Pigments | Painting Mediums

Pigments - Fascinating Painting Mediums

The most intensive and fascinating painting medium among fine art materials are pigments. Scientifically we have to distinguish between inorganic pigments, as there are for example all earth colors (minerals), and organic pigments like those originating from animals or plants. Bonding agents like oily expedients as linseed oil or walnut oil, enable artists to paint with pure pigments. Of course expedients should be neutral and not change the tone's intenseness. Some of these painting mediums reduce the dull quality of pigments and give additional gloss to this natural art craft supply.
 

The oldest, well known art pigments are ochre (ochre-yellow), rust red and brown earth colored pigments, as you still can see in ancient cave paintings.

Black painting mediums made from soot and coal had been used as art material in earliest paintings, too. Famous pigments and painting mediums from antiquity are: cinnabar, cobalt, indigo, lapis lazuli, crimson, saffron, sienna, turquoise, umbra, verdigris.

 
Pigment itself is an insoluble tone. In combination with an painting medium like self made egg-tempera or commercial expedients most pigments can be used as non-fading and very intensive artists colors. There are other bonding agents like some kinds of oil that may contribute tones to change. Natural white and black painting pigments are chalk and lead white respectively coal, soot, ivory black. Metallic shine you can create with graphite pigments.

Strong yellow, orange, and red pigments are: cadmium yellow, India, saffron, irgazin orange, English red, Venetian red, cinnabar red, cadmium red, mennige, crimson. Green, blue and violet pigments include: Bohemian green soil, malachite green, turquoise, azure blue, indigo, cobalt blue, Prussian blue, ultra marine blue, manganese violet. Sometimes synthetic pigments may be mixed and stretched with other substrates.