`Permanent' Alizarin Crimson

The impermanence or `fugitive' qualities of the popular Alizarin Crimson PR83 were discussed last week. Actually there is no such thing as a `Permanent' version because all such alternatives are not Alizarin Crimson but different pigments. They ought really to be described as `Alizarin Crimson Hue', the key word being `hue'. Those paints intended as alternatives to the Cadmiums are thus described. Handprint gives a very comprehensive treatise on pigments but my intention is to try and simplify things and not give readers a headache. Actually, although some of these alternatives are described as similar or identical in hue, none quite compare to the original. This is possibly why it remains popular and still widely available. Apart from Daniel Smith no one comes out and says it is fugitive although in the case of Winsor & Newton, Rowney and some others - not all - the star rating is lower. Who reads the small print on the tubes anyway? It is frequently so small that it is difficult to find let alone read.

Generally speaking most basic palettes start with warm and cool versions of yellow, red and blue. This isn't always so but is probably the most popular. With regard to the red Alizarin Crimson was often - but not always - selected as the cool red so this is what we are looking to replace. The basic three paint primary colours, often called `printers colours', are Primary Yellow, Magenta and Cyan. Note this is not just `yellow, red and blue'.

Winsor & Newton recommend Permanent Rose (PV19) as one of the three primary colours, adding Scarlet Lake (PR188) when increased to six. Although they list a `Permanent Alizarin Crimson' it is a mixture of an unlisted pigment, usually written as PR N/A, and PR206 otherwise known as Brown Madder. Bruce McEvoy suggests Permanent Carmine as a better bet, no PR206.

 Some of the pigments/paints mentioned in the text. The top row and the right hand vertical one don't have much variation but note the difference between the Rowney version of Perylene Maroon PR179 (Note added 27/05/11. I am in error here. The Rowney PR179 is called Perylene Maroon and is similar to the Graham hue. The paint shown Quinacridone Magenta, is PR122) and that of Graham next to it. Note also Quinacridone Red PR209 as made by Graham and Daniel Smith. Differences in manufacturing processes, and also variations in the same pigment supplied by different sources,  are the probable cause. Note also the Cotman and Venezia student quality paints. Are they weaker than the artist quality?

What `Permanent Alizarin Crimsons' are there?

Winsor & Newton. Already described, a mix of PR N/A and PR206.

Rowney. Alizarin Crimson , correctly described as a `hue' (the original fugitive version is also still listed). A mixture of PR209 and PR179.

Graham. Permanent Alizarin Crimson (PR264), also list the original.

Lukas. Alizarin Crimson (PR176).

Daniel Smith. Permanent Alizarin Crimson a three pigment mix of PR177, PV19 and PR149.

Holbein. Permanent Alizarin Crimson. PR N/A presumably similar to the W & N Permanent Carmine.

Da Vinci. Alizarin Crimson (PV19).

PV19 Quinacridone Rose/Red and Violet - there are three versions - has become one of the most popular pigments and is increasingly appearing in manufacturers ranges, both as single pigment paints and in mixtures. Confusing?

According to Bruce Mc Evoy of Handprint the problem with the reds is that in general his tests show they mostly - even the newer colours - have `marginal' lightfastness.

Many artists won't want to get too involved with this stuff and I can understand that, although personally I find it fascinating as well as informative. IF you are interested then have a look at the Handprint section on paints. Bruce recommends a mixture of Perylene Maroon (PR179) and Quinacridone Magenta (PR122) as a better bet than most of the above.

Alizarin Crimson - Pigment Red 83 (PR83)

We know about `lightfastness' or more commonly `fading' in watercolours. This means that in so-called fugitive paints the original colour changes if exposed to sunlight. The most common effect is the colour just bleaches away. The above book cover is an example of what can happen. Obviously I don't know what the  colour is composed of but it is almost certainly a dye. Paints are not generally offered in watercolour made of or including dyes, although there are a few, Opera by Holbein is one example. The spine of the above book was originally exactly the same colour as the rest. The book has been in my north facing study in a bookcase with only the spine exposed to light, actually facing East. Despite being exposed to very little sun the colour faded in a very short time. This is a perfect example of a fugitive colour and what happens when exposed to light. This is also what happens to Alizarin Crimson PR83, a very popular colour over the years and still offered by such major paint manufacturers as Winsor & Newton, Holbein (Carmine, Rose Madder), Daniel Smith, Sennelier, Graham, Rowney and others.

 Sennelier offer at least four paints with PR83 so do Shin Han. Sennelier claim the paints that have PR83, some included in mixtures, are `moderately lightfast'.  Shin Han claim paints with PR83 are `permanent' or `absolutely permanent'. Sometimes instead of Alizarin Crimson we have names like Carmine or Rose Madder, Madder Lake etc. Holbein claim that their Carmine and Rose Madder, both PR83, are `absolutely permanent' despite what Bruce McEvoy, the ASTM (now known as ASTM International formerly American Society for Testing and Materials), Hilary Page, Michael Wilcox and others have found when testing this pigment. Rowney claim it is `normally permanent' and Winsor & Newton `moderately durable'. Daniel Smith call it like it is and list Alizarin Crimson PR83 as`fugitive'. Charles Reid has used Holbeins Carmine for years and this is pure PR83. He says that he has never had any complaints about fading. I think though he has now switched to the `Permanent' version, possibly from Winsor & Newton.

Read what Bruce McEvoy of Handprint says, having extensively tested this pigment,  with illustrations of what happens when it is exposed to light. His recommendation AVOID. If you use this pigment I urge you follow the link,  read what he says and view the examples he gives. www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterfs.html. The ASTM, the recognized authority on such things said in 1999 that PR83 was `not sufficiently lightfast to be used in paints' and `poor' to `very poor' in watercolours. If you continue to buy and use it that's a personal decision, but if you sell paintings is it ethical?

 There has been some discussion on Wetcanvas about this pigment and its suggested replacements. The consensus seemed to agree with the ASTM and Handprint findings. How do you avoid it? All the majors put pigment information on the tubes. Very small on many and a magnifying glass may be necessary (!) to read the details but it is there. You can also download pigment charts from virtually all paint manufacturers, although hard to find in some instances.  To their shame the SAA, the `Society for ALL Artists' does not give this information on the SAA range of watercolours, although I did, some time ago, finally receive a sheet giving details after I complained.

I was intending to cover the suggested replacements for Alizarin Crimson PR83 but have decided to do this in a separate piece next week. Interestingly the so-called student makes of Cotman, Van Gogh and Venezia do not offer any paints with PR83 and have switched to more lightfast alternatives.

Flowers ... and Things.

Flowers..and Things.- Canson Fontenay 16" x 12" Rough

The other day I decided that I needed a change of subject and went into my small garden to select some flowers as part of a still life. I added some fruit and two jugs. This isn't a specific flower painting just a painting with flowers in it a la Charles Reid's approach..

I first made a loose drawing and then painted. Not much preparation apart from juggling the still life about and the whole thing was completed in less than two hours. Yes possibly I should have spent more time on planning,  but I have a personal conflict between spontaneity and  deliberation. I should be more deliberate and think more about what I do I realise that, but on this occasion just wanted to get paint on paper with a changed subject after a lot of portrait work in recent months. Hopefully this will open the door to more considered paintings with a similar theme.

Colours used included Cerulean, Cobalt Blue, Indian Yellow (Rowney PY153), Ultramarine Violet (Rowney PV15), Permanent Carmine (W & N PR N/A), Permanent Rose (W & N PV19), Transparent Yellow (W & N PY150) with various blues for the greens. A touch of Greengold (Rowney PY129) and some Burnt Umber for the dark stems and white flower centres. Also touches of Gold Ochre (W & N PY43). I think that's more or less it. Usual brushes with Rosemary Series 33 No 9 prominent.

A word about the paper. I like Canson Fontenay a lot. It has a rough surface on one side and a not on the other. You can choose whichever side you want facing out when you order the blocks. A word of caution. The rough side is not very rough, more like a not on some other makes and the not surface moderately smooth. This suits me but may not suit everyone.  It is also available in sheets. I haven't looked very hard but the only source from the usual suppliers I deal with is Great Art www.greatart.co.uk . The other problem is the price has been increased in the last year and it is now more expensive than both Fabriano Artistico and Waterford, the other two makes I use most often. Still it is a very nice paper. Comments welcome.

The April Challenge

This months competition between Mick Carney www.thepaintingstruggle.blogspot.com/ was my choice. Mick posted his painting yesterday.

Ostoho Apache Cowboy Early 1900's

www.firstpeople.us/

This is one of many striking photographs I have from (mainly) the first people site. They are the work of Edward Curtis a famous, and controversial photographer who recorded thousands of images of early ethnic aboriginal Americans. There is a possibility I got this one from another source I'm not quite certain so I thought I'd better say that. I know nothing more about this individual but it seems obvious he is from a later period when the Apache wars were becoming a distant memory.

Ostoho- Saunders Waterford A3 Rough

What were the problems with this one? To begin with, as always with these Indian subjects, the original is in black and white and very starkly contrasted. The features stand out but there are large dark areas, with no detail on both the left and right of the face and under the brim of the hat. What to do? I'm sure the lack of detail and very strong contrast is a feature of early photography so why follow this faultline and overemphasize the darks? The hat itself is obviously quite light which you can see quite clearly so by the same token the underside of the brim, although in shadow, must be similar.

My approach is based on the teachings of Charles Reid who I try to emulate. I first did a loose but reasonably accurate (hopefully) drawing then painted the features beginning, as always, with the eyes, nose and mouth. I don't aim for a superealistic result because I don't want to achieve that even if I were capable of doing so. Colours were my usual Cadmium Red Light, Yellow Ochre (for darker features) and various blues, Cerulean, Cobalt and even Ultramarine. I used Burnt Sienna instead of the Red to darken the features and remove any trace of pink (hi Hap). If you study photos of Apaches they do look to have quite dark features as do many other Amerindians. Brushes were my usual Isabey retractable No.6 for the eyes, nose and mouth, with Rosemary or Da Vinci Kolinsky No.6 and either da Vinci Artissimo 44 Size 2 or Rosemary Series 33 No 9 Kolinsky for the remainder. The hat was Raw Sienna and/or Yellow Ochre with mainly a mix of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna, mixed on the paper for the hair, and I think some Raw Umber in there somewhere. The colours in his shirt and ornament comprise Gold Ochre (W & N PY42), Cadmium Red Pale (Rowney PR108) with touches of Permanent Carmine (W & N PR N/A). I think thats pretty much it.

How do I view this painting? Overall I am quite pleased with it although I was concerned that in my efforts to get the correct skin colours, and handling the very dark areas, I was in danger of `dirtying'  the final result. I tried to correct this with some sponging off paint. My other concern is that I made the eyes slightly too large. This is always a problem with eyes. Are they too small or too large? Generally the tendency is to make them too large. What do you think? It's Micks turn for the May challenge. I wonder what he has in store this time?

Model Portrait

Last weekend the Guardian colour mag had a lovely cover photo of a beautiful model with fantastic hair. I was so taken with it I decided to try and paint her. Unfortunately due to copyright restrictions I can't show the original photograph so you'll have to use your imagination!

Stage 1 & 2. The drawing and first try at the features.

Hair (!), face and lower area.

THE MODEL! Waterford 16" x 12" Not



She has quite dark skin and striking eyes. As for the hair. Wow! The hair was painted mainly with a combination of Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue mixed partly on the paper. There is a little Burnt Umber, Cerulean Blue and Ultramarine Violet (Rowney PV15) plus some Viridian (Rowney), but the main colours are various mixes of the Burnt Sienna/Ulramarine Blue combination.  The face colour is a mixture of Cadmium Red Light, Yellow Ochre, Quinacridone Gold (PO49) and Quinacridone Rust (Graham PO48). with Ultramarine and Cerulean to darken. The colours in the dress are Ultramarine Violet and Cerulean, heavily diluted. Also small touches of Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna. I used mainly two brushes. The Isabey Size 6 retractable for the features and Rosemary Size9 Series 33 Kolinsky for most of the rest. I also used a long-handled No 4 W & N Cirrus. Comments welcome.

Top Forty Pigments - Yellows

This is something I planned to do this year starting with yellow. This is heavily based on the researches and recommendations of Bruce McEvoy of Handprint  http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html but I have attempted to simplify for those who don't wish to get deeply immersed.  If you do follow the link. Other sources of information are the books by Hilary Page http://hilarypage.com/  and Michael Wilcox http://www.schoolofcolor.com/ , although they are starting to get rather long in the tooth and many new pigments are coming onto the market not covered in these earlier works. Hilary Page does offer upgrades on her website but when I last looked it did not appear to have been altered for a while. Manufacturers websites give good information, Schminke are excellent and you can download a pdf file that gives much more extensive information than most others. http://Schminke.de/fileadmin/downloads/pdf/horadam_aquarelle_d_gb_01_08.pdf 
Amongst commercial sources Dick Blick  http://www.dickblick.com/categories/watercolors give detailed information on the huge  range of watercolours they sell, although you have to follow several links. Another fantastic source of pigment information is http://www.artiscreation.com/ColorCharts.html  Manufacturers offer information in various forms including proper chip charts, some of which can be purchased from suppliers like Jacksons. This as opposed to printed ones that are more freely available. Winsor and Newton do a very good leaflet on their artists watercolours.  Holbein and Schminke also have good literature- if you can find it. The chip charts and most of the printed colour charts don't normally give pigment details but if you search manufacturers websites it is usually there somewhere. Some are easy to find others more difficult.

The starting point is that these should be single pigment paints, which are superior for mixing purposes and clarity. All are reliably lightfast although even here there can be differences between manufacturers. Bruce recommends you do your own lightfastness tests but I don't bother.

Many popular pigments like PY3 and PY97, usually called Lemon Yellow (PY3) or Primary Yellow (PY97) or similar have not been included.  If you are using a yellow that doesn't appear here and you are perfectly happy with it comment by all means but remember I am not setting our `rules' that must be followed nor saying you shouldn't use this or that paint. Bruce McEvoy might but not Peter Ward. There is plenty of information about fugitive paints and most manufacturers rate them accurately but it's often in the small print! Overall there are more than 25 different yellow pigments on the market and this may be a slight underestimate. New ones, as with other colours, appear regularly. Actually if you look at the `artiscreation' link above you'll see the list of yellow pigments is enormous. However I refer primarily to those used for watercolour as listed by Handprint.

Essentially yellows come in three basic groups. Light Yellow (Lemon), Medium and Deep. The general consensus, if having only one on your palette, would be a medium yellow.

Where do we start? The obvious one is Cadmium Yellow which comes in deep/pale/light/lemon and medium hues. Two pigments are closely linked here PY35 and PY37. Incidentally P stands for pigment and Y for yellow. PY35 leans towards green and PY37 towards red. Widely available most leading manufacturers offer two or three versions. Make your choice and take your pick. The toxic nature and opaque quality of the cadmiums is something to be considered.

Next is a newish pigment PY110 tsoindolinone Yellow R, a deep yellow listed currently only by Daniel Smith and Graham. I have bought the Graham version via Lawrence of Hove but not used it yet. It is described as a warm yellow orange. Daniel Smith calls it Permanent Yellow Deep and Graham Indian Yellow (Hue).

We now come to Green Gold PY129 azomethine copper offered by W & N, Rowney, Old Holland as `Golden Green' , Graham as Azo Green and Daniel Smith as `Rich Green Gold'. This is an interesting paint that I have used for a while. It's a cool yellow that ranges in colour, depending on dilution, from yellow green to light yellow. A good one for landscape greens, particularly early in the year. I don't think PY129 can be considered as a standalone yellow but one to add if and when you expand your palette. This is one of the paints referred to as `two-tone'.

PY150 nickel azomethine yellow is another fairly recent pigment currently offered by Daniel Smith and Graham as Nickel Azo Yellow, Winsor and Newton and Schminke as Transparent Yellow. I've tried the W & N version and am not sure about it at all. So there you are Bruce! Winsor and Newton use it as one of the pigments in their Quinacridone Gold paint, a three pigment mixture.

PY153 nickel dioxide yellow. A deep yellow. This is one I use by Rowney  called Indian Yellow. On my most recent courses Charles Reid had added it to his palette as Winsor and Newton New Gamboge. Daniel Smith also offers it as New Gamboge while Sennelier call it Indian Yellow. The original true Indian Yellow, something to do with cow dung (!)I believe is no longer available.

PY154 benzimidazolone yellow H3G. A neutral yellow which Winsor and Newton call Winsor Yellow. Rembrandt offer two paints Azo yellow Light and Azo Yellow Deep, while Sennelier call it Sennelier Yellow Light.

Looking for other sources I see Lukas offer Green Yellow (PY129) and Gamboge (PY153), so being well priced might be worth trying. Amongst the student quality the situation is meagre. W & N Cotman offer PY153 as Gamboge Hue so that might be worth a try and Van Gogh PY154 as Azo Yellow Light. In the USA genuine Cadmiums are part of the Cotman range BUT not in the UK (to Windsor and Newton's shame and I've told them so).

To sum up this isn't an exhaustive study by any means but a taster perhaps for further investigation if you're  interested. There are many more yellow pigments but these have been singled out as outstanding. As I've suggested I'm not yet convinced about PY150 (I've had another look at it and NO I'm not) but Handprint is the place to go because he covers virtually all the currently available yellows and gives a very detailed analysis of each pigment. Some might not agree with his findings but no one else has gone into the subject in such depth. One alternative for a medium yellow is the popular PY97. I have seen different views about this pigment and have used the Maimeri version in the past. Recently I obtained some of the `Try it 'sheets from Daniel Smith.They call it Hansa Yellow Medium. I quite liked it and almost ordered a tube from Jacksons, which I may do at some future stage. Added 19.10.12: I later purchased the Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Medium and find it excellent. Something that I should have made clear is that you find the pigment information somewhere on the tube of paint. All the major manufacturers put it on their tubes, although  usually it is in  very small print and almost requires a magnifying glass to read! The following website gives good  general information on pigments (and much else). http://www.channeling-winslow-homer.com/

I'll conclude by again pointing out this piece is not meant to be some sort of gospel that everyone should follow. As Bruce McEvoy says different manufacturing tecniques and paint recipes means that the same pigment doesn't appear as an exact homogenous mix across the range of manufacturers. Variations exist and when choosing  personal preference  comes into it. In addition pigments are supplied by several firms and this is a factor in the resulting paint.

There are also other important yellows in the earth colours and they will be covered separately.