NEW!Holbein Artists' Watercolor - Pearl Silver Black, 15 ml Tube

Pigment Information

This color contains the following pigments:

PBk6-Lamp Black

PM1-Aluminum

Pigment Name

PBk6-Lamp Black

Pigment Type

inorganic

Chemical Name

carbon

Chemical Formula

C

Properties

Lamp black is a very opaque, heavily staining black pigment that does not have much covering power. It is typically the most opaque black in watercolor form. Though a very pure black, it tends to muddy slightly in mixtures, is one of the slowest drying pigments in oils, and should not be used under other colors.

Permanence

Lamp Black is very lightfast and absolutely permanent. It is used in all techniques in permanent painting.

History

Lamp Black is a carbon based black traditionally produced by collecting soot (known as lampblack) from oil lamps. It is the black found in Egyptian murals and tomb decorations and was the most popular black for frescoing until the development of Mars Black.

Pigment Name

PM1-Aluminum

Pigment Type

inorganic

Chemical Name

aluminum

Properties

Powdered aluminum is used to create silvery metallic and interference effects.

Permanence

Aluminum powder is lightfast, but it must be protected from oxidation. Under normal conditions, aluminum metal is protected by a thin layer of oxides that forms on the metallic surface.

History

Although aluminum is an abundant element in the Earth's crust, it was a semi-precious metal until the late 19th century, when an electrolytic process was developed for extracting aluminum from the mineral oxide forms in which it naturally occurs.