Paint purity questions

 

David,

I saw your article at www.artist.ca on paints and using pure pigments.  Are there mfgs who specialize in pure hues? That is, can they produce very narrow spectrum paints?
I'm interested in the interaction of paint and light by using a color-changing light source and having certain colors 'pop' in and out - I've been working on some ideas in this area but printing technology
limits the effects so I began looking for paints whose purity was very high.

Kevin 

Hi Kevin,

 

You didn't mention what type of paints you will be using (oils, acrylics,...).  This makes a difference.  The concentration of pigment to binder (linseed oil, acrylic resin and so on) differs in each medium so you might want to consider this.  For example, the highest quality pure cadmium color may be more intense with oils than with acrylics because linseed oil can 'hold' more pigment, ie. the color (pigment) is more saturated. Watercolors have a high concentration of pigment but the paint relies on the white of the paper to make the colors bright and cannot be loaded thick enough to create a real pure color sensation. Dry pastels are high in pigment if you buy the best ones but you cannot overlap colors in transparent layers with pastels and I don't know if that is important for your project. 

 

You might want to consider buying good quality powdered pigments and mixing your own paints with water and fresh egg yolk (Egg Tempera paint) this will give you the highest concentration of pigment and therefore the most intense colors.  Be careful though, the pigments in their powdered form are very toxic and the powder is easy to inhale. 

 

Otherwise, look to buy the most expensive paints in any medium and you will be sure to get the most chemically pure, saturated colors.  Beware of inexpensive paints that claim to make 'professional' quality but make inferior paints, their colors will be muddy and dull.  As I mentioned in the article 'Light Rules' only get pure pigment colors, that is, colors that list only one pigment on the label.   A company may make 120 different tubes of paint but you can be sure that only about 1/2 of these will be pure pigment colors. 

 

good luck, david