Painting Pigments

So have you ever wondered what's used to create tempura paint?

It’s pigments! Pigments are dry coloring matter, usually an insoluble powder, which can be mixed with water, oil or another base to generate paint or similar products. When pigments were first discovered in ground clay and plants it was pulverized then liquid was added turning it into useable paint. Today it’s not so easy, they are currently produced through advanced chemical engineering.

So what do most paintings all have in common? Simple, the paint consists of ground up pigment in some sort of liquid. Historical proof shows that mankind has been utilizing this ever since the prehistoric era. Prehistoric dwellers discovered that iron oxide (a mineral pigment) being red, the most durable color, was an ideal pigment to use because of its durability and long lasting ability. This caused men to travel long distances to encounter hermatite deposits, which are the source of iron ore pigments, and this actually started some popularity in mining activity. Then many years later iron oxide was still popular among ancient artisans from Egypt all the way into Asia. Still remaining firm in the Middle Ages, iron oxide pigments were used in experimental ways, for example in the Renaissance artists would use these mineral pigments to create chalk. The chalk was made fresh after the pigment was dug, then knives were used to carve to perfection. This art method was used all the way to the 20th century and used by famous artists, one of which was Michaelangelo.

Today there are different types of pigments, for instance organic and inorganic. Inorganic as explained before is naturally mined, synthetically manufactured or a combination of those two process, an example of an inorganic pigment would be iron oxide. Synthetic organic pigments are carbon based molecules manufactured from petroleum compounds, acids, and other chemicals, generally under concentrated heat or pressure. These methods were invented in the mid 19th century and the technology has only progressed from there.

Pigments aren’t always as useful as they sound. Depending on the manufacturing process, some pigments are not right for the job. One attribute that artists or paint-makers might want to look out for is toxicity. Older paint pigments contain materials that are highly toxic, some of those toxins include lead, arsenite, chromates, zinc sulfide and antimony. Although some are still sold in stores, many were banned because of the current legality on the health hazards. Most artists tend to stay away from paint like this, some also say that it affects their paintings and the texture of the paint.

What have we learned? All paint consists of three important materials: colored particles, a medium to bind the pigment and most importantly the pigment itself. Without the pigment what would you have? A colorless world.