Unmatched in their softness and consistency, Schmincke soft pastels were created using the finest artist's pigments and a minimum of binders. Pastel softness permits beautiful dense application, and high pigment concentration results in intense colors.
Color Swatch created using heavy to light application and was applied on 100 lb (163 gsm) drawing paper material.
complex silicate of sodium and aluminum with sulfur
Na8-10Al6Si6O24S2-4 or Na6-8Al6Si6O24S2-4
Ultramarine is the standard warm blue, a brilliant blue pigment that has the most purple and least green in its undertone. It has a moderate to high tinting strength and a beautiful transparency. Synthetic Ultramarine is not as vivid a blue as natural Ultramarine. Ultramarine dries slowly in oil and tends to produce clean, though granular, washes in watercolor. French Ultramarine mixes well with Alizarin colors in oil and watercolor form to create a range of purples and violets. It can dull when mixed with white in acrylic form, but mixes well with other colors. The shade varies based on manufacturer. Considered a great color for glazes, it is not suitable for frescoing.
Ultramarine has excellent permanence, although synthetic Ultramarine is not as permanent as natural Ultramarine. It may discolor if exposed to acid because of its sulfuric content.
Ultramarine has no significant hazards.
The name for this pigment comes from the Middle Latin ultra, meaning beyond, and mare, meaning sea, because it was imported from Asia to Europe by sea. It is a prominent component of lapis lazuli and was used on Asian temples starting in the 6th century. It was one of the most expensive pigments in 16th century Europe, worth twice its weight in gold, and so was used sparingly and when commissions were larger. Ultramarine is currently imitated by a process invented in France in 1826 by Jean Baptiste Guimet, making blue affordable to artists and extending the range of colors on their palettes.
Artificial Ultramarine, French Blue, French Ultramarine, Gmelin's Blue, Guimet’s Blue, Permanent Blue, Royal Blue, Synthetic Ultramarine. New Blue describes particular shades of Ultramarine. Armenian Blue and Lazuline Blue are names for genuine Lapiz Ultramarine. Sky Blue is a pale tone of Ultramarine.
alpha copper phthalocyanine
Phthalo Blue PB15:1 is a structural variant of Phthalo Blue PB15 that produces more reddish tones.
Phthalo Blues are completely lightfast and stable and are permanent for all paint uses. They are currently used in inks, coatings, and many plastics due to their stability and are considered a standard pigment in printing ink and the packaging industry.
Phthalo Blues have no significant hazards, although those made before 1982 contained some PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
Developed by chemists using the trade name Monastral Blue, the organic blue dyestuff now known as Phthalo Blue was presented as a pigment in November 1935 in London. Its discovery was accidental. The dark color was observed in a kettle where a dye was being made from a British dyestuff plant. The demand for such a pigment came from commercial printers who wanted a cyan to replace Prussian Blue.
Phthalo Blue Red Shade, Winsor Blue Red Shade
Dioxazine Violet is transparent and has very high tinting strength. It is a staining pigment, very dark valued when it is used at full strength. Concentrated, it paints out nearly black, but it mixes with Titanium White to form bright, opaque tints of purple. PV23 produces slightly redder shades than PV37. Because the hue can vary with the conditions of preparation and grinding, it may be offered in red shade, blue shade, and so forth.
Dioxazine Violet has good lightfastness. There may be some concern about it fading or shifting in color in tints and washes. Some artists have reported that PV37, a molecular variant, is more lightfast than PV23.
Two molecular variants of Dioxazine Violet, PV23 and PV37, are available. They have similar properties, but mix slightly differently.
Dioxazine Purple, Chromothal Violet, Mauve, Carbazole Violet.
polychlorinated copper(II) phthalocyanine
C32H3Cl13CuN8 to C32HCl15CuN8 or C32H16CuN8Cl15 (PG7) or C32Br6Cl10CuN8 (PG36)
Phthalo Green is a transparent, cool, bright, high intensity color used in oil and acrylics. It comes from a Phthalocyanine Blue pigment where most of the hydrogen atoms have been replaced with chlorine, forming highly stable molecules. It has similar pigment properties and permanence to Phthalo Blue. It is slow drying and an excellent base color for mixing a range of bright greens. Phthalo Green is considered a very good alternative to Viridian because it is intense and mixes well and can be used to emphasize mineral colors in various tints. However, its tinting strength is very high, so it can overpower other colors. This pigment most closely resembles the discontinued and toxic Verdigris.
Phthalo Greens are completely lightfast and resistant to alkali, acids, solvents, heat, and ultraviolet radiation. They are currently used in inks, coatings, and many plastics due to their stability and are considered a standard pigment in printing ink and the packaging industry.
Phthalo Green has no significant hazards, but it contained PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) until 1982.
This bright blue-green was developed in 1935 and has been in use since 1938.
Bocour Green, Cyan Green, Intense Green, Monastral Green, Phthalocyanine Green, Rembrandt Green, Thalo Green, Winsor Green.
Chromium Oxide Green is a dull, dense, willow or pale green color that is completely opaque. It has an average drying time and a low tinting strength. It is fairly flexible in oil form and is suitable for all purposes and mediums. This pigment is less versatile in mixtures than Viridian and Phthalocyanine Green, but mixes well with other colors without overpowering them.
Chromium Oxide Green has excellent permanence, even at high temperatures.
Chromium Oxide Green is slightly toxic. Evidence of Chromium(III) carcinogenicity is inconclusive. Chromium(III) salts appear in greenish pigments such as PG17. Chromium(VI) salts, which appear in yellowish pigments, have been proven to cause cancer.
Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin discovered the element chromium in lead chromate in 1797. It began to be used as an enamel and ceramic color in 1809, but it had limited use as a pigment until 1862, because of its cost. It is the most commonly used green for military camouflage because it appears the same shade as living foliage under infrared light.
Chrome Oxide Green, Olive Green, Permanent Green. Varieties of Chromium Oxide Green include Arnaudon's Green, Dingler's Green, Plessy's Green, and Schnitzer's Green.
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