[alt-photo] pigments for gum

Tue Dec 13 14:15:24 GMT 2011

Trevor and others,

Please forgive, looooooonnnnngggg post.

Caveat: The following for those who size.

I hope I am not being so bold as to butt into your convo with Peter, and my list is not his list which you had asked for, but maybe this is of help to you anyway.

My only requirement for a pigment to make my list is that it is lightfast. I don't care about staining vs. non-staining because sizing makes that a moot point. I do care about lightfastness, and have had to eliminate questionable colors that I love, mostly in the red category. There is speculation that a pigment imbedded in a hardened layer of gum might be more lightfast therefore, and maybe one can therefore use a pigment in the "II" lightfast category, but I've just stayed with the ones below that I can depend on.

I keep about 30 on hand at any time, but tend to use only several of each color. For instance, I used to use PR 209 but it is too cherry or peachy red for my tastes now. I can spot it a mile away in prints I have used it in.
Another color I used to use is PY110, a beautiful color but awfully gold. It is good at times, though! Other practitioners will vary.

I don't much use greens or oranges, really...or purple.

PIgment choice for gum is huge. For casein, my deciding factor, since I am a stock pigment/colloid kind of person, would be those that don't contain metallic salts that precipitate casein. I learned that the hard way. My favorite yellow, Nickel Azo PY150 will become a lump after several weeks. So did my magenta. 

DS is Daniel Smith, WN Winsor Newton, MG M. Graham, M Maimeri, then there's Schmincke and Rembrandt and Da Vinci on there, too. I usually do this: I find a lightfast pigment by number, then I buy all brands of it that I can locate of the high quality kind.

I don't use student grade. I rarely buy WN because it is expensive here, albeit good. I absolutely LOVE Schmincke and Maimeri but I usually use M. Graham because it is so darn cheap and it is what is available at our university bookstore. I teach, in fact, with stock solutions of M. Graham mixed up in half-liter bottles. A magenta, cyan, yellow and then a burnt sienna and a black.

My sources of information are Wilcox, Handprint.com, Hilary Page, and Daniel Smith. If you are not a book junkie as I am, Handprint.com is an incredible and FREE source.

I have begun the daunting task of weeding through all my gum research and organizing it, so I am sure over the next year there will be more of this, until someone flames the list for being too gum-centric :)
Chris

Reds
PV19R gamma quinacridone (transparent, red biased magenta.  Don’t confuse with the bluer magenta PV19 beta)
WN permanent rose
MG quinacridone rose
DS quinacridone rose
DS quinacridone red
M primary red
M rose lake
Schmincke ruby red
PR112 naphthol AS-D red (semi-transparent orange red)
MG napthol red
PR178 perylene red (semi-transparent red leaning slightly toward violet)
DS perylene red--gorgeous bloody color
PR179 perylene maroon (transparent, leaning toward orange or violet, depending on brand)
WN perylene maroon
DS perylene maroon (they say semi-transparent--another gorgeous blood red)
Schmincke deep red
PR188 naphthol AS BON arylamide (semi-opaque orange red)
DS organic vermillion (they say semi-transparent)
WN scarlet lake
Da Vinci permanent red
PR 209 quinacridone red (bright, transparent orange red)
MG quinacridone red
WN quinacridone red
M tiziano red 
DS quinacridone coral--gorgeous peachy red
Utrecht quinacridone red 
PR 254 diketo-pyrrolo pyrrole red (bright transparent red)
DS pyrrol red (they say semi-transparent)
WN winsor red
M sandal red
Rembrandt permanent red medium and deep
Schmincke scarlet red
Sennelier red
PR255 diketo-pyrrolo pyrrole red, pyrrole scarlet (transparent orange red)
DS pyrrol scarlet (they say semi-transparent)
Rembrandt permanent red medium
Schmincke vermilion (hue)
PR260 isoindoline scarlet (orange red leaning toward dull and opaque)
Old Holland vermilion (hue) extra (no blue reflectance so mixes well with other warm colors and with greens)
PR264 diketo-pyrrolo pyrrole rubine (transparent red)
DS pyrrol crimson (they say semi-transparent)
WN winsor red deep
Yellows
I vacillate in my yellows between cool and warm, generally preferring a bright and clear unbiased one such as PY97, PY151, and PY175.  Otherwise for warm and deep I use PY110 or PY139, finding them interchangeable except for PY139’s slight opacity. One pretty gutsy yellow I’ve been using of late is the Rowney PY138.  All I can say is...WOW.  Wear sunglasses.
PY3 arylide yellow 10G (transparent, green bias)
DS hansa yellow light (they say semi-transparent)
Schmincke lemon yellow
Sennelier lemon yellow
Utrecht lemon yellow
Holbein aureolin 
PO49 quinacridone gold (transparent)
DS quinacridone gold
PY65 arylide yellow 3RN (transparent, orange bias)
WN Winsor yellow deep
DS hansa yellow deep (they say semi-transparent)
Utrecht hansa yellow deep
Schmincke chrome yellow deep
PY97 arylide yellow FGL (semi-transparent, green bias)
DS hansa yellow medium
M primary yellow
Da Vinci arylide yellow
PY 110 isoindolinone yellow R (neutralized orange yellow, semi-transparent)
DS permanent yellow deep (they say transparent)
PY138 quinophthalone yellow (transparent, slight green bias)
Rowney Artists permanent yellow
Fragonard permanent lemon yellow
PY139 isoindoline yellow (semi-opaque orange yellow)
M permanent yellow deep
PY150 nickel azomethene yellow (transparent greenish yellow)
DS nickel azo yellow
WN transparent yellow
Schmincke translucent yellow
PY151 benzimidazolone yellow H4G (semi-transparent greenish yellow)
MG azo yellow (they say transparent)
Schmincke aureolin modern
PY 153 nickel dioxine yellow (semi-transparent orange yellow)
WN new gamboge
DS new gamboge (they call it transparent)
Utrecht Indian yellow
Sennelier Indian yellow
PY154 benzimidazolone yellow H3G (transparent orange yellow)
WN Winsor yellow
Sennelier yellow light
Rembrandt azo yellow light
Schmincke pure yellow
PY 159 zirconium praseodymium silicate
WN Winsor lemon yellow deep
PY 175 benzimidazolone yellow H6G (two-toned, orange in mass, green in tint, mixes well)
WN Winsor lemon
M permanent yellow lemon
Schmincke chrome yellow lemon
Blues
For tricolor, thalo blue is saturated, transparent, and beautiful.
PB15 phthalocyanine blue ( transparent greenish blue)
M phthalocyanine blue
Utrecht phthalo blue
DaVinci phthalo blue
PB15:1 phthalocyanine blue
Schmincke phthalo blue
PB15:3 phthalocyanine blue 
DS phthalo blue
MG phthalocyanine blue
Sennelier phthalo blue 
M primary blue-cyan
Winsor blue, green shade
PB29 Ultramarine blue (a reddish transparent blue)
WN French ultramarine
MG ultramarine blue
Holbein ultramarine light and deep
DS ultramarine blue (they say semi-trasparent)
M ultramarine
PB60 indanthrone blue (a dark blue jean blue, transparent)
DS indanthrone blue
M faience blue
WN indanthrene blue
Schmincke delft blue
Schmincke dark blue indigo
Holbein royal blue
Other Colors
There are lots of other colors to use, for instance, traditional choices such as iron oxide earth pigments.  I would suggest a black and a brown for duotones.  
PBk9 ivory black (warm to neutral, semi-opaque to opaque--MG says opaque, DS says semi-transparent!) (less likely to stain according to Stuart Melvin)
PBk6 lamp black (blueish, semi-opaque to opaque --MG says semi-opaque, DS says opaque)
PBk7 carbon black (opaque and velvety)
M carbon black is the only one I could find that is actually carbon black…
PW6 titanium white
PBr7 raw (yellower) and burnt  (oranger)sienna, raw (greener) and burnt (browner) umber
Raw Sienna is a clear, golden, semi-transparent yellow that is quite muted and beautiful when used in tricolor.  It does not stain.
PO62 benzimidazolone orange (semi-opaque yellow orange)
DS permanent orange
WN Winsor orange
M permanent orange
Schmincke chrome orange
DaVinci benzimida orange
PY43 yellow ochre (semi-opaque)
WN yellow ochre
DS yellow ochre
MG yellow ochre
Utrecht yellow ochre

Christina Z. Anderson
christinaZanderson.com