The Artist_s Magazine 2016-03__

brushing up

24 http://www.artistsmagazine.com

Pigmented, acid free, water soluble

walnut colored ink in the tradition of the

Great Masters. Ideal for all drawing and

watercolor techniques. Layer for darker

tones or lift to lighten. To ind a dealer

nearest you visit...

TomNortonWalnutInk.com

[email protected]

Tom Norton’s Original

AtArtistsNetwork.tvyou’ll find:

a More than 300 art

videos

a Instruction in nearly

every medium

a Ideas, inspiration and

instruction

a Multiple subscription

options

a 24-hour access

ART WORKSHOPS

ON DEMAND

Stream workshop videos in

your home or studio and

enjoy expert art instruction

at your own pace!

PLUS, for a limited time, you can

SAVE 10% on your subscription with

coupon code ATVMAG2014A.

easily with other colors and is won-

derful for graying them down. Every

artist has his or her favorite yellows.

Pigments for Differing Palettes

Knowing something about pigments

canhelpyouindtheyellowsthat

work best for you. Pigments fall

into three categories: earth, mineral

andorganic.Earthpigments,such

as yellow ochre, have been used for

thousandsofyearsandarefound

intheoldestcavepaintings.hese

pigments are literally dug from the

earth. Mineral pigments, such as

cadmium sulide, used in cadmium

yellow, are derived from metals.

Mostofthesepigmentswerecre-

ated in the 19th century when the

Industrial Age began. Organic

pigments,suchasarylide,used

in Hansa yellow, are derived from

compounds containing carbon. Most

organic yellows were created in the

late 19th and 20th centuries.

h ese three categories of pig-

ments dif er in their looks and work-

ing characteristics in several ways.

Earth pigments have many impuri-

ties and thus are naturally muted.

h ey tend to be opaque, except in

cases where they’ve been treated by a

modern process to make them less so,

such as with transparent earth yellow.

h ey also have low tinting strength,

which means their intensity weak-

ens substantially in color mixtures.

Mineral pigments also tend to be

opaque and low in tinting strength

but high in chroma. Organic pig-

ments, on the other hand, tend to be

transparent and high in both tinting

strength and chroma. Organics give

us our most intense yellows.

Intelligently used, these proper-

ties can help the artist create a har-

monious palette. Earth colors will

create muted mixtures and imbue

a sense of calm. Mineral colors can

create excitement through a contrast

of pure, rich colors in the context of

duller mixtures. A palette made up of

organic colors can be hard to control

because of the intensity and high

tinting strength of the pigments, but

because so many more colors are

available in this family, you can enjoy

nearly unlimited choices of hue.

If you’re curious about yellow

and how to use it to your best advan-

tage, I encourage you to experiment

with abandon. You can consult the

color charts I made (See Masstones

and Undertones, page 20, and

Yellow Tints, page 20) and then go

on to create your own. You might

also try creating a painting using

predominantly yellows (see Falling

for Yellow, pages 22–23). ■

MICHAEL CHESLEY JOHNSON is a contribut-

ing editor for The Artist’s Magazine and author

of the new book, Outdoor Study to Studio:

Take Your Plein Air Paintings to the Next Level.

His fi ve art instruction videos are available

through northlightshop.com. He also teaches

plein air workshops throughout the United

States and Canada. For more information, visit

MichaelChesleyJohnson.com.

What’s in a Name?

Two tubes of paint by different

manufacturers may have similar

color names yet be composed of

different pigments. To determine

what pigments your paints contain,

refer to the color index (C.I.) name

codes on the paint tubes. Gamblin’s

cadmium yellow deep, for example,

has a C.I. name code of PY37. “P”

means pigment, “Y” means yellow

and the number following it desig-

nates a specifi c pigment, in this case

cadmium zinc sulfi de. Also be aware

that even when manufacturers use

the same pigments, the actual paint

color may vary, depending on the

oil used as a vehicle, the quality of

the pigment, grinding time and other

factors.

Text continued from page 20