Blick Artists' Oil Color - Permanent Tuscan Earth, 40 ml tube

Pigment Information

This color contains the following pigments:

PY42-Mars Orange

PY83-Diarylide Yellow 83

PR209-Quinacridone Red

PR101-Red Iron Oxide

PR254-Pyrrole Red

Pigment Name

PY42-Mars Orange

Pigment Type

inorganic, earth

Chemical Name

iron oxide

Chemical Formula

Fe2O2 or Fe2O3 • H2O

Properties

Mars Orange is a bright, extremely light red and appears almost pinkish in contrast with darker colors. It has incredible tinting strength and opacity. The synthetic form of Mars Orange is made from iron oxides and is cleaner, brighter, and denser than its ochre-based counterparts.

Permanence

Mars Orange has excellent permanence and lightfastness.

Toxicity

Mars Orange has no significant hazards.

History

The word Mars refers to the Roman god of iron and war. Mars Orange has been manufactured as a pigment since the 17th century.

Pigment Name

PY83-Diarylide Yellow 83

Pigment Type

organic, disazo

Chemical Formula

C36H32Cl4N6O8

Properties

Diarylide Yellow is a semi-opaque, moderately staining, intense deep reddish yellow pigment with good tinting strength.

Permanence

Diarylide Yellow 83 has very good lightfastness and permanence. However, it can fade in tints, so some artists do not consider it suitable as an artists' color. Many other diarylide yellow pigments are reported to have fair to poor lightfastness, and some are completely fugitive. Diarylide Yellow 83 is reputed to be one of the most permanent of the entire group.

Toxicity

Diarylide Yellow has no significant acute hazards, but chronic hazards have not been well studied.

History

Diarylide Yellow comes from a family of azo pigments called Diarylide. These yellow hued pigments were developed around 1940 and are very important in printing inks.

Pigment Name

PR209-Quinacridone Red

Pigment Type

organic, quinacridone

Properties

Quinacridone Red is a bright, clean red pigment with average drying time. Quinacridone pigments have relatively low tinting strength in general. For this reason, quinacridone colors are often expensive, because more pigment is required in the formulation.

Permanence

Quinacridone Red has excellent permanence and lightfastness.

Toxicity

Quinacridone Red has no known acute hazards. Overexposure to quinacridone pigments may cause skin irritation. Quinicridone pigments contain a compound found to be a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant.

History

Although quinacridone compounds became known in the late 19th century, methods of manufacturing so as to make them practical for use as commercial pigments did not begin until the 1950s. Quinacridone pigments were first developed as coatings for the automotive industry, but were quickly adopted by artists.

Pigment Name

PR101-Red Iron Oxide

Pigment Type

earth, synthetic

Chemical Name

iron oxides (synthetic), iron oxide, silica, alumina, lime, and magnesia or hydrated iron oxide

Chemical Formula

Fe2O2 or Fe2O3 x H2O

Properties

Red iron oxide varies in hue and transparency, depending on hydration and slight impurities. Indian Red is a slightly duller, deep brick hue with a bluish undertone. It is very dense and opaque, with excellent tinting strength and covering power. It is dependable when mixing with all other permanent pigments and yields good flesh tints when mixed with Zinc White. It is the synthetic version of PR102, which is a pigment made from earth reds, or natural red iron oxides, and the names applied to PR101 and PR102 often overlap. The synthetic red iron oxides have mostly replaced natural red iron oxides and are brighter, stronger, finer, and more permanent. Indian Red is the highest grade bluish shade. Light Red, English Red, and Venetian Red are yellowish shades. Mars Violet is a dull and subdued bluish or purplish oxide.

Permanence

Red iron oxide is very lightfast with excellent permanence.

Toxicity

Red iron oxide has no significant hazards.

History

Natural red iron oxide comes from the mineral ore hematite, called bloodstone by the ancient Greeks from the word hema, meaning blood. It is one of the oldest pigments, has been used by every major civilization, and was an important mineral for medieval alchemists. It was not widely used in artists' materials until the 17th century and was not produced in large quantities until the 18th century.

Pigment Name

PR254-Pyrrole Red

Pigment Type

organic, aminoketone

Chemical Name

Bis-(p-chrolopheny)-1. 4-diketopyrrolo(3. 4-c)pyrrole

Properties

Pyrrole Red is opaque and has strong covering power. According to manufacturer Ciba, which uses the trade name Irgazin Red, it is a “clean, highly saturated mid shade red with high temperature resistance, excellent color strength, outstanding chemical, solvent and bleed resistance, and good weatherfastness.”

Permanence

Pyrrole Red is considered to have excellent lightfastness among organic pigments in its class. Tests in industrial applications have given it scores of 7-8 on the Blue Wool Scale.

Toxicity

According to the Australian government's Ministry on Health and Aging, "The notified chemical exhibited low oral and dermal toxicity in rats, did not exhibit toxic effects when administered orally to rats for 28 days, was not a skin irritant in rabbi

History

Pyrrole Red, used as an automotive paint and as a colorant in plastics, was developed as one of a range of pigments to replace lead based pigments. In art materials, it is often used as a synthetic and lightfast replacement for carmine, a laked pigment that was originally produced from the body of the cochineal insect. It is also used to replace the older naphthol reds, organic red pigments that are sometimes only marginally lightfast and weatherfast.