Why are new pigments so important?

Why introduce new pigments?

George Mallory, mountaineer and friend of the Bloomsbury group, when asked, ‘Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?’, famously replied, ‘Because it is there’.

• At Winsor & Newton, this answer fits perfectly to the new pigment question. For nearly 180 years our driving force has been to ensure that artists’ needs are met by the widest possible provision of materials. If a new pigment exists we believe it is our duty to make it available as an artists’ colour.

• In comparison to the past, there has been a massive improvement in permanence thanks to a great many of the new pigments.

• New colours give rise to new artistic expression; without the new pigments of the 19th century, Impressionism would never have existed. It took Winsor & Newton more than 25 years to study and formulate our new colours and we believe it was worth every moment.

Characteristics and uses of some of the main new colours

Yellows

PY184 -  Bismuth Yellow (AWC*, AOC*, AAC*)

Bismuth Yellow is a bright lemon yellow of medium strength. It is unusually opaque and this makes it the only real contender as a cadmium substitute.  As an inorganic pigment, its mixtures suit more muted palettes, landscape greens for example.

PY150 -  Transparent Yellow (AWC), Indian Yellow Deep (AOC), Nickel Azo Yellow (AAC)

This is the most transparent pigment on earth – and lightfast! Makes unbelievably bright clean mixtures and glazes to die for.






Orange

P073 -  Winsor Orange (Red Shade) (AWC), Winsor Orange (AOC), Pyrrole Orange (AAC)

Pure oranges (not made from red and yellow pigments mixed) are hard to come by and this lovely clean mid orange should be your chosen one. It will help keep this area of your palette bright and make some extra clean mixtures either side of it.

Reds

PR255 -  Scarlet Lake (AOC), Pyrrole Red Light (AAC)

PR254 -  Winsor Red (AWC), Bright Red (AOC), Pyrrole Red (AAC)

PR264 -  Winsor Red Deep (AWC)

These are all pyrrole pigments. PR255 is the bright scarlet, PR254 the mid red and PR264 the crimson. They are good alternatives to cadmiums but will make brighter cleaner mixtures and have the benefit of being in a lower price series in oil and watercolour.

Quinacridone Red Artists' Water Colour

PR209 - Quinacridone Red (AWC, AOC, AAC)

This is a wonderful unique colour. It’s highly transparent, mid red and permanent. A great alternative in your palette to the more opaque reds, it will give you mixtures you’ve never seen and keep you away from muddy colours for longer.

Quinacridone pyrrolidone - Permanent Carmine (AWC, AOC)

This pigment is so new it doesn’t even have a Colour Index Generic Name yet! A beautiful mid crimson, highly transparent and a permanent, lower cost replacement to genuine Carmine. A great floral colour for peonies!

PR206 -  Brown Madder (AWC), Quinacridone Burnt Orange (AAC)

Another Quinacridone, a rich alternative to Burnt Sienna. It is a stronger, cleaner colour which makes fantastic deep darks with Indanthrene Blue. The transparency of these new single pigment colours simply revolutionises your palette.

PR233 -  Potter’s Pink (AWC, AAC)

A new granulating colour is always exciting in watercolour. Its soft grainy nature just begs to be used. In mixtures it will help other colours to granulate without dominating the colour. It’s a great addition to the portrait palette as it is not chalky - it is not made using white.

	Potter's Pink - Artists' Water Colour

PR149 -  Winsor Red Deep (AOC), Perylene Red (AAC)

PR179 -  Perylene Maroon (AWC, AAC)

These two pigments are Perylenes. Both highly transparent, the red a deep mid red, the maroon in watercolour positively glows. They are strong colours and mix very cleanly. Complementary mixtures using  Perylene Maroon are so lustrous and deep, Turner must be turning in his grave in envy!



Violets

PV29 -  Perylene Violet (AWC, AAC)

Another new colour position which in the past could only have come from fugitive lake pigments. An alternative to a violet earth. Stronger, cleaner and transparent, Perylene Violet is great in both mixtures and stunning at glazing. Also perfect for musky purple florals.

PV15 -  Ultramarine Violet (AWC, AOC, AAC)

Ultramarine Violet has very low tinting strength so tends to disappear in mixtures but it’s a good lower cost alternative to Cobalts.
Blues

PB74 -  Cobalt Blue Deep (AWC, AOC, AAC)

Cobalts are critical in the artists’ palette because they have moderate tinting strength so provide muted mixtures. This is a unique red shade Cobalt Blue, a granulating colour in watercolour.

PB60 -  Indanthrene Blue (AWC, AOC, AAC)

Indanthrene is very interesting because it is a deep blue which is redder in undertone than any other. This improves violet mixtures and performs well in complementary mixtures. It’s a good replacement for Prussian Blue, with greater permanence.

Greens

PG50 -  Cobalt Turquoise Light (AWC, AOC, AAC)

A breathtaking single pigment colour which cannot be mixed. As a cobalt it has inherent value for muted mixtures. Its brightness is good for skies and fauve palettes.

Cobalt Turquoise Light - Artists' Acrylic		Green Gold - Artists' Acrylic

PY129 -  Green Gold (AWC, AOC, AAC)

Yet another astonishing pigment. It simply doesn’t look like it could be permanent! An amazing mixing colour, which will brighten earths and give a vast array of greens and autumn browns.

Earths

Mixture due to replacement -  Quinacridone Gold (AWC, AAC)

Quinacridone Gold is the most popular new colour. A brighter, stronger alternative to Raw Sienna and a more useful mixer as it has more influence.
PBr7 -  Brown Ochre (AWC, AOC)

A lovely natural earth, many of which are no longer available. It’s important to have a balance in your palette of weaker and stronger tinting colours to avoid an overall harshness. Granulates in watercolour.

PR101 -  Caput Mortuum Violet (AWC), Mars Violet (AOC), Violet Iron Oxide(AAC)

This synthetic iron oxide is very dense, opaque and strong with an unusual violet hue. Good for portrait and landscape tints and a good undercoat for golds.

Black

PBk31 -  Perylene Green (AWC, AAC), Perylene Black (AOC)

	Perylene Green - Artists' Acrylic

A new black is a rare thing, in fact this is the first permanent one for thousands of years! This is a strong black with an exquisite green undertone. So green in watercolour and acrylic that it is called  Perylene Green.  It can be used straight or good for green and blue mixtures and tweaking complementaries.

Understanding the characteristics of new pigments is incredibly valuable because it allows artists to choose their best possible palette and widest range of colours. Winsor & Newton are committed to making the brightest and most permanent colours for artists and while many of the pigments used are traditional and historice, they are also the first to embrace newer pigments and development in colour to ensure that they produce the best possible spectrum for artists to work with.

*AWC - Artists’ Water Colour *AOC – Artists’ Oil Colour *AAC – Artists’ Acrylic Colour