Pigment

Pastel box

Description

Watercolor set used by Claira Robbins

Windsor Newton artist colors

Indigo powder (Indigofera tinctoria)

An insoluble, dry solid that is pulverized to a fine powder then mixed with a binder to form a paint, ink or crayon.

Examples of inorganic pigments:

• earth colors (Ocher, Sienna, Umber, Green earth);
• metallic oxides (Ferric oxide, Titanium dioxide, Zinc white; Viridian);
• metallic carbonates (Lead white, Calcite, Malachite);
• metallic chromates (Lead chromate; Barium chromate;
• carbon black (Bone black, Lampblack, Graphite)

Examples of some organic pigments are:

• animal (melanin, Cochineal, Indian yellow)
• vegetable (Madder, Indigo, Gamboge)
• synthetic (Verdigris, phthalocyanine, lakes, Para red)

Synonyms and Related Terms

pigments (pl., Fr.); pigmento (Esp., Port.);

Comparisons

Websites of pigment manufacturers

Resources and Citations

• R.L. Feller, A. Roy, E. West Fizthugh, B. Berrie, Artists' pigments: A handbook of their history and characteristics (4 vol.), NGA (Washington DC) & Archetype Publications (London)