out about that after I made this video otherwise I would have mentioned it. :)
Indian yellow is another of the weirdest colors. It’s made from a cruel practice: feeding cows a diet of water and mango leaves, peeing onto sand, picking up a clump and letting it dry, and grinding the clumps into a powder.
Thank you for making this fantastic video ! It cleared a lot of things up, but i am a bit confused because you said that PR 170 is not permanent enough for artist's use but Michael Harding has a red called Scarlet Lake which is PR 170 and it has Excellent lightfastness rating. Again, Great video and thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks so much for the compliments! A good deal of my pigment information comes from www.handprint.com which tests all the colors in watercolor, as well as The Color of Art Pigment Database. Oil paints do tend to be more durable, but lightfastness tests aren't always consistent. You can see more info here: www.artiscreation.com/red.html#PR170
This is quite interesting. I actually have a pan of Carmine watercolor paint. Its nice, but sticky. I call it bug blood as a joke. Should have figured its very fugitive.. oh well most are in my sketchbooks or i use it in works i scan for digital upload. And yes, it feels like painting with food coloring. Probably not a color I'm gonna buy again when it runs out. Still a nice tone though.
yes definition so they are in being synthetic today. I can't remember where I read that, but I really liked your video. I got my degree in Art History, yet paint with oils today and have always been very interested in pigments.
6 years late but, A lake pigment is a pigment made by precipitating a dye with an inert binder, or mordant, usually a metallic salt. Unlike vermilion, ultramarine, and other pigments made from ground minerals, lake pigments are organic
Wonderful video. Are you planing to do more on this subject or related? E.g. most lightfast pigments, recent pigment inventions and discoveries etc. Thank you so much for your videos.
You can also "milk" the murex snails to get the pigment (which is how indigenous peoples in south America traditionally did it) but it's more labor intensive so it wasn't usually done in the west.
You mention in 21:52 that the pthalo green is completely non toxic, but I saw a video of a renown artist on youtube (Mark Carder) claiming/warning about its toxicity?
Thanks for watching! As far as I know the Phthalo colors aren't known to have any toxicity. Phthalo Green is allowed for use in tattoos. I think Carder was just mistaken or got it mixed up with something else. :)
3 things i want to say (not complaints!): 1: I found a watercolor that has PY74 since "PY 74 watercolor" doesnt give any results. I also didn't find any dry pigment (i don't understand why). Sennelier Primary Yellow. 2: Tyrian Dye is still made and sold nowadays! It is still extremely expensive. It's about 44,000 times more expensive (per gram) than Raw Sienna (sennelier dry pigments) shop.kremerpigments.com/en/pigments/kremer-made-and-historic-pigments/4915/tyrian-purple 3: Sometimes pigments will be lightfast in some brands and not in others, and some pigments will be more lightfast in different mediums!
Thanks for watching! Great info! I didn't know that they still made the Tyrian purple dye. Given that it is so expensive, there doesn't seem to be much reason to spend the money...it has been almost perfectly replaced by the quinacridone colors. You are correct that some pigments that are normally lightfast can be less so if they are poorly made...it depends on the manufacturer.
I am really impressed by your videos. I have a few questions... 1) Ashalten has recently been re-introduced as a color, supposedly improved to be more stabile, what are your thoughts? 2) In the realm of varnishes, Copal picture varnish, and Copal varnish mediums, how do they compare to Damar varnish?
Thanks for watching! 1) I believe that Asphaltum you are thinking of is likely a hue color, maening it is made from other pigments to mimic the real thing. If not, I would be cautious. The real thing contains tar which will never dry. 2) Copal was used mainly for commercial varnishes but became popular in the Victorian period for fine art mediums and as a varnish for paintings. I have never used it, but from what I understand, it dries very hard. It isn't as common anymore. My guess is damar would be easier to remove if need be.
@@walcottfineart5088 Yes, but I want to use it more in stages between layers of glazes, such as that which Maxfield Parrish did. and for that purpose, the hardness is a benefit. It is still made and available via several companies, Richeson, Geneva, Grumbacher and others, but only as a medium, not as a picture varnish, which I am not sure if there would be a difference, but I am still looking into this.
What do you think about the new research on zinc oxide causing brittleness, cracking, and delamination in paintings even in smaller percentages? It seems that the least yellowing white paints are pw6/pw4 mixes with Safflower binders, but zinc can seriously compromise the paint film. Hard to decide on a white paint to use as a result.
Thanks for watching! Almost all Titanium Whites have some Zinc added to them so it's nearly impossible to avoid it. It does make the paint much more workable since pure Titanium doesn't make the best paint. For the most part as long as you don't use large amounts of zinc or use it as an underlayer, you will likely be OK. Another thing you can do to help is paint on a rigid support like a wood panel. The only other alternative is Lead White. Lead White is quite archival (it's the best one actually), but is pretty expensive and of course doea require extra care to avoid any issues with lead toxicity.
There's other filler pigments to soften the intensity of titanium white that would cause less of an issue when compared to zinc oxide (PW4). Look for PW22 (barium sulfate), PW5 (lithopone) or PW7 (zinc sulfide).
Most tubes of "Indian Yellow" today are made from more permanent colors. YOu shouldn't have a problem there. A great and very permanent red to use is Pyrrole Red (PR254). It's a great color and is readily available from a number of paint lines. Thanks for watching!
Winsor Yellow in watercolor is PY154, Benzimidazolone Yellow. It's more lightfast than PY74, Arylide Yellow 5GX, in the watercolor media. As for Naphthol Reds: Many of the different Naphthol Red pigment classes, like PR188, PR170 and PR112 are very big and contain a large number of different pigments with somewhat different properties. That includes light fastness, which varies. There are some pigments in each of these classes which are maybe lightfast enough. Though PR112 pigments tends to be more durable than PR170 pigments, nothing is certain from just the color index name, like PR112 or PR170. The individual pigment itself must be tested and judged.
Thanks for watching! Yes! I was trying to remember about the Winsor & Newton Winsor Yellow watercolor in the middle of recording and forgot. I agree, that not all pigments are equal. There is probably a general overall truth to the lightfastness ratings, but I would always encourage someone to test their own paints as well.
I really like your videos. One idea for a longer, ambitious video is the history of artists pigments. You've already covered most of the ground in this and other excellent videos on specific colors, but consolidating it and going through it in chronological order could be interesting. Artists these days have it so easy - regarding paint - and how artists have struggled with permanence through the ages is an interesting perspective. In particular, artists used to be much more aware of permanence issues. I think pigment awareness is of value. Traditional artist ranges primarily sell different pigments, offering artists a choice. But recently one Asian brand has come up with an "Artist grade" watercolor range of 105 colors, all mixed up from only about 25 intense, modern pigments, none of them perfectly permanent. Using only intense and strong synthetic pigments, they can pretend to have "stronger pigmentation" than competition, which unfortunately many considers an indication of quality. Extremely/absolutely permanent pigments like the Iron earths and oxides, Cobalt Blue & Violet, Cerulean, Viridian, Cadmium Red (and Yellow in oil), deserves to be highly valued, even today. At least that's what I think. All that said, you should also remember to do painting videos. ;)
Thanks so much for your wonderful comments! I would love to do a video like that sometime. Maybe I will consider it. I did "The Story of Blue" last year which I was very happy with, and it was a lot of fun. I agree that artists today aren't as familiar with their materials as they used to be...mostly because we don't have to make them, we can just buy them. I am trying to strike a balance between videos like this and the more typical "how-to" videos so there is something for eveyrone on my channel! :)
The Indian Yellow I use is Lukas 1862 PY83/PO36, just to be clear, are you suggesting to stay away for this color because it will fade? I typically use this color with Ultramarine to desaturate the blue. Both colors transparency are great for glazing. Another question ? Have you made a video on how to darken colors without using black? I normally use the complementary , but is this the best way to create shadow colors? Thanks for all your awesome info!!!
Thanks for watching! Most likely if you keep your paintings away from direct sunlight you should be OK with those pigments. There have been varying results with lightfastness tests on PY83, so I would suggest caution, but not necessarily strict avoidance. PO36 is very lightfast so no worries there. I have not yet done a video on darkening colors without black, but it is on the list! Complementaries can work, but not in every single case. I'll do a more in depth video on this soon.
yes in watercolour opera colours are not lightfast at all i know the eureline yellow in watercolour turns a brown colour under sunlight super fast but many watercolour brands have a hue so thats good
I have a gorgeous r&f pigment stick called alizarine orange. Would that be fugitive? It says "pr83 - 1,2 dihydroxy anthraquinone on alumina base & pb83 - disazo (diarylide)"
Thanks for watching! Yes the PR83 is Alizarin Crimson, so the red part will fade and leave behind the yellow. Diarylide Yellow is not completely permanent either so use that stick with caution.
Thank you for the comment! My favorite color are violet and/or orange, but I find as an artist I can find beauty in any color. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Thanks for the nice comment! Glad you enjoyed the video. Rublev specializes in historical pigments so you will find they carry the older more obsolete ones up to about 1850. They don't sell modern pigments like phthalo and quinacridone, or even the cadmiums.
Man this is one of the most interesting videos I've ever seen. Big thumbs up. Your channel is amazing.
Wow, thank you so much for the nice comment! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
I mean your material for painting is synthetic or natural pigment (oil paint)
Most pigments today are "synthetic" in that they are made in chemical manufacturing facilities. Even earth colors are made this way as most of the original deposits of the natural stuff have been depleted. The linseed oil itself is natural as that comes from the seeds of the flax plant. Hope that answers your question! :)
This is top notch content in a peculiar corner of the Internet! Great stuff.
Thank you so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Holy cow, so helpful! I never understood what a "lake" was, and you explained it so simply. This was a wonderful video, thanks so much for posting it! I love all these old paint stories (Indian Yellow :-O)
Thanks so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :)
I also thank you. There are so many videos, articles etc but you found a so comprehensive yet not simplistic way to explain. And fun also. i enjoyed this video so so so much. I thank you!
Your definition of "lake" just made my whole day. Thanks for clarifying a concept that previously eluded me.
Awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching :)
This is fantastic. Thank you for making this. I really appreciate hearing about both the history and properties of these dyes and pigments.
Love your videos! I'm just moving from acrylics to oils, and you're making that transition so much easier.
Thank you Phil for the nice comment! I'm so glad my videos are useful to you. :) Congrats on switching to oils! I think you will really like them.
I used to use Some of these pigments, Jason. Really good information, and your editing is top notch!
Thanks so much for the nice compliment! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful. :)
OK, I have to say more. I'm crazy for the history of pigments. You presented this masterfully and it was entertaining. We do have growing evidence of the effects the more toxic elements messing with the lives and health of painters. I'm saving this video to watch and share with friends. thank you for doing this.
I'm really glad you found the video so entertaining! :) Thanks again for the great comments. Most modern pigments aren't really that toxic except for the few historical ones I mentioned like Vermilion and Orpiment. If you buy those, then you have to be very careful when you work with them.
Walcott Fine Art I was told that we didn't have to worry about the toxicity of something if we were very careful. but just because something is labeled nontoxic doesn't mean you can be careless. it's not so much as toxicity, as it is toxic dose.
You are exactly right! If you are careful then you will be fine. :) There are some pigments that are truly non-toxic, but I agree, it is always best to err on the side of caution!
I'm assuming the original pigments would be wanted by, purists, historians, archivists/restorers and the occasional high end forger. I'm glad the pigments are still around. be assured, I won't be using them. most of my stuff gets scanned into a computer. I don't worry about fugitive colors that way.
Some people love the idea of using the really old traditional materials. I do to a degree, but it depends on what it is...I like the traditional mediums, lead white and painting on lead oil primed canvas. I have no interest in using any of these pigments I showed in the video. Just like you, I am just fascinated by their history and how they morphed into what we have today. :)
Very interesting. I am a hobby/miniature painter and a new popular high pigmentation matte acrylic brand (Kimera Kolor) is using py83 and pr170. Now I understand how they're priced so incredibly competitive!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching :)
Thanks Jason. I had no idea there were such toxic pigments. I learn so much watching your videos. You're an encyclopedia of art information, yet you present it in such an easy to understand way. Looking forward to your next video.
Thanks James for the nice comments! I'm glad you enjoyed my video! :)
Beautiful, useful video and thank you for using a photo from our beautiful Phoenician and later Roman city of Tharros here in Sardinia at 23:58.
Thanks so much for watching and for the nice comment! :)
this was so fascinating, i learned so much. i love painting with ur videos in the background
Thanks so much for the nice comment! I'm so glad you've enjoyed my videos :)
U had me hooked ......Very very good content....very educational and easy to follow and understand.....great work
Thanks so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Fun video full of great information presented in a humorous and factual way. thank you
I read that the paint color, Asphaltum replaced the use of ground up mummies. I use it all the time and love it.
Yes! Well the original Asphaltum was basically the same bitumen that came from the mummies. It degrades quickly and isn't permanent. Any tubes of "Asphaltum" made today are hues made from permanent pigments.
I had no idea! That's fascinating.
Kremer Pigmente is a good place to buy historical pigments. There is also a nice documentory about the old pigment mill: Farbwelten-Kremer Arte
Thanks for the information and for watching!
Great sense of humor to boot. Love it.
LOL Thanks for watching!
There is a Van Gogh painting of sunflowers in one of the big London Museums. I saw it thirty years ago and the yellows had faded to an off white. The whole painting had kind of turned into a monochrome. It was sad to see. I always enjoy hearing Jason speak about colors. It's such a fascinating subject to learn about!
Thanks for watching and for such a nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video :)
A friend of mine paid $600 for just a little of that purple pigment from the snails. She used very very sparingly and it's absolutely luminous.
That's amazing! I'm glad we have other cheaper purple pigments available nowadays! LOL Thanks for watching :)
This is absolutely fascinating information! Thank you
I really like this video and have watched it several times. I'd like to find some of these in old tubes; I've seen pix of tubes of emerald green.
Thanks for the nice comment and for watching! You can find them on eBay. Also check out Ryan Demaree's channel. He has some interesting videos on old pigments. ruclips.net/user/RyanDemaree
Fascinating. I love your videos!
I recently came into an old "japanned" tin box of "Murillo" brand watercolors in pans, most likely from the early late 1800s- early 1900s. It has a chrome yellow, which has turned a wonderful light yellow-green; OLD gamboge (a color I far prefer to New gamboge), Indian yellow (probably the one you're referring to ); a lovely deep rose red (with a tinge of blue) that is labeled Vermilion--I can't find an equivalent in any modern reds. I wonder if it was mislabeled; emerald green but I'm not sure if it's the toxic one you're talking about, as now it's a sickly pale greenish-gray and is the only one of the paints that is no longer usable.
I haven't been able to find out much about Murillo watercolors so I don't know if it's student or artists grade but it's quickly become my favorite set. I like the fact that the colors aren't candy-bright and superduper clean and clear like modern watercolors. Half the colors are likely fugitive, unstable and/or toxic but that only adds to the fun and mystique :-)
Thanks so much for the nice comment! That sounds like a fascinating set of colors. I might get rid of that green just in case it's the real Emerald Green. You don't want to mess with that stuff. But, I know what you mean about the mystique of old pigments. :)
You are so knowledgable and entertaining.
Thanks so much for the nice comment! :)
Truly fascinating! I loved watching this. Thanks to Walcott Fine Art i will always consider the long historical journey that each color has made before it goes in the tube.
Thank you for telling us the history of some colors and the meaning of term”lake” . I have some Holbein watercolor tubes that named opera pink and scarlet lake, now I know I should avoid use them if I think about sell my paintings, thank you very much,big thumb up!
I'm so glad you found my video helpful! Thanks for watching and for the nice comment. :)
omg this is so helpful! Wish I watched this before I did the shopping spree for oil paints!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video :) Thanks for watching!
Man, this is a great and interesting video. You seem to link all sorts of small facts and anecdotes to your outline which demonstrates you have a very deep knowledge. I also love your choice of background music.
Thanks for watching and for the nice comment! I'm so glad you enjoyed my video. :)
Between you and Clive of Clive art and a young painter her Schroader,we learn so much about art and it is so interesting!
I'm so glad you enjoyed this video and found it interesting! Thanks for the nice comment! :)
As usual Jason, you are explaining what we would-be artists want to know. Thanks so much.
I am so glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching :)
Fascinating and informative survey of the lesser and no longer used colors of old. :)
Thanks for such a great comment! I almost wish now I had called the video "Colors of Old". LOL Glad you enjoyed it! :)
Excellent simple explanations of something that I know I definitely struggled with as a young artist before RUclips lol. What's a lake and whys this one a hue and whys it cheaper and why are single pigment colors better in general and why does old holland have so many weird color names that no one else uses and etc. On and on so confusing and overwhelming as a beginner especially. Shame artist paints can't all just be standard across the board but then we wouldn't have any great names like Dragons Blood for example haha. Anyway awesome 👌 video again.
Thanks for the nice comment and for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed this video :)
Outstanding channel! Just discovered you, love your clarity and enthusiasm for your subjects. Very helpful material. I am an oil painter. Thanks!!
Awesome, thank you for that nice comment! :)
On Winsor and newton's website, it says their chrome yellow closely resembles genuine chrome yellow but is light fast and permanent.
Thanks for watching! That means that the Winsor & Newton color is really a "hue", meaning it is a mixture of modern pigments meant to imitate Chrome Yellow. It's not genuine Chrome Yellow.
Wow man. Lol wow. You are truly an artist, to the bone. This was fantastic
Thank you so much for the nice comment and for watching! 😀
Thank you for the amazing story.
Thanks for watching! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :)
I adore this. Thank you for recommending a replacement for each one.
You are so welcome! Thanks for watching :)
This may be one of those 'duh dummy' type of questions, but why couldn't they just mix a blue and red paint to get purple back then?
Thanks for watching and great question! Back at the time of the Roman empire, there weren't as many colors as we have today. Firstly, blue would have been very rare and costly. If you used it at all it would be only to show off the blue, not for mixing. Plus the reds they had back then would have made a dull purple anyway because vermilion and red lead are orangey. It wouldn't have matched the rich saturated purple of the snail dye. :)
Imagine using your blue paint made from Lapis lazuli(back then it was more costly than gold per weight) just to mix up a secondary color.
Brilliant video, Jason; really informative. I really enjoyed it. :)
I was pleased to see you included the toxic Emerald Green, which I believe was first replaced by Viridian, before being replaced by Phthalo Green.
Thank you so much for the nice compliment! Yes, you are right that Viridian came before Phthalo! Thank you for catching that. Mostly I was referring to replacing the color itself, not a substitute green paint. Viridian doesn't have the same bright saturation that Emerald Green did...Phthalo does. Sorry if I made that confusing. :)
No problem at all; the video was very clear.
Your video makes me wonder actually what pigments we use today will be considered obsolete in one hundred and fifty or two hundred years. My guess is that they won't be removed so much for their toxicity - even cadmium paints are not very dangerous unless you want to eat the tube of paint - but rather, I imagine, because science will have developed cheaper and more efficient and environmentally friendly methods of producing colours. It's all rather exciting, I think.
Wow, I agree! It is exciting. If they were able to find a truly satisfactory replacement for Cadmiums (which they haven't!) that would be great...but you are absolutely correct that their toxicity is waaaay overblown. Just recently they discovered a new blue called "YInMn Blue" that not only doesn't fade, but is so efficient at reflecting infrared light that if you paint a roof with it, it can keep a house cooler. So far it's too new and expensive for anyone to have made paint from it. Maybe someday! :)
The thing that I find is most annoying about cadmium paints is not their toxicity, but rather their price, when compared with other pigments. Think of the price of Cadmium Yellow compared with the price of a similar yellow, for example; the cadmium paint is always more expensive.
I mainly paint in watercolour and some people don't like using cadmium paints - yellow and red - because of how opaque they are in watercolour, however, I rather like the effect they can produce if used properly. In watercolour, I think it is always useful to have a mix of transparent and opaque paints and most pigments in watercolour are transparent or semi transparent. Furthermore, a light wash of cadmium red or yellow, for example, is still going to be pretty transparent.
That's really interesting concerning "YInMn Blue". It sounds like it could have potential. We will definitely be using different pigments, I think, in one hundred and fifty or two hundred years. Think of how pigments have developed in pervious years, as your video shows. Ultramarine Blue, for example, was one of the most prized, rarest, and expensive pigments ever, being only used on extremely holy subjects like the Virgin Mary in religious paintings, until a synthetic French Ultramarine Blue was developed. Now, it is difficult to find an artist that doesn't use Ultramarine Blue on his / her palette, and I am no exception. :)
I do wish too that Cadmiums weren't so pricey...they are such great colors! It stems from the process of making it was well as Cadmium being a more rare element. Cobalt and Lead colors are expensive too. The more abundant and easy to make a pigment is, the less expensive it will be. The Ultramarine is a perfect example! Have you seen my videos "The Story of Blue"? It covers the history of Lapis Lazuli. The "abundance cutoff" basically comes at Iron on the Periodic Table. Elements lower than Iron on the table are much more abundant than the ones above Iron.
What an entertaining and educational video. Loved it!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
Thank you for your detailed and amazing explanation
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
This was extremely interesting and educational. Thank you for producing it. Could you perhaps do a segment on what you believe to be the most iconic and colorfast pigments to select for a basic primary color palette plus black and white?
Okay I found your other videos on the specific colors so I think I have what I need
Thanks for watching! :)
This is one of the tops videos for artists information on RUclips, I'm so happy I found you, thank you so much ❤️
Thanks so much for such a nice comment!! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Congratulations on a video of rare quality. Earned an instant thumbs up and sub from me. Regarding cochineal; I believe that it travelled widely with the expanding British empire, back when they were Red Coats.
Thanks for watching and for the nice comment! Yes, those British red coats were no doubt dyed with cochineal! The Spanish had their monopoly on it for awhile, but it didn't last long of course. It was easy to smuggle the bugs back to Europe.
Ah, theeere's my Carmine PR170 from yesterday.. in the 'what to avoid segment' hahahah lovely. What would we do without knowledgable pigment nerds!.. Great info!
I wonder if Emerald Green is the reason, that vials of poison are always portrayed as being this colour, in various movies/games/etc.
Actually yes!! You are right about the green poison...that's exactly where it comes from! I found out about that after I made this video otherwise I would have mentioned it. :)
This is a truly fascinating and well-produced video! Thank you for sharing it!
Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
Fascinating! I'd heard of mummy as a colour but didn't know its origins.
Great stuff, very interesting and informative.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
Indian yellow is another of the weirdest colors. It’s made from a cruel practice: feeding cows a diet of water and mango leaves, peeing onto sand, picking up a clump and letting it dry, and grinding the clumps into a powder.
Yes I 've heard that story! Experts are unable to confirm it though which is why I didn't include it in the video. Thanks for watching! :)
Lovely presentation. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. :)
This was an interesting video. You AMAZE me with your knowledge! Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
I love this video. Very educational and Entertaining. Thank you Jason.
Thank you so much for the nice comment! I'm veyr glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Thank you for all the wonderful information
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
EXCELLENT VIDEO - I COULD WATCH THIS ALL DAY! THANK YOU. WILL BINGE WATCH.
LOL Thanks for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
Holy moly! I've subscribed and am going to watch a lot of videos!
I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Thanks for the sub and for watching :)
@@walcottfineart5088How nice to hear from you! Are there anything new in the pipeline?
Really interesting. Especially the green segment. Thanks so much!
Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
Thank you for this video
It was interesting and verry useful
Best wishes
Thank you for making this fantastic video ! It cleared a lot of things up, but i am a bit confused because you said that PR 170 is not permanent enough for artist's use but Michael Harding has a red called Scarlet Lake which is PR 170 and it has Excellent lightfastness rating. Again, Great video and thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks so much for the compliments! A good deal of my pigment information comes from www.handprint.com which tests all the colors in watercolor, as well as The Color of Art Pigment Database. Oil paints do tend to be more durable, but lightfastness tests aren't always consistent. You can see more info here: www.artiscreation.com/red.html#PR170
As always, brilliant, what would we do without you!
Thanks for watching and for the nice comment! :)
This is quite interesting.
I actually have a pan of Carmine watercolor paint. Its nice, but sticky. I call it bug blood as a joke. Should have figured its very fugitive.. oh well most are in my sketchbooks or i use it in works i scan for digital upload. And yes, it feels like painting with food coloring. Probably not a color I'm gonna buy again when it runs out. Still a nice tone though.
Glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching :)
yes definition so they are in being synthetic today. I can't remember where I read that, but I really liked your video. I got my degree in Art History, yet paint with oils today and have always been very interested in pigments.
Thanks for the nice comment! I have always been fascinated by the history of pigments too. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :)
I love your videos you really capture my mind and thoughts on using colours I fined you very helpful and encouraging.
Thank you so much for the nice comment and for watching!
Fascinating! Thank you for producing it.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video :) Thanks for watching!
6 years late but, A lake pigment is a pigment made by precipitating a dye with an inert binder, or mordant, usually a metallic salt. Unlike vermilion, ultramarine, and other pigments made from ground minerals, lake pigments are organic
Wonderful video. Are you planing to do more on this subject or related? E.g. most lightfast pigments, recent pigment inventions and discoveries etc. Thank you so much for your videos.
Thanks for the nice comment and good ideas for more videos like this! :)
What a great video, thanks! Your videos are great...I just subscribed! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and talent 😀
Thank you so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :)
You can also "milk" the murex snails to get the pigment (which is how indigenous peoples in south America traditionally did it) but it's more labor intensive so it wasn't usually done in the west.
Thanks for watching and for the fascinating info on the murex! :)
The history of pigments is very interesting and fascinating, even entertaining 🙂
Thanks so much for watching and for the nice comment! Glad you enjoyed it. :)
You mention in 21:52 that the pthalo green is completely non toxic, but I saw a video of a renown artist on youtube (Mark Carder) claiming/warning about its toxicity?
Thanks for watching! As far as I know the Phthalo colors aren't known to have any toxicity. Phthalo Green is allowed for use in tattoos. I think Carder was just mistaken or got it mixed up with something else. :)
@@walcottfineart5088 Oh, thank you for your answer! Great video, and greetings from Argentina.
Very informative indeed, I have never heard of any of this, thank you so much Jason.
Thanks for watching! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :)
3 things i want to say (not complaints!):
1: I found a watercolor that has PY74 since "PY 74 watercolor" doesnt give any results. I also didn't find any dry pigment (i don't understand why). Sennelier Primary Yellow.
2: Tyrian Dye is still made and sold nowadays! It is still extremely expensive. It's about 44,000 times more expensive (per gram) than Raw Sienna (sennelier dry pigments) shop.kremerpigments.com/en/pigments/kremer-made-and-historic-pigments/4915/tyrian-purple
3: Sometimes pigments will be lightfast in some brands and not in others, and some pigments will be more lightfast in different mediums!
Thanks for watching! Great info! I didn't know that they still made the Tyrian purple dye. Given that it is so expensive, there doesn't seem to be much reason to spend the money...it has been almost perfectly replaced by the quinacridone colors. You are correct that some pigments that are normally lightfast can be less so if they are poorly made...it depends on the manufacturer.
Loved it. Very well done.
Thanks for the nice comment and for watching! :)
the napoleon killer? international hero i should say
Thanks for watching!
excellent resource. thank you!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching :)
Fascinating !!! Instructive and also useful to know.
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed this video. :)
I am really impressed by your videos. I have a few questions...
1) Ashalten has recently been re-introduced as a color, supposedly improved to be more stabile, what are your thoughts?
2) In the realm of varnishes, Copal picture varnish, and Copal varnish mediums, how do they compare to Damar varnish?
Thanks for watching! 1) I believe that Asphaltum you are thinking of is likely a hue color, maening it is made from other pigments to mimic the real thing. If not, I would be cautious. The real thing contains tar which will never dry. 2) Copal was used mainly for commercial varnishes but became popular in the Victorian period for fine art mediums and as a varnish for paintings. I have never used it, but from what I understand, it dries very hard. It isn't as common anymore. My guess is damar would be easier to remove if need be.
@@walcottfineart5088 Yes, but I want to use it more in stages between layers of glazes, such as that which Maxfield Parrish did. and for that purpose, the hardness is a benefit. It is still made and available via several companies, Richeson, Geneva, Grumbacher and others, but only as a medium, not as a picture varnish, which I am not sure if there would be a difference, but I am still looking into this.
You always do a really good video ! This one is very interesting !!!
Thanks for watching and for the nice comment! :)
Very interesting, thank you!
What do you think about the new research on zinc oxide causing brittleness, cracking, and delamination in paintings even in smaller percentages? It seems that the least yellowing white paints are pw6/pw4 mixes with Safflower binders, but zinc can seriously compromise the paint film. Hard to decide on a white paint to use as a result.
Thanks for watching! Almost all Titanium Whites have some Zinc added to them so it's nearly impossible to avoid it. It does make the paint much more workable since pure Titanium doesn't make the best paint. For the most part as long as you don't use large amounts of zinc or use it as an underlayer, you will likely be OK. Another thing you can do to help is paint on a rigid support like a wood panel. The only other alternative is Lead White. Lead White is quite archival (it's the best one actually), but is pretty expensive and of course doea require extra care to avoid any issues with lead toxicity.
There's other filler pigments to soften the intensity of titanium white that would cause less of an issue when compared to zinc oxide (PW4). Look for PW22 (barium sulfate), PW5 (lithopone) or PW7 (zinc sulfide).
Thank you Sir to make this video! it is really2 helpful! Pls pls make this kind of video in the future
Thanks for watching! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video :)
very interesting and informative!
I'm glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks for watching!
Beautiful stories! You can write a book about.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words! :)
That's a shame... I love Indian Yellow... But what about using a cadmium or a permanent red in place of the napthol red?
Most tubes of "Indian Yellow" today are made from more permanent colors. YOu shouldn't have a problem there. A great and very permanent red to use is Pyrrole Red (PR254). It's a great color and is readily available from a number of paint lines. Thanks for watching!
Acme supplies sound like something joker would have appreciated!! 20:32
LOL It does! Or maybe the Coyote too. ;) Thanks for watching!
Very, very interesting (and informative). Thank you.
Thanks for the nice comment! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. :)
Winsor Yellow in watercolor is PY154, Benzimidazolone Yellow. It's more lightfast than PY74, Arylide Yellow 5GX, in the watercolor media.
As for Naphthol Reds: Many of the different Naphthol Red pigment classes, like PR188, PR170 and PR112 are very big and contain a large number of different pigments with somewhat different properties. That includes light fastness, which varies. There are some pigments in each of these classes which are maybe lightfast enough. Though PR112 pigments tends to be more durable than PR170 pigments, nothing is certain from just the color index name, like PR112 or PR170. The individual pigment itself must be tested and judged.
Thanks for watching! Yes! I was trying to remember about the Winsor & Newton Winsor Yellow watercolor in the middle of recording and forgot. I agree, that not all pigments are equal. There is probably a general overall truth to the lightfastness ratings, but I would always encourage someone to test their own paints as well.
I really like your videos.
One idea for a longer, ambitious video is the history of artists pigments. You've already covered most of the ground in this and other excellent videos on specific colors, but consolidating it and going through it in chronological order could be interesting. Artists these days have it so easy - regarding paint - and how artists have struggled with permanence through the ages is an interesting perspective. In particular, artists used to be much more aware of permanence issues.
I think pigment awareness is of value. Traditional artist ranges primarily sell different pigments, offering artists a choice. But recently one Asian brand has come up with an "Artist grade" watercolor range of 105 colors, all mixed up from only about 25 intense, modern pigments, none of them perfectly permanent. Using only intense and strong synthetic pigments, they can pretend to have "stronger pigmentation" than competition, which unfortunately many considers an indication of quality.
Extremely/absolutely permanent pigments like the Iron earths and oxides, Cobalt Blue & Violet, Cerulean, Viridian, Cadmium Red (and Yellow in oil), deserves to be highly valued, even today. At least that's what I think.
All that said, you should also remember to do painting videos. ;)
Thanks so much for your wonderful comments! I would love to do a video like that sometime. Maybe I will consider it. I did "The Story of Blue" last year which I was very happy with, and it was a lot of fun. I agree that artists today aren't as familiar with their materials as they used to be...mostly because we don't have to make them, we can just buy them. I am trying to strike a balance between videos like this and the more typical "how-to" videos so there is something for eveyrone on my channel! :)
Well done :) I ses that Michael Harding uses/sells all those three colours that you mention one should not
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed the video :)
The Indian Yellow I use is Lukas 1862 PY83/PO36, just to be clear, are you suggesting to stay away for this color because it will fade? I typically use this color with Ultramarine to desaturate the blue. Both colors transparency are great for glazing. Another question ? Have you made a video on how to darken colors without using black? I normally use the complementary , but is this the best way to create shadow colors? Thanks for all your awesome info!!!
Thanks for watching! Most likely if you keep your paintings away from direct sunlight you should be OK with those pigments. There have been varying results with lightfastness tests on PY83, so I would suggest caution, but not necessarily strict avoidance. PO36 is very lightfast so no worries there. I have not yet done a video on darkening colors without black, but it is on the list! Complementaries can work, but not in every single case. I'll do a more in depth video on this soon.
Thanks so much!
Van Gogh' s sunflowers used to be brighter. That's so sad:(
Great video though.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
I wonder if with digital manipulation someone could make a mock-up of what some paintings looked like when it was just painted 🤔
Fantastic work i enjoyed it fully !
Thank you so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
yes in watercolour opera colours are not lightfast at all i know the eureline yellow in watercolour turns a brown colour under sunlight super fast but many watercolour brands have a hue so thats good
Yes, watercolors in general are slightly less lightfast than oils. Thanks for watching! :)
What composes modern emerald green pigment you can buy?
What an absolutely incredibly interesting video thank you so much!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
This was so good. Thank you for making it.
Thanks so much for the nice comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
I have a gorgeous r&f pigment stick called alizarine orange. Would that be fugitive? It says "pr83 - 1,2 dihydroxy anthraquinone on alumina base & pb83 - disazo (diarylide)"
Thanks for watching! Yes the PR83 is Alizarin Crimson, so the red part will fade and leave behind the yellow. Diarylide Yellow is not completely permanent either so use that stick with caution.
very interesting... just love color! blue and violet my favorites and then red. and gold.... dont like green or yellow...
Thank you for the comment! My favorite color are violet and/or orange, but I find as an artist I can find beauty in any color. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. :)
great job. petty that you no longer make videos :(
Thank you...love this video
Thanks so much for watching and for the nice comment!
Professional Video, better than TV (well, i never owned one)
Wow, thanks for that nice comment! :)
@@walcottfineart5088 you are very welcome!
SO INFORMATIVE thank you so much (so you're saying Rublev sells most pigments or all) I collect pigments XD.
Thanks for the nice comment! Glad you enjoyed the video. Rublev specializes in historical pigments so you will find they carry the older more obsolete ones up to about 1850. They don't sell modern pigments like phthalo and quinacridone, or even the cadmiums.
fantastic vid....very well researched.
Thanks for the nice comment! I'm glad you found the video interesting. Thanks for watching. :)