Williamsburg Handmade Oil Paint - French Ochre Havane, 150 ml tube

Pigment Information

This color contains the following pigments:

PY43-Brown Ochre

PR102-Natural Light Red Iron Oxide

Pigment Name

PY43-Brown Ochre

Chemical Name

iron(III)-oxide, partly hydrated

Chemical Formula

Fe2O3(• H2O)

Properties

Brown Ochre provides artists with earthtones from cream to brown and is a dull, dark variety of Yellow Ochre. Its transparency varies widely from opaque shades to more transparent ones, which are valued for their use as glazes. It has good hiding power, produces a quick drying paint, and can be safely mixed with other pigments. The highest quality Brown Ochre comes from Cyprus, where it is yellow in its raw form and is roasted to get the deeper brown-red varieties that result when water is removed. (See Yellow Ochre, PY42/43.)

Permanence

Brown Ochre has excellent permanence.

History

Ochre comes from the Greek word ochros, meaning pale yellow. It has been used since prehistoric times, and evidence of its use has been found in some of the earliest known cave paintings in Lascaux, France. It has also been called Goethite, after the German philosopher and mineralogist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).

Pigment Name

PR102-Natural Light Red Iron Oxide

Pigment Type

inorganic, natural

Chemical Name

iron oxide

Chemical Formula

Fe2O2

Properties

Natural Light Red Iron Oxide is a brick red pigment with a bright, scarlet top tone. Mineral sources vary considerably in both hue and transparency. It is generally opaque and has great tinting strength and hiding power, but more transparent versions are available. It creates salmon pinks when mixed with white. Natural Light Red Iron Oxide is often replaced by Mars colors or bright red oxides, which are cleaner and more powerful.

Permanence

Natural Light Red Iron Oxide has excellent permanence and lightfastness.

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.