A reader wrote last week confused about the differences between the shades of raw sienna and burnt sienna. As you can see by the image here, not only are the shades different from pigment to pigment but also from supplier to supplier. The five samples shown here are the ones I use on my palette. On the left is the pigment in its pure form with … [Read more...] about Raw Sienna Review
Pigments: Historical and Modern
There is a distinct difference between modern day pigments and the natural pigments used prior to the middle of the 1700s. In the past, artists had apprentices who ground the colors for them throughout the oil painting sessions. Because they were made by hand, the pigments retained a natural grittiness and consistency with larger particle size. Today's oil paint manufacturers make synthetic colors in huge vats where the end result is exceptional smoothness. Prior to the middle of the 1700, natural pigments came from dirt, minerals, and even plants.
The Sun, the Moon , and Burnt Sienna
Burnt Sienna is an extraordinarily versatile and useful pigment. In use since antiquity, the siennas sometimes are grouped into the "brown" category, but they are far from plain old brown. With their iron oxide ingredients, they range from rich earthy reds to foreboding darks. In earlier times, sienna was found in Siena, Italy and was … [Read more...] about The Sun, the Moon , and Burnt Sienna
Blue Bandeau
Blue Bandeau 10x9 Oil on Linen SOLD © 2008 Margret E. Short After all these many months of using the historical pigments exclusively, I am consistently amazed at how easy it is to get a harmonious color theme. By using just these few colors on my palette makes the decisions so easy. There is just no … [Read more...] about Blue Bandeau
Safety with Pigments
A blog reader, Sara Mast, recently posted a comment on an entry called, Perplexing Pigments, that I posted in October of 2006. The topic of this post is the safety of using pigments in the dry natural form. Sara wanted to know about my working procedures. This is something that is of great importance to me, and I use great care while handling … [Read more...] about Safety with Pigments
Azurite Pigment
Shown here is Azurite/Malachite Pigment from Natural Pigments, fine grade. It also is known as blue verditer, bice, and Mountain blue. I have seen wide ranges of intensities of this pigment ranging from a dullish gray to a very vibrant blue like this one. The early Egyptians were said to have used it in antiguity. It can be costly - as much as … [Read more...] about Azurite Pigment
Azurite
A few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure to visit the world class Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals, located 20 minutes west of downtown Portland. This museum was founded by Richard L. and Helen M. Rice in 1996 for the education and enjoyment of beautiful wonders of nature. They house not only the "Alma Rose" … [Read more...] about Azurite