Preamble
This is the forty-sixth post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed all the posts in this new series below:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
Blue Pigments - Part III
Green Pigments - Part I
Green Pigments - Part II
Red Pigments - Part I
Red Pigments - Part II
Yellow Pigments - Part I
Yellow Pigments - Part II
Brown and Violet Pigments
There have been another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics;
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio;
(iii) Color theories and color schemes;
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials;
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V;
(vi) Protein fibers;
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers;
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers;
(ix) Fabric construction;
(x) Techniques and woven fibers;
(xi) Basic and figured weaves;
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics;
(xiii) Durable press and wash-and-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.
To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.
If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g. click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.
The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!
Brown and Violet Pigments [1]
Brown Pigments [1]
Vandyke Brown was employed, not so much for its general hue, which might have been matched by a mixture of black, red oxide, and a little ochre or sienna, but for its rich, deep tones against which the umbers seem chalky.
Vandyke Brown.
Burnt Umber.
Old oil paintings in which iBurnt umber was employed are frequently found to be deteriorated into a mass of wide traction fissures.
Note: A whole art restoration industry has been created to repair wide traction fissures associated with the use of Burnt umber (see above).
Burnt Sienna is one of the most valuable pigments for producing mixed or broken hues of depth and clarity. Like the other Earths, it is sold in a great variety of top-tones, but the undertones are fairly uniform. In oil colors, the deepest and darker mahogany shades are the most useful and will yield the least chalky results in mixtures.
Note: Further mention of some of these mixtures will be found in a post under 'Green Pigments.'
Mahogany Paint.
Burnt Sienna is classified sometimes as a brown, and sometimes as a red. In a very restricted or simplified oil palette, it can be used as a red; in most mediums (like pastel, gouache, and tempera) the color effect of its top-tone is so close to those of Indian or Light Reds, that the latter are frequently considered as unnecessary labels.
Burnt Sienna.
Raw and Burnt Umbers are the most widely used browns; they have a pronounced siccative effect on oil, and tend to produce tough, flexible, leathery films. Their oil content is so high that when used to full strength in undercoats, they have the tendency to produce crackling of the top coat, as noted in the previous posts on 'Oil Painting.' To be on the safe side, they should not be used in underpaintings in greater concentration than 40% admixture with pigments of low or medium oil absorption; up to this amount, they may be added to undercoats in order to secure quick drying and uniform, durable oil paint films.
Raw Umber.
Burnt Umber.
Sepia and Bistre, used exclusively in water colors and wash drawings, are not so commonly employed as they were in the past. Sepia is rated as a semi-permanent or a borderline color, whereas Bistre is definitely not permanent. Bistre is a rather cool, greenish brown compared with Sepia. The difference between them is analogous to that between Raw and Burnt Umbers, but their tones are more subtle and delicate than those of the Umbers. Bistre use is now very rare.
Sepia.
Bistre.
Both Sepia and Bistre were valued for their versatility in producing water color washes of great variation in tone or color, depending on their dilution with water; therefore, in the case of a substitute color used to replace one of their hues, a diluted or more highly concentrated mixture will not necessarily match the diluted or more highly concentrated original.
Violet Pigments [1]
The use of violet pigments in painting is generally limited; many painters prefer the broken violets produced by mixtures of blues and reds, because they fall into the average color scheme better than the pure, clear violet pigments, which, as a rule, tend to produce cold or harsh effects. When a bright, clean violet color is desired Cobalt Violet is usually found suitable by most painters.
Note: The poisonous nature of cobalt violets required extra occupational, health and safety procedures in order to ensure their use is safe.
Cobalt Violet.
Compared with bright cobalt and manganese violets, Mars Violet is dull and subdued, but when used straight or in mixtures on the average picture of low intensity, it serves well to produce the majority of purple and lavender colors ordinarily required.
Mars Violet.
Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).
This is the forty-sixth post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed all the posts in this new series below:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
Blue Pigments - Part III
Green Pigments - Part I
Green Pigments - Part II
Red Pigments - Part I
Red Pigments - Part II
Yellow Pigments - Part I
Yellow Pigments - Part II
Brown and Violet Pigments
There have been another one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that have focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics;
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio;
(iii) Color theories and color schemes;
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials;
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V;
(vi) Protein fibers;
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers;
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers;
(ix) Fabric construction;
(x) Techniques and woven fibers;
(xi) Basic and figured weaves;
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics;
(xiii) Durable press and wash-and-wear finishes;
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends;
(xv) The general theory of printing.
To access any of the above resources, please click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link will highlight all of the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous a are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely, the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms, Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff, A Fashion Data Base, the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins, the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns, Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements, Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms and the Glossary of Scientific Terms. All data bases in the future will be updated from time-to-time.
If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g. click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.
The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember - these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student and so undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and in other parts, it may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). The trade-off between these two extremes will mean that Art Resource posts will be hopefully useful in parts to most, but unfortunately may not be satisfying to all!
Brown and Violet Pigments [1]
Brown Pigments [1]
Vandyke Brown was employed, not so much for its general hue, which might have been matched by a mixture of black, red oxide, and a little ochre or sienna, but for its rich, deep tones against which the umbers seem chalky.
Old oil paintings in which iBurnt umber was employed are frequently found to be deteriorated into a mass of wide traction fissures.
Burnt Sienna is one of the most valuable pigments for producing mixed or broken hues of depth and clarity. Like the other Earths, it is sold in a great variety of top-tones, but the undertones are fairly uniform. In oil colors, the deepest and darker mahogany shades are the most useful and will yield the least chalky results in mixtures.
Note: Further mention of some of these mixtures will be found in a post under 'Green Pigments.'
Burnt Sienna is classified sometimes as a brown, and sometimes as a red. In a very restricted or simplified oil palette, it can be used as a red; in most mediums (like pastel, gouache, and tempera) the color effect of its top-tone is so close to those of Indian or Light Reds, that the latter are frequently considered as unnecessary labels.
Raw and Burnt Umbers are the most widely used browns; they have a pronounced siccative effect on oil, and tend to produce tough, flexible, leathery films. Their oil content is so high that when used to full strength in undercoats, they have the tendency to produce crackling of the top coat, as noted in the previous posts on 'Oil Painting.' To be on the safe side, they should not be used in underpaintings in greater concentration than 40% admixture with pigments of low or medium oil absorption; up to this amount, they may be added to undercoats in order to secure quick drying and uniform, durable oil paint films.
Sepia and Bistre, used exclusively in water colors and wash drawings, are not so commonly employed as they were in the past. Sepia is rated as a semi-permanent or a borderline color, whereas Bistre is definitely not permanent. Bistre is a rather cool, greenish brown compared with Sepia. The difference between them is analogous to that between Raw and Burnt Umbers, but their tones are more subtle and delicate than those of the Umbers. Bistre use is now very rare.
Both Sepia and Bistre were valued for their versatility in producing water color washes of great variation in tone or color, depending on their dilution with water; therefore, in the case of a substitute color used to replace one of their hues, a diluted or more highly concentrated mixture will not necessarily match the diluted or more highly concentrated original.
Violet Pigments [1]
The use of violet pigments in painting is generally limited; many painters prefer the broken violets produced by mixtures of blues and reds, because they fall into the average color scheme better than the pure, clear violet pigments, which, as a rule, tend to produce cold or harsh effects. When a bright, clean violet color is desired Cobalt Violet is usually found suitable by most painters.
Note: The poisonous nature of cobalt violets required extra occupational, health and safety procedures in order to ensure their use is safe.
Compared with bright cobalt and manganese violets, Mars Violet is dull and subdued, but when used straight or in mixtures on the average picture of low intensity, it serves well to produce the majority of purple and lavender colors ordinarily required.
Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).