Blick Artists' Oil Color - Permanent Yellow Green, 40 ml tube

Pigment Information

This color contains the following pigments:

PY35-Cadmium Yellow

PG17-Chromium Oxide Green

Pigment Name

PY35-Cadmium Yellow

Pigment Type

inorganic, cadmium

Chemical Name

cadmium zinc sulfide

Chemical Formula

CdZnS

Properties

Cadmium Yellow is brilliant, dense, and opaque, with good tinting strength and very high hiding power. It is the artist's principal bright yellow and is available in light, medium, and dark shades. The deeper shades appear deep orange and have the greatest tinting strength. It is slow-drying in oil form and is used in both oil and watercolor form. It cannot be mixed with copper-based pigments. A clean Cadmium Orange is created when Cadmium Yellow is mixed with Cadmium Red. Hues vary by brand. Cadmium pigments have been partially replaced by azo pigments, which are similar in lightfastness to the cadmium colors, cheaper, and non-toxic. Cadmium Yellow is usually available in a pure grade, or in a cadmium-barium mix. This mix has the same permanence with a lower tinting strength.

Permanence

Cadmium Yellow is lightfast and permanent in most forms, but like most cadmium colors, it will fade in fresco or mural painting. The deeper shades are the most permanent. The pale varieties have been known to fade with exposure to sunlight in conditions where moisture is able to penetrate the binder.

Toxicity

Cadmium Yellow is a known human carcinogen. It can be hazardous if chronically inhaled or ingested.

History

Cadmiums get their names from the Latin word cadmia meaning zinc ore calamine, and the Greek word kadmeia, meaning Cadmean earth, first found near Thebes, the city founded by the Phoenician prince Cadmus. Metallic cadmium was discovered in 1817 by Friedrich Strohmeyer. Oil colors were first made from Cadmium Yellow pigments in 1819, replacing toxic Chrome (lead) Yellows. However, their production was delayed until 1840 due to the scarcity of cadmium metals. Landscape painters, such as Claude Monet, preferred Cadmium Yellow to the less expensive Chrome Yellow because of its higher chroma and greater purity of color.

Pigment Name

PG17-Chromium Oxide Green

Pigment Type

inorganic

Chemical Name

chromium oxide

Chemical Formula

Cr2O3

Properties

Chromium Oxide Green is a dull, dense, willow or pale green color that is completely opaque. It has an average drying time and a low tinting strength. It is fairly flexible in oil form and is suitable for all purposes and mediums. This pigment is less versatile in mixtures than Viridian and Phthalocyanine Green, but mixes well with other colors without overpowering them.

Permanence

Chromium Oxide Green has excellent permanence, even at high temperatures.

Toxicity

Chromium Oxide Green is slightly toxic. Evidence of Chromium(III) carcinogenicity is inconclusive. Chromium(III) salts appear in greenish pigments such as PG17. Chromium(VI) salts, which appear in yellowish pigments, have been proven to cause cancer.&nbsp

History

Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin discovered the element chromium in lead chromate in 1797. It began to be used as an enamel and ceramic color in 1809, but it had limited use as a pigment until 1862, because of its cost. It is the most commonly used green for military camouflage because it appears the same shade as living foliage under infrared light.