Colour stories

Pigments determine the colour of the paint, the lightfastness and the opacity or transparency. All other properties of a paint are determined by the binder. Some binders are liquid, others are solids that first have to be dissolved or mixed with a solvent (for example water or white spirit) in order to obtain a liquid binder. Thinners evaporate from the paint during the drying process.

White, colour or no colour, the colour of purity, the divine and life itself. But depending on where you are in the world, also the colour of death, sickness and destruction. For millions of years natural white pigments have been found all over the world in various forms, and for many centuries now various synthetic variants have been developed. 

The history of the wonderful red-orange vermillion has some black undertones. The colour was for a long time extracted from the highly poisonous mineral cinnabar, which has a high content of both mercury and sulphur. It was quickly learned how to make vermillion using these ingredients. It wasn’t until the end of the 19th century, however, that a considerably less harmful alternative was found based on cadmium. These days vermillion is made from modern, harmless and stable pigments.

Ultramarine is a colour that has appealed to one’s imagination since the early Middle Ages. These days it is impossible to imagine the standard palette without this intense blue with its excellent lightfastness. However, up until 1828 only the natural variant was available. An expensive affair, all the more so since this pigment cost more than pure gold.

Renowned masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Rubens already often used, in ‘lacquered form’, Stil de grain yellow, brown and green. The dye extracted from various types of buckthorn berries was, however, known for its poor lightfastness. These days therefore Stil de grain is produced with a lightfast pigment that has the same unique colouring and glazing properties.

Since ancient times ochre has been used all over the world for various purposes. Diverse shades of the colour can be seen in, for example, prehistoric cave paintings as old as 35,000 years. The pigment is exceedingly lightfast and, moreover, can be used for all types of paint. These days the natural ochres have mostly been replaced by synthetic variants.

As one of the primary colours, Magenta is now an essential part of art painting. The dye was developed chemically in 1856 and owes its name to the bloody battle by the Italian town of Magenta. Due to the poor lightfastness of the dye, the red-pink colour these days is made based on the pigment Quinacridone.

The pigment Indigo was already popular among artists early on in history. First among the Romans and later, particularly between the 14th and 19th centuries, also among artists in the rest of Europe. The blue colour was originally extracted from plants. This natural variant disappeared from the scene when the German chemist Adolf van Baeyer developed a synthetic alternative. These days Indigo is made from pigments with an excellent lightfastness.

For a long time, it was thought that Indian yellow was derived from the urine of Indian cows. But the mystery surrounding the origins of this wonderful golden yellow pigment is still unresolved. For years now artists have been making use of synthetic alternatives that are identical in colour to their natural counterpart.

The beautiful golden yellow was already used in the Middle Ages to colour in ornamental letters and illustrations. The transparent colour comes from the sap of the Garcinia tree. As the sap is poisonous and has a poor lightfastness, the original Gamboge has been replaced with harmless pigments that do not fade under the influence of light.

The specific colour of a paint, indicated by names such as yellow light, yellow dark, carmine red or ultramarine blue, is determined by the type of paint or by the combination of various pigments.