Re: Problem pigment

Judy Seigel wrote:
>

> Ahem -- I come from art school & 18 years as a painter...& have rarely
> bought paint with less than highest rating -- since they've published
> ratings, that is,... but, having (oh damn) a limited supply of brain
> cells, also of time, & my work seeming to grow needier, not easier, I
> figured that sufficed.

Of course it suffices, that was my point when I said that if you look at
the ratings and pick only the absolute highest rated pigments then
you're probably not missing anything. I went on to say that people like
you, who do pay attention to responsible ratings and choose lightfast
paints, aren't the people I worry about. I'm more concerned about people
who become persuaded, relying on inflated or misleading ratings provided
by paint manufacturers, that fugitive pigments aren't really fugitive.
Obviously this isn't you, if you're choosing only perfectly lightfast
pigments.

I hope the information I share here may be useful to someone, that's why
I bother to take the time and trouble to post it, but not every bit of
information shared here is useful to every single person here; that's
what the delete button is for.

 My experience is that color
> effects in a gum print are preferably (for my way of working) achieved by
> layering -- added coats, variables of mix, order of application,
> development, and so forth, than by choice of a special color beyond my
> standard palette...

I agree completely; no argument here. No one's asking you to add
pigments you don't want, and no one (at least not me) is urging anyone
to load up on lots of different pigments. In fact, quoting myself from
my website: "My approach to pigments, and my recommendation to beginning
printers, is to choose a few pigments and learn them well, rather than
trying a lot of different pigments. This works for me in painting as
well as in gum printing; I can mix every color I want from a few basic
colors, and so I work with a fairly small palette. I also buy
single-pigment paints rather than mixed paints, preferring to make my
own mixtures from pigments I know well rather than rely on
manufacturers' mixes."

My purpose in discussing many different pigments lately (and I assume
Chris's as well, although I won't presume to speak for her) is
educational. I'm trying a lot of pigments just now, not because I feel
I personally need any more colors for my work, but because I'm curious
about some things. The results of my experiments will be added to the
information I have on my site about pigments, which hopefully may be
useful to people who are looking for guidance in choosing their basic
palette.

As an accomplished printer who chose her palette a long time ago, you're
obviously not one of the people to whom this information could be
useful. But its lack of usefulness to you doesn't make it less useful to
someone at a different place in their development, or who wants more
specific and technical information about pigments. Each to his own,
Katharine
Received on Wed Jun 8 18:00:46 2005