Kroma Acrylic Colours

Kevin Head

mk10thfloor — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:32:52 +0000

Kevin has individually formulated and perfected each acrylic colour at KROMA– from formulation, to milling, and mixing paint in our shop. After having helped out at KROMA as a kid, Kevin is now the owner of KROMA and is a profound pigment and colour expert. (See Kroma history for more)

KROMA’s artisan paintmakers:

Erin Cooper

mk10thfloor — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:33:33 +0000

You will find Erin Cooper working vigorously in the back of shop to ensure that fresh paint is constantly circulating through Kroma. Erin controls our production schedule while leading paint making, ensuring that each batch is fresh and ready on time.

Kroma’s artisan paintmakers:

KROMA’s Granville Island Workshop

mk10thfloor — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 12:30:42 +0000

At KROMA every stage of the paint-making process takes place in our workshops in Vancouver, Canada – from formulation, to milling pigment, to packaging and selling finished paint.

We sell all our products directly from our workshop in the Net Loft building on Granville Island, which is just across the street from the Public Market. The entrance to our store is on Duranleau St., on the exterior of the Net Loft building, the opposite side of the street from the maritime stores.

If you like KROMA, tell your friends!

Links to articles in “Our Shop” section:

The Paint Making Process

mk10thfloor — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:30:32 +0000

How Paint is Made

For thousands of years people have been adding colour to their surroundings in the form of paint. People from ancient times made paint in more or less the same way that we make acrylic paint in our workshop today. Until about one hundred years ago artists usually made their own paint, or had an assistant or colourman make it for them. The pigments were ground by hand on a flat piece of marble or glass using a glass muller. The finished paint was used right away or stored for a short time in animal bladders.

left: 15th Century painter and her assistant
right: 17th Century painter and his assistant

Today machinery helps the paint maker make bigger batches of paint that will keep well when stored in jars or tubes. But the principles of paintmaking haven’t really changed over thousands of years.

There are three main ingredients in paint:

Pigment - to give the paint colour
Water - to make the right thickness
Binder - to hold the paint together and make it stick

The colour in paint comes from pigments. Pigments are coloured powders that come from all over the world. Each pigment particle is like a tiny piece of crushed rock. Some pigments come from the ground. These are called mineral pigments and are mainly earthy colours. Sometimes the name of a colour gives us a clue to how or where the pigment was made. Raw Sienna, a rich reddish brown, was originally mined from the hills near the city of Sienna in Italy. Bone black is made from burned animal bones. Other pigments are made in factories by combining different minerals, metals and chemicals and heating them up – so hot that they change colour. Some hi-tech pigments are created by scientists making chemicals react together to form new colours. These brightly coloured modern pigments often have long scientific sounding names like Quinacridone Red and Dioxazine Violet.

Measuring

Heavy sacks of pigments arrive at the workshop in trucks. First, each ingredient must be carefully measured and weighed. Each colour has its own recipe that has been developed using many test batches to create the exact balance of ingredients to bring out the best in every pigment. The pigment and the water are mixed together with a small mixing blade. This stage is called wetting out the pigment.

Milling

This mixture is poured slowly into the mill so that the pigment can be ground. Inside the mill, small, hard, stone-like balls, each one the size of a large grain of sand, smash against the pigment particles, crushing and polishing them and breaking them up even smaller so that as much of the colour as possible can be seen. Some pigments must be run through the mill several times. The ground mixture becomes a fine, smooth paste that is passed through a sieve so that the grinding balls are left behind.
Now something sticky needs to be added to hold – or bind – the pigment together and to allow it to stick to surfaces. All paints are made from pigments, but there are many different binders.
Ancient people used animal fat as a binder. Ancient Egyptians used melted beeswax when they made elaborate portraits to decorate coffins. Many famous Italian Master painters used paint made from egg yolks. Native people here in the West Coast of Canada used crushed salmon eggs to make paint for their wooden masks and totem poles. Many great painters have worked with oil paint made from linseed or poppy-seed oil.

Mixing

The binder in acrylic paint is acrylic resin – a liquid plastic. When it arrives at the workshop in big barrels it is a slightly white-ish liquid but when it dries it will become a completely clear and shiny film. A strong, pulsing pump sucks the resin through a hose and into the big mixing tank where it is added to the pigment paste. Lines are marked on the inside of the tank to measure how much resin needs to be pumped in. Small amounts of different chemicals are added to help the paint to stay smooth, thick and fresh.
A large circular blade with notched and turned up edges is lowered down into the tank. The blade is hooked up to a powerful motor that makes it spin very fast. The speed of the blade brings out the colour in the pigment even more and makes sure all the ingredients are completely mixed together. Once it has been mixed for exactly the right amount of time at exactly the right speed, the blade is raised up out of the paint and the paint is ready for packaging. The paint is emptied through a valve like a tap at the bottom of the tank. It is transferred into a hopper with a funnel that feeds into a portioning machine.

mixing in the Vancouver store

Packaging

An air powered piston filler squirts measured amounts of paint into tubes and jars. The open ends of the tubes are then melted shut by pressing them between the heated jaws of a sealing machine. Jar lids have to be screwed on tight so that no air can get in and the paint stays fresh.
Each jar and tube must be correctly labeled. A stroke of the paint is brushed onto the label so that you can see exactly what colour is in the tube. Now the paint is ready to be sold.
Paint for artists are usually made with just one pigment. It is the artist’s job to mix the colours together. You can start with paints in as many colours as you want and then mix them together to make even more colours. Some artists like to start with just the three primary colours; red, yellow and blue, and do a lot of their own mixing. But most artists like to start with a larger range of colours including green, violet, brown, black and white. There are thousands of different pigments in the world and each one makes a different coloured paint.

The Paint Making Process in-depth

Acrylic colours begin with pigments. Pigments are very small insoluble coloured particles – often smaller than a micron – ranging in many different shapes and sizes.
Each pigment has a unique character made up of many factors:

particle size
tint strength
flow properties
transparency or opacity
sheen
light to dark value
lightfastness
weatherfastness
ability to withstand heat
cost
toxicity
rarity
vehicle compatibility
chemical resistance
colour
colour saturation

All of these qualities influence the properties of the finished paint.

KROMA makes acrylic colours from pigments created in three eras of pigment history. The oldest colours in the palette come from the earth; compounds of iron oxides yield muted hues of red, yellow and brown. Carbon and Bone black are natural materials. Some of these pigments have been known since prehistoric times. These less expensive pigments are usually opaque and tend to have a matte sheen.

Processes for altering mineral and metal compounds, often including intensive heating, were developed during the industrial revolution creating brighter colours such as ultramarines, cadmiums, and chromium oxide greens.

Modern organic pigments are made from molecular materials that have central atoms of carbon. Because of their small particle sizes modern pigments tend to make colours of very high tinting strength; bright hues that are naturally glossy and transparent. These new pigments produced colours that were cleaner and more saturated than had ever been possible before, reaching areas of the gamut that were previously inaccessible to painters. They are ideal for use in glazing techniques. Quinacridones, Phthalocyanines, Hansas, Benzimidazolones – These modern pigments have gradually replaced some of the traditional pigments, outperforming them in lightfastness ratings, in cost and in health risks. For example, Alizarin Crimson has a poor lightfastness rating, and has largely been replaced with pigments from the quinacridone group. Paint manufacturers, when replicating the colour and characteristics of a traditional pigment by using blends of modern pigments, sometimes use the term hue with the name of the traditional colour. Cadmium Red Hue for example, is usually made of naphthol red blended with various other pigments. This can lead to some confusion about which pigments really are in which paint. We have chosen not to make “hues”, but to use the actual pigment names of each colour. Sometimes we have chosen to shorten the full chemical name for the sake of simplicity. Benzimidazolone we have shortened to Benzi; Phthalocyanine we have shortened to Phthalo. When we have blended more than one pigment to create a paint, we have noted the pigments used on the labelling and on the pricing list.

The first stage in paint production is the sourcing of high quality pigments and resin. KROMA colours are made from pigments that come from as far afield as Spain, Italy, Germany, England, U.S.A., and Mexico. All the pigments that we use have very good or excellent lightfastness ratings.

The pigments arrive at our workshop as sacks of coloured powder. To transform the pigments into paint, the particles have to be separated from one another in a grinding process, then evenly dispersed in liquid, and suspended in a binder. Acrylic emulsion resin is the binder in acrylic artist colours just as linseed oil is in artist’s oil paints and as gum-arabic is in watercolours.

Unlike oil colours, acrylics are fast drying and dilutable with water. Once dry, the acrylic forms an incredibly flexible film, which is resistant to water and chemicals. Because the acrylic resin dries perfectly clear, the full intensity of the pigment’s colour can be seen.
KROMA paints are formulated for medium viscosity, making them suitable for the widest range of applications. The thickness of the paint does not correlate to the amount of pigment that they contain. Among other differences, student grade paints contain fillers and extenders that may create a full-bodied paint, but which has weak tinting strength and less intense colours.

All KROMA colours are fully loaded with pigment. Each colour is formulated individually to ensure the optimal amount of pigment for each recipe. For example, because Quinacridone pigments have a very small particle size, a high proportion of resin is needed to encapsulate each particle in order to create a good film. Cadmiums, on the other hand, which have a larger particle size, require less resin. In all cases the pigment to resin ratio has to be carefully determined. In general, pigments with larger particle sizes yield opaque colours, while pigments with smaller particle sizes yield transparent colours.

The viscosity of the paint can be altered by the use of clear acrylic mediums, either to make it more fluid, or make it fuller bodied, or as a way to extend the paint to make the colour ‘go further’. The unique characteristics of each pigment will affect the sheen of individual colours. Some manufacturers choose to add matting agents to their paint to create a range of paint with a uniform sheen. We have chosen to allow the nature of the individual pigments to determine the gloss levels. One reason for doing this is that this will produce the most saturation of colour and the highest loading of pigment possible, since the particles of the matting agents dull the colour and take up space. The sheen of the paint can then be altered by the individual artist as required, by adding clear mediums to the paint, or by adding a coat of clear medium to the finished work or by adding matting particles such as diatomaceous earth.

Links to articles in “Our Shop” section:

Artist’s Acrylic Colours

mk10thfloor — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:28:11 +0000

Our paint is made by hand in small batches, ensuring quality and freshness. We use 100% acrylic resin and light fast pigments selected from world-wide sources, with the maximum pigment loading possible for each colour. No fillers or extenders are added.
For complete colour information & a colour mixing guide:
VIEW THE COLOUR INFORMATION INDEX

CLICK ON A COLOUR SWATCH FOR SIZE & PRICE INFORMATION:

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Hansa Light Yellow

Hansa Light Yellow 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Hansa Light Yellow 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Hansa Light Yellow 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Hansa Light Yellow 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Hansa Light Yellow 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Hansa Light Yellow 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Benzi Yellow

Benzi Yellow 60ml tube

Price:

$7.25

Quantity:

Benzi Yellow 125ml jar

Price:

$10.50

Quantity:

Benzi Yellow 150ml tube

Price:

$12.00

Quantity:

Benzi Yellow 250ml tube

Price:

$17.00

Quantity:

Benzi Yellow 500ml jar

Price:

$28.00

Quantity:

Benzi Yellow 1.125L jar

Price:

$47.50

Quantity:

Cadmium Light Yellow

Cadmium Light Yellow 60ml tube

Price:

$8.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Light Yellow 125ml jar

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Light Yellow 150ml tube

Price:

$12.50

Quantity:

Cadmium Light Yellow 250ml tube

Price:

$18.75

Quantity:

Cadmium Light Yellow 500ml jar

Price:

$31.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Light Yellow 1.125L jar

Price:

$62.00

Quantity:

Hansa Medium Yellow

Hansa Medium Yellow 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Hansa Medium Yellow 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Hansa Medium Yellow 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Hansa Medium Yellow 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Hansa Medium Yellow 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Hansa Medium Yellow 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Cadmium Med. Yellow

Cadmium Medium Yellow 60ml tube

Price:

$8.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Yellow 125ml jar

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Yellow 150ml tube

Price:

$12.50

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Yellow 250ml tube

Price:

$18.75

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Yellow 500ml jar

Price:

$31.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Yellow 1.125L jar

Price:

$62.00

Quantity:

Arylide Yellow

Arylide Yellow 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Arylide Yellow 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Arylide Yellow 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Arylide Yellow 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Arylide Yellow 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Arylide Yellow 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Cadmium Orange

Cadmium Orange 60ml tube

Price:

$8.75

Quantity:

Cadmium Orange 125ml jar

Price:

$14.25

Quantity:

Cadmium Orange 150ml tube

Price:

$17.25

Quantity:

Cadmium Orange 250ml tube

Price:

$25.25

Quantity:

Cadmium Orange 500ml jar

Price:

$45.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Orange 1.125L jar

Price:

$88.00

Quantity:

Benzi Orange

Benzi Orange 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Benzi Orange 125ml jar

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Benzi Orange 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Benzi Orange 250ml tube

Price:

$16.00

Quantity:

Benzi Orange 500ml jar

Price:

$26.00

Quantity:

Benzi Orange 1.125L jar

Price:

$46.50

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Red

Cadmium Medium Red 60ml tube

Price:

$8.75

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Red 125ml jar

Price:

$14.75

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Red 150ml tube

Price:

$17.25

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Red 250ml tube

Price:

$25.25

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Red 500ml jar

Price:

$45.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Medium Red 1.125L jar

Price:

$88.00

Quantity:

Naphthol Light Red

Naphthol Light Red 60ml tube

Price:

$5.75

Quantity:

Naphthol Light Red 125ml jar

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Naphthol Light Red 150ml tube

Price:

$9.75

Quantity:

Naphthol Light Red 250ml tube

Price:

$13.50

Quantity:

Naphthol Light Red 500ml jar

Price:

$23.00

Quantity:

Naphthol Light Red 1.125L jar

Price:

$36.00

Quantity:

Naphthol Medium Red

Naphthol Medium Red 60ml tube

Price:

$5.75

Quantity:

Naphthol Medium Red 125ml jar

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Naphthol Medium Red 150ml tube

Price:

$9.75

Quantity:

Naphthol Medium Red 250ml tube

Price:

$13.50

Quantity:

Naphthol Medium Red 500ml jar

Price:

$23.00

Quantity:

Naphthol Medium Red 1.125L jar

Price:

$36.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Dark Red

Cadmium Dark Red 60ml tube

Price:

$8.75

Quantity:

Cadmium Dark Red 125ml jar

Price:

$14.75

Quantity:

Cadmium Dark Red 150ml tube

Price:

$17.25

Quantity:

Cadmium Dark Red 250ml tube

Price:

$25.25

Quantity:

Cadmium Dark Red 500ml jar

Price:

$45.00

Quantity:

Cadmium Dark Red 1.125L jar

Price:

$88.00

Quantity:

Lghtnd. Quinacridone Red

Lightened Quinacridone Red 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Lightened Quinacridone Red 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Not Available.
Call for other sizes.

Quinacridone Red

Quinacridone Red 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Quinacridone Red 125ml jar

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Quinacridone Red 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Red 250ml tube

Price:

$16.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Red 500ml jar

Price:

$26.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Red 1.125L jar

Price:

$46.50

Quantity:

Benzi Burnt Orange

Benzi Burnt Orange 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Benzi Burnt Orange 125ml jar

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Benzi Burnt Orange 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Benzi Burnt Orange 250ml tube

Price:

$16.00

Quantity:

Benzi Burnt Orange 500ml jar

Price:

$26.00

Quantity:

Benzi Burnt Orange 1.125L jar

Price:

$46.50

Quantity:

Lghtnd. Quinacridone Violet

Lightened Quinacridone Violet 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Lightened Quinacridone Violet 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Not Available.
Call for other sizes.

Quinacridone Magenta

Quinacridone Magenta 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Quinacridone Magenta 125ml jar

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Quinacridone Magenta 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Magenta 250ml tube

Price:

$16.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Magenta 500ml jar

Price:

$26.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Magenta 1.125L jar

Price:

$46.50

Quantity:

Quinacridone Violet

Quinacridone Violet 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Quinacridone Violet 125ml jar

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Quinacridone Violet 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Violet 250ml tube

Price:

$16.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Violet 500ml jar

Price:

$26.00

Quantity:

Quinacridone Violet 1.125L jar

Price:

$46.50

Quantity:

Ultramarine Violet

Ultramarine Violet 60ml tube

Price:

$5.75

Quantity:

Ultramarine Violet 125ml jar

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Ultramarine Violet 150ml tube

Price:

$9.75

Quantity:

Ultramarine Violet 250ml tube

Price:

$13.50

Quantity:

Ultramarine Violet 500ml jar

Price:

$23.00

Quantity:

Ultramarine Violet 1.125L jar

Price:

$36.00

Quantity:

Dioxazine Violet

Dioxazine Violet 60ml tube

Price:

$7.25

Quantity:

Dioxazine Violet 125ml jar

Price:

$10.50

Quantity:

Dioxazine Violet 150ml tube

Price:

$12.00

Quantity:

Dioxazine Violet 250ml tube

Price:

$17.00

Quantity:

Dioxazine Violet 500ml jar

Price:

$28.00

Quantity:

Dioxazine Violet 1.125L jar

Price:

$47.50

Quantity:

Payne’s Grey

Payne's Grey 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Payne's Grey 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Payne's Grey 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Payne's Grey 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Payne's Grey 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Payne's Grey 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Phthalo Blue

Phthalo Blue 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Phthalo Blue 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Phthalo Blue 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Phthalo Blue 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Phthalo Blue 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Phthalo Blue 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Ultramarine Blue

Ultramarine Blue 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Ultramarine Blue 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Ultramarine Blue 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Ultramarine Blue 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Ultramarine Blue 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Ultramarine Blue 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Lightened Phthalo Blue

Lightened Phthalo Blue 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Lightened Phthalo Blue 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Lightened Phthalo Blue 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Lghtnd. Ultramarine Blue

Lightened Ultramarine Blue 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Lightened Ultramarine Blue 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Not Available.
Call for other sizes.

Cerulean Blue

Cerulean Blue 60ml tube

Price:

$8.75

Quantity:

Cerulean Blue 125ml jar

Price:

$14.25

Quantity:

Cerulean Blue 150ml tube

Price:

$17.25

Quantity:

Cerulean Blue 250ml tube

Price:

$25.25

Quantity:

Cerulean Blue 500ml jar

Price:

$45.00

Quantity:

Cerulean Blue 1.125L jar

Price:

$88.00

Quantity:

Phthalo Green

Phthalo Green 60ml tube

Price:

$5.75

Quantity:

Phthalo Green 125ml jar

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Phthalo Green 150ml tube

Price:

$9.75

Quantity:

Phthalo Green 250ml tube

Price:

$13.50

Quantity:

Phthalo Green 500ml jar

Price:

$23.00

Quantity:

Phthalo Green 1.125L jar

Price:

$36.00

Quantity:

Lightened Phthalo Green

Lightened Phthalo Green 60ml tube

Price:

$5.75

Quantity:

Lightened Phthalo Green 150ml tube

Price:

$9.75

Quantity:

Not Available.
Call for other sizes.

Permanent Green

Permanent Green 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Permanent Green 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Permanent Green 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Permanent Green 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Permanent Green 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Permanent Green 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Sap Green

Sap Green 60ml tube

Price:

$6.25

Quantity:

Sap Green 125ml jar

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Sap Green 150ml tube

Price:

$11.00

Quantity:

Sap Green 250ml tube

Price:

$16.00

Quantity:

Sap Green 500ml jar

Price:

$26.00

Quantity:

Sap Green 1.125L jar

Price:

$46.50

Quantity:

Chromium Oxide Green

Chromium Oxide Green 60ml tube

Price:

$5.20

Quantity:

Chromium Oxide Green 125ml jar

Price:

$7.75

Quantity:

Chromium Oxide Green 150ml tube

Price:

$9.00

Quantity:

Chromium Oxide Green 250ml tube

Price:

$12.75

Quantity:

Chromium Oxide Green 500ml jar

Price:

$21.00

Quantity:

Chromium Oxide Green 1.125L jar

Price:

$34.50

Quantity:

Yellow Oxide

Yellow Oxide 60ml tube

Price:

$4.20

Quantity:

Yellow Oxide 125ml jar

Price:

$6.50

Quantity:

Yellow Oxide 150ml tube

Price:

$6.90

Quantity:

Yellow Oxide 250ml tube

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Yellow Oxide 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

Quantity:

Yellow Oxide 1.125L jar

Price:

$25.00

Quantity:

Transparent Yellow Oxide

Transparent Yellow Oxide 60ml tube

Price:

$4.20

Quantity:

Transparent Yellow Oxide 125ml jar

Price:

$6.50

Quantity:

Transparent Yellow Oxide 150ml tube

Price:

$6.90

Quantity:

Transparent Yellow Oxide 250ml tube

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Transparent Yellow Oxide 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

Quantity:

Transparent Yellow Oxide 1.125L jar

Price:

$25.00

Quantity:

Raw Sienna

Raw Sienna 60ml tube

Price:

$4.20

Quantity:

Raw Sienna 125ml jar

Price:

$6.50

Quantity:

Raw Sienna 150ml tube

Price:

$6.90

Quantity:

Raw Sienna 250ml tube

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Raw Sienna 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

Quantity:

Raw Sienna 1.125L jar

Price:

$25.00

Quantity:

Transparent Red Oxide

Transparent Red Oxide 60ml tube

Price:

$4.20

Quantity:

Transparent Red Oxide 125ml jar

Price:

$6.50

Quantity:

Transparent Red Oxide 150ml tube

Price:

$6.90

Quantity:

Transparent Red Oxide 250ml tube

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Transparent Red Oxide 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

Quantity:

Transparent Red Oxide 1.125L jar

Price:

$25.00

Quantity:

Burnt Sienna

Burnt Sienna 60ml tube

Price:

$4.20

Quantity:

Burnt Sienna 125ml jar

Price:

$6.50

Quantity:

Burnt Sienna 150ml tube

Price:

$6.90

Quantity:

Burnt Sienna 250ml tube

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Burnt Sienna 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

Quantity:

Burnt Sienna 1.125L jar

Price:

$25.00

Quantity:

Red Oxide

Red Oxide 60ml tube

Price:

$4.20

Quantity:

Red Oxide 125ml jar

Price:

$6.50

Quantity:

Red Oxide 150ml tube

Price:

$6.90

Quantity:

Red Oxide 250ml tube

Price:

$9.25

Quantity:

Red Oxide 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

Quantity:

Red Oxide 1.125L jar

Price:

$25.00

Quantity:

Violet Oxide

Violet Oxide 60ml tube

Price:

$4.20

Quantity:

Violet Oxide 125ml jar

Price:

$6.50

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Violet Oxide 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Violet Oxide 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Violet Oxide 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Violet Oxide 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Burnt Umber

Burnt Umber 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Burnt Umber 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Burnt Umber 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Burnt Umber 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Burnt Umber 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Burnt Umber 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Raw Umber

Raw Umber 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Raw Umber 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Raw Umber 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Raw Umber 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Raw Umber 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

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Raw Umber 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Vancouver Grey

Vancouver Grey 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Vancouver Grey 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Vancouver Grey 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Vancouver Grey 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Vancouver Grey 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Vancouver Grey 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Raw Titanium

Raw Titanium 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Raw Titanium 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Raw Titanium 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Raw Titanium 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Raw Titanium 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Raw Titanium 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Iridescent Gold

Iridescent Gold 60ml tube

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$7.25

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Iridescent Gold 125ml jar

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$10.50

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Iridescent Gold 150ml tube

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$12.00

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Iridescent Gold 250ml tube

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$17.00

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Iridescent Gold 500ml jar

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$28.00

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Iridescent Gold 1.125L jar

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$47.50

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Pearlescent White

Pearlescent White 60ml tube

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$6.25

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Pearlescent White 125ml jar

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$9.25

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Pearlescent White 150ml tube

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$11.00

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Pearlescent White 250ml tube

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$16.00

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Pearlescent White 500ml jar

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$26.00

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Pearlescent White 1.125L jar

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$46.50

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Iridescent Silver

Iridescent Silver 60ml tube

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$6.25

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Iridescent Silver 125ml jar

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$9.25

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Iridescent Silver 150ml tube

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$11.00

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Iridescent Silver 250ml tube

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$16.00

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Iridescent Silver 500ml jar

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$26.00

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Iridescent Silver 1.125L jar

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$46.50

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Bone Black

Bone Black 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Bone Black 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Bone Black 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Bone Black 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Bone Black 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Bone Black 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Mars Black

Mars Black 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Mars Black 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Mars Black 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Mars Black 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Mars Black 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Mars Black 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Carbon Black

Carbon Black 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Carbon Black 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Carbon Black 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Carbon Black 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Carbon Black 500ml jar

Price:

$15.75

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Carbon Black 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Zinc Oxide White

Zinc Oxide White 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Zinc Oxide White 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Zinc Oxide White 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Zinc Oxide White 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Zinc Oxide White 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Zinc Oxide White 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Titanium White

Titanium White 60ml tube

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$4.20

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Titanium White 125ml jar

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$6.50

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Titanium White 150ml tube

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$6.90

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Titanium White 250ml tube

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$9.25

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Titanium White 500ml jar

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$15.75

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Titanium White 1.125L jar

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$25.00

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Colour Information Index

mk10thfloor — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:39:17 +0000

Click here to View & Download a text description of our Colours

Below, under each link, are descriptions of each colour that we make, as well as a colour profile with mixing information and examples:

Hansa Light Yellow

This is a monoazo organic pigment with a very clean hue. Ours is a transparent version of this pigment.
Hansa light is our greenest yellow. The 10 G rating refers to a scale used by pigment manufacturers indicating how close to green a yellow is. 10 G means 10 steps toward green. (Compare with Hansa medium yellow, rated 2G.) This colour combines well with phthalo green or phthalo blue to make very clean looking light yellow greens, or “lime” greens. Hansa light yellow works well as a ‘mixing primary’ in a three colour system, though not as well as Benzi (6 G) yellow, which is better able to reach the colours in the orange range. However, it is less costly than benzi yellow. It is often the best pick for a greenish yellow, which is indispensable for a good colour range.
This grade of pigment has a lightfastness rating of “very good” although in acrylics it performs at the upper end of the “very good” category. It is slightly less permanent than, for example, Benzi yellow, which has outstanding performance in lightfastness tests.

Benzi Yellow

The full name for this pigment is benzimidazone yellow. It has exceptional lightfastness, superior to any of our other organic yellows. The 6 G rating refers to a scale used by pigment manufacturers indicating how close to green a yellow is. 6 G means 6 steps toward green. (Compare with Hansa medium yellow, rated 2G, or hansa light yellow rated 10 G). Benzi Yellow is the yellow that we recommend as a “process” yellow for use in three colour process work. It is close enough to green to make a full range of greens when blended with blue, yet is not so green that it cannot make good oranges when blended with red.
Benzimidazolones are one of the most recent pigment groups to come on the market. Although their performance matches and exceeds many other pigments in this colour range, Benzimidazolone pigments are unfamiliar to the public in the form of a single pigment colour, yet are used by manufacturers of artists paint, where several pigments are blended to create a hue. For example “Naples yellow hue” has been made from benzi yellow modified with earth tones and white.

Cadmium Light Yellow

An opaque light yellow made from genuine, chemically pure cadmium. It is more opaque than synthetic organic pigments in the same colour range. While it has excellent lightfastness, it is not weatherfast and is not recommended for use in outdoor murals.

Hansa Medium Yellow

This colour is made from the organic monoazo pigment yellow 74.
The 2 G rating refers to a scale used by pigment manufacturers indicating how close to green a yellow is. 2 G means 2 steps toward green. (Compare with Hansa light yellow, rated 10G.) This pigment has many variations, some of which are not as desirable as this one is for artist’s purposes. This variation is slightly reddish in colour and is often chosen because it is a “sunny” yellow that falls in the middle of the yellow range. This variation has very good hiding power, comparable to a cadmium or a chrome yellow pigment. The large particle size and high quality of this pigment make it excellent in lightfastness while other variations in this chemical group have only ‘very good’ ratings. The colour, good flow properties and high hiding power make a paint that is similar in nature to the traditional chrome yellow. Chrome pigments are no longer in general use due to their toxicity and their tendency to discolour. Hansa medium yellow is a great choice for a mid yellow, especially if cost is a consideration. Cadmium medium yellow is worth looking at as a comparison.

Cadmium Medium Yellow

Arylide Yellow

This is a monoazo pigment with a reddish hue, almost orange. Pigments like these started being produced in around 1910. Though we list this pigment as having “very good” lightfastness, it performs at the upper end of the “very good” category and is close to being “excellent”. It is a pigment often used in industrial coatings applications such as steel safety barriers or highway signs because it is priced economically yet can withstand outdoor conditions without fading. This colour is very transparent and has a surprisingly less orange undertone when used as a wash, a glaze or mixed with white. We have had this pigment available for a long time and have found it to be very useful, particularly for mixes where glazing in tone.

Cadmium Orange

Typical of Cadmium pigments, Cadmium orange is very opaque, with a strong glow in its mass tone. Cadmium orange chemically pure, and is unique in mass tone because of its glowing radiance. It has a natural, weak undertone that is weak compared to high tech pigments. It has excellent lightfastness, but does not like moisture and so is not recommended for applications that rely on lightfastness like outdoor mural painting. For guidelines on safe usage see health and safety information for cadmiums

Benzi Orange

The full name for this pigment is benzimidazone orange; a synthetic organic monoazo pigment. A warm slightly dirty opaque orange with excellent lightfastness.
Benzimidazolones are one of the most recent pigment groups to come on the market. Although their performance matches and exceeds many other pigments in this colour range, Benzimidazolone pigments are unfamiliar to the public in the form of single pigment colours, yet are used by manufacturers of artists paint, where several pigments are blended to create a hue. For example benzi orange has been used to create “portrait” pinks blended with white and naphthol red.

Cadmium Medium Red

An opaque mid red made from genuine, chemically pure cadmium. It is more opaque than synthetic organic red pigments, which are often used to imitate cadmium red. Cadmium red is an artificial mineral pigment, introduced in the 1920’s as a lightfast alternative to vermilion. When used as a tint and in blends cadmium reds create less clean, more “natural”, hues than synthetic organic alternatives. This quality makes cadmiums particularly useful when blending colours to create realistic skin tones. Since there are not many lightdast red pigments suitable for artists use, and since we are capable of seeing so many nuances of colour in this area of the spectrum, cadmium has remained an important artists pigment. While it has excellent lightfastness (better than napthol reds), it is not weather-fast, and is not recommended got outdoor murals. For guidelines on safe usage see health and safety information for cadmiums.

Naphthol Light Red

This pigment is a highly brilliant orange shade of Naphthol red, a monoazo pigment. It was first patented in 1939, but has only been in use since around 1975. This particular grade of Naphthol red has been made to have much higher than usual opacity compared to other red pigments of this chemical group. This opacity increase is partly the reason why it performs at the top of its class in lightfastness rating. These types of pigments are rated as having very good lightfastness in general, however this particular grade performs at the top of its class, only moving down from excellent to very good in samples which have been made with pale tints using titanium dioxide pigments. This pigment has outstanding flow properties and brushability. This pigment is often used as the main pigment in blends that replicate the colour and opacity of cadmium red pigments in “cadmium red hues”. The colour is cleaner than cadmium red of the same hue, and its tint strength is very high. It is an economical pigment. Although exposure to outdoor environments will negatively effect its lightfastness, this pigment will outperform cadmium red. Cadmium red should not be used in outdoor exposure.

Naphthol Medium Red

This is a high tint strength colour, a very clean mid red with a slightly bluish undertone. It is semitransparent and makes good glazes and is useful for mixing transparent browns. Naphthols are synthetic organic pigments developed in the mid-1960s. They are very useful for achieving the full range of nuance in red since we can see so much subtlety in this colour area and there are not many pigments which are good enough for artists use in this colour area. Naphthols can be used as an alternative to cadmium reds and are both less expensive and free of considerations of toxicity. However, as they are cleaner, they are less “natural” looking than cadmiums, especially when used in pale tints, and they are not quite so opaque.
This pigment is often the red used in industrial automotive finishes such as fire trucks. While naphthol medium red may look like a “primary” red, it is not magenta enough in colour to make a clean looking purple when mixed with blue. It is an economical pigment with a very good lightfastness performance even in pale tints with titanium white.

Cadmium Dark Red

An opaque mid red made from genuine, chemically pure cadmium. It is more opaque than synthetic organic red pigments, which are often used to imitate cadmium red. Cadmium red is an artificial mineral pigment, introduced in the 1920’s as a lightfast alternative to vermilion. When used as a tint and in blends cadmium reds create less clean, more “natural”, hues than synthetic organic alternatives. This quality makes cadmiums particularly useful when blending colours to create realistic skin tones. Since there are not many lightfast red pigments suitable for artists use, and since we are capable of seeing so many nuances of colour in this area of the spectrum, cadmium has remained an important artists pigment. While it has excellent lightfastness (better than naphthol reds), it is not weatherfast, and is not recommended for outdoor murals.

Quinacridone Red

A full, rich, blue-ish red. The quinacridones are a group of modern synthetic organic pigments introduced in the 1950’s. They are transparent with a very high tinting strength and excellent lightfastness. Quinacridone red can be used as a lightfast alternative to alizarin crimson and is the main ingredient in colours sold as “alizarin
crimson hue”. Quinacridone red is our recommended choice for three colour process work as it is able to mix both clean oranges and violets. The quinacridones make beautiful blends with earth tones and are useful in glazing techniques.

Lightened Quinacridone Red

A full, rich, blue-ish red. The quinacridones are a group of modern synthetic organic pigments introduced in the 1950’s. They are transparent with a very high tinting strength and excellent lightfastness. Quinacridone red can be used as a lightfast alternative to alizarin crimson and is the main ingredient in colours sold as “alizarin crimson hue”. Quinacridone red is our recommended choice for three colour process work as it is able to mix both clean oranges and violets. The quinacridones make beautiful blends with earth tones and are useful in glazing techniques.

This colour is made from quinacridone red blended with zinc white.

Benzi Burnt Orange

Quinacridone Magenta

The hue of quinacridone magenta falls in between quinacridone red and quinacridone violet. When mixed with white, Quinacridone magenta makes bright, clean “hot” pinks. The quinacridones are a group of modern synthetic organic pigments introduced in the 1950’s. They are transparent with a very high tinting strength and excellent lightfastness. Quinacridone magenta can be used in blends to make both oranges and violets, but is bluer than quinacridone red, which is closer to being a mid red. The quinacridones make beautiful blends with earth tones and are useful in glazing techniques.

Quinacridone Violet

Quinacridone violet is a rich transparent red-ish purple with a very high tinting strength. The Quinacridones are a group of modern synthetic organic pigments introduced in the 1950’s. They have excellent lightfastness and are one of the only lightfast pigments available in this colour area. Quinacridone violet is less expensive than Dioxazine violet, and has slightly better lightfastness. The Quinacridones make beautiful blends with earth tones and are useful in glazing techniques

Lightened Quinacridone Violet

Quinacridone violet is a rich transparent red-ish purple with a very high tinting strength. The quinacridones are a group of modern synthetic organic pigments introduced in the 1950’s. They have excellent lightfastness and are one of the only lightfast pigments available in this colour area. Quinacridone violet is less expensive than Dioxazine violet, and has slightly better lightfastness. The quinacridones make beautiful blends with earth tones and are useful in glazing techniques.

This colour is made from quinacridone violet blended with zinc white.

Ultramarine Violet

Ultramarine violet pigment is a version of ultramarine blue with a purple hue. While it is similar in colour to dioxazine violet, it has a far weaker tinting strength and is considerably less expensive. Because of its extremely high tinting strength, dioxazine violet can be difficult to work with, as it can overwhelm the other colours in a mix. Ultramarine violet is useful for subtle effects in glazing or watercolour type techniques, for example, painting shadows. It has excellent lightfastness.

Dioxazine Violet

The full name for this pigment is carbazole dioxazine. This is a modern pigment developed in Germany with a small particle size and extremely high tinting strength. In mass tone it appears almost black. When diluted with water or clear mediums it becomes a rich transparent bluish purple. It is ideal for use in glazing techniques. While it is an expensive colour, its tinting strength is so powerful that a little can go a very long way.

Payne’s Grey

Payne’s grey is a blend of untramarine blue and carbon black that was introduced by an English painter and teacher William Payne. It is a useful way of having a colorful dark color readily at hand. Espically useful when darkening or desaturating colours without having to use a less subtle pure black.

Phthalo Blue

The full name of this colour is Phthalocyanine blue, though it is usually shortened to phthalo blue and is sometimes called thalo blue. This modern organic pigment was invented in 1928 and because it is outstanding in all its properties it rapidly became an indispensable colour. Its colour is a full, intense greenish-blue. Sometimes called cyan blue, it is used in three colour process work. Its tint strength is very high to the point of being overwhelming to work with at times. In mass tone this pigment bronzes, which means that it gives the illusion of being a shimmery reddish blue. Phthalo blue and Phthalo green blended together make a clean, beautiful turquoise.

Lightened Phthalo Blue

This colour is made from phthalo blue blended with zinc white.

Ultramarine Blue

This pigment is the same as ultramarine blue red shade except for two differences. The colour is less red and the tinting strength is a little weaker. The green shade ultramarine blue is not a greeny-blue but is only less red than the standard red shade. For most practical uses of ultramarine blue, the red shade is preferable, but we have continued to make this green shade because the colour on its own is very attractive as it affords a more mid-blue. For some painters this will perform better.

Lightened Ultramarine Blue

This colour is made from ultramarine blue (red shade) blended with zinc white.

Cerulean Blue

An extremely opaque light greenish blue. Made with pure pigment from genuine cobalt and tin oxides, not a “hue” made by combining less expensive pigments. It is totally lightfast and weatherfast. The flow properites are terrific and all mixes made with it become noticeably more smooth flowing and opaque. Introduced as an artist’s pigment in 1870 its name comes from “caeruleum”, the latin word for sky.
Health and Safety:
Pure Cobalt is considered toxic to humans, therefore certain precautions should be taken to avoid the accidentalingestion on cerulean blue paint. Do no spray apply or create dustby sanding finished paintings without wearing a respirator. Do not breathe vapours produced by heating the paint. Consider alternative colours if your application is intended for the use of babies or young children. More information can be found in the Health and Safety section.

Phthalo Green

A very clean, transparent “emerald” green, with a high tint strength and excellent lightfastness. The full chemical name of this modern organic pigment is phthalocyanine green, and is sometimes called thalo green. Phthalo green is similar in hue to the traditional Viridian, which is not compatible with acrylic binders. Phthalo green can be blended with yellows to make bright “lime” greens. Phthalo blue and Phthalo green blended together make a clean, beautiful turquoise.

Lightened Phthalo Green

This colour is made from phthalo green blended with zinc white.

Permanent Green

Our permanent green is made from a blend of two pigments: hansa light yellow and phthalo green. While we generally formulate paint from single, pure pigments, leaving the blending of colours in the hands of the artist, the mid green colour area has less pigments available than most other areas. Because phthalo green has extremely high tinting strength, it can be difficult to work with, overwhelming the other colours in a mix. Permanent green offers a convenient starting point for creating hues in the mid green area. It is semi transparent and has extremely good lightfastness.

Sap Green

Coming Soon…

Chromium Oxide Green

Chromium Oxide Green is a useful colour for landscape painters but is sometimes overlooked in other applications because of its dull shade.
This pigment has a very pleasing olive green hue and has been in commercial use as an artist’s pigment since the 1800’s. It is a synthetic inorganic pigment made from metal oxides. Very opaque, it has fairly low tinting strength. Chromium Oxide Green pigment is often used in the making of coatings for tennis courts as it is both inexpensive and lightfast. Its opacity lends a unique quality to mixes, for example, chromium oxide green mixed with quinacridone red makes a very opaque brown with an unusual rich colour. It is a comparatively expensive colour compared to other dull earth tone colours, but inexpensive compared to other greens.

Yellow Oxide

Also called mars yellow, this colour is from the pigment group, synthetic iron oxides, which also includes mars black, red oxide and violet oxide. These pigments are derived from the oxidation of metallic iron. Some paint manufacturers label paint made with this synthetic iron oxide pigment “yellow ochre”, though ochre is actually a naturally occurring mineral pigment that is similar in colour. This is an important colour for the artist when altering bright yellows to make them duller. Yellow oxide is an opaque pigment with excellent lightfastness, dull colour, and fairly low tint strength. For certain applications, its cousin transparent yellow oxide is a better choice such as when opacity is not desirable, as in glazing.

Transparent Yellow Oxide

Transparent yellow oxide is a variant of yellow oxide. Because of its transparency, this version is more suitable in glazing techniques and watercolour style washes. It can be used in blends to desaturate clean transparent colours (such as phthalos and quinacridones) without affecting their transparency. This colour is from the pigment group, synthetic iron oxides, which also includes mars black, red oxide and violet oxide. These pigments are derived from the oxidation of metallic iron.

Raw Sienna

Raw Sienna is a natural brown iron oxide that has a slightly transparent quality producing complex undertones of colour. Named for its original source; open pit mines near Sienna in Italy, it is a pigment that has been known since antiquity.
Raw sienna is a special type of ochre that contains a high proportion of silica (a translucent material).
This is a very useful colour for mixing and glazing with excellent light and weather fastness. It is great for water wash and staining techniques. Because it can be difficult to find good sources of this pigment, many paints of varying quality called Raw Sienna exist on the market which do not exhibit these good undertone and transparent qualities.

Transparent Red Oxide

A warm earthtone useful for glazing techniques. Transparent red oxide along with transparent yellow oxide are both ideal for desaturating transparent pigments such as the phthalos and quinacridones without diminishing their transparency. Their transparency allows subtle, warm undertones to be visible, creating more complex colours than their opaque equivalents.
The Sienna pigments available today tend to be more opaque than those available in the past. This means that transparent red oxide and transparent yellow oxide can be seen as closer equivalents to historical raw and burnt siennas than today’s usually more opaque sienna pigments.

Also called mars red, iron oxide red and sometimes Venetian red (though true Venetian red has long been replaced with synthetic iron oxide.) It is a very useful and low cost colour with incredible opacity and surprisingly high tint strength for a simple inorganic pigment. It has the best possible lightfastness. This colour makes attractive blends with quinacridone red and magenta. It is also useful for desaturating cleaner red colours without shifting their colour or darkening their tone.

Burnt Sienna

Burnt Sienna is a natural brown iron oxide that has a slightly transparent quality producing complex undertones of colour. Named for its original source; open pit mines near Sienna in Italy, it is a pigment that has been known since antiquity.

Burnt Sienna is a special type of ochre that contains a high proportion of silica (a translucent material). When Raw sienna is heated in a furnace it changes shade to give a fiery–red colour called Burnt Sienna.

This is a very good choice for glazing techniques, washes and staining, as well as a pleasing colour in mass tone applications. It makes great mixes with red pigments.

Red Oxide

Also called mars red, iron oxide red and sometimes venetian red (although true Venetian red has long been replaced with synthetic iron oxide). It is a very useful and low cost colour with incredible opacity and surprisingly high tint strength for a simple inorganic pigment. It has the best possible lightfastness. This colour makes attractive blends with Quinacridone red and magenta. It is also useful for desaturating cleaner red colours without shifting their colour or darkening their specific effects and pruposes however one should review the properties of bone black and carbon black pigments. See choosing blacks.

Violet Oxide

This pigment is a type of synthetic iron oxide modified to have the most purple cast of brown. It produces very pleasing dull lavender colours and mixes well with white. It is a great mixing colour, especially with quinacridones. High tint strength combined with very high hiding power and low cost make this a very useful colour. It is often overlooked in favour of the more usual iron oxide red.

Burnt Umber

This is a modification of the raw umber pigment producing a much warmer more red brown. It works well for desaturating red pigments as well as being a desirable colour on its own. It exhibits better flow properties than raw umber and is totally permanent (lightfast).

Raw Umber

This is a natural iron pigment that has a large percentage of manganese in its composition. Good grades of raw umber are not too reddish but have a pleasing yellowish cast. It is totally lightfast and semi-opaque. This is a crucial pigment for modifying colour in that it darkens and desaturates a colour while only minimally shifting its hue. When blacks are used to desaturate colours, they tend to make reds look bluish, yellows look greenish etc. When placed beside other colours raw umber can look greenish, reddish, or bluish depending on the surrounding colours thus making it a useful neutral pigment. Its slight transparency makes it also useful in mixes for glazing, staining or washes.

Vancouver Grey

Coming Soon

Raw Titanium

Raw Titanium is a less processed form of titanium white pigment and is sometimes marketed as unbleached titanium or titanium buff. Titanium pigment begins manufacture in a black powder form and is progressively lightened using different bleaching processes until it is pure white. Raw titanium is characterized by a yellowish brown colour because it is not fully bleached out. This beige colour is particularly convenient in portraiture as a base for blending skin tones.
Using Raw Titanium produces very opaque blends and tends to give the paint surface an unusual enamel like appearance. The flow properties (which are how the paint feels and behaves when spread around or manipulated) are very smooth and fluid.
This form of titanium is very useful for colour mixing, especially when using a muted or “historical” palette by making it possible to make clean modern pigments appear more like their historical counterparts. For example sample #19, a tint of the traditional pigment cerulean, is similar in hue to sample #18; a blend of phthalo blue with raw titanium, whereas phthalo blue blended with titanium white, (sample# 17) is quite different. Traditional mineral pigments are expensive and not always readily available – using blends of modern pigments with raw titanium is a very economical alternative.
Blending with raw titanium is a very effective and convenient way of reducing the saturation level of a colour (making colours duller) in a very precise and subtle way. Samples #4 through #12 show how easy it is to make light, desaturated colours by simply adding single colours to raw titanium.
Modulating a colour using darker earthtone pigments to create colour matches or precise shades often results in overshooting and backtracking. Using raw titanium as an alternative way to desaturate colours is especially economical when working with small quantities of paint. Trying to match these colours using titanium white and dull pigments such as raw sienna and raw umber do not produce the same end results as shown in examples #14 and #16. The subtleties in colour that a white pigment can give to a coloured pigment in a mix can be very difficult if not impossible to match in any other way.

Iridescent Gold

Pearlescent White

Modern pearlescent pigments are made from powdered mica that has been bonded with metal oxides. Mica is a type of natural quartz, which occurs in the form of compressed thin sheets or plates that divide easily.
The addition of Pearlescent white can create a metallic version of any colour. It is particularly effective when blended with transparent colours such as the quinacridones and phthalos. Silver can be made with pearlescent white mixed with black.

Iridescent Silver

Bone Black

This colour sometimes retains the old name, ivory black, though today in the manufacture of this pigment, calcined ivory has been replaced by charred animal bones. Was widely used as an artist pigment starting in the 1930s. This black pigment is very useful in acrylic paint making as it does not exhibit certain film forming problems that occur when used in oil binders. Bone black dries extremely matt, with a beautiful silky look and slightly scratchy texture. Because of its surface, which provides excellent adhesion for subsequent layers of paint, bone black is often used for underpainting or as a ground. Its matt finish gives the appearance that it is not jet black, however if you add a layer of clear gloss medium, it becomes the most jet black possible in acrylics. Mixed with white this pigment exhibits a slightly yellowish brown undertone. Due to its lowish tint strength, it makes a convenient black for colour mixing since the additions can be controlled very precisely, with tonal shifts occurring in small increments. It has large particle size, good flow properties and is a good all-round black pigment for the painter

(see “Colour Mixing” section for information about blacks)

Mars Black

This is a good all round black suitable for most painting applications. This black is also called iron oxide black. It has fairly good jetness and dries to a semi-gloss sheen. This is the standard black used in acrylic paint manufacturing due to its affinity with water. This very heavy pigment will behave more normally in acrylics than carbon or bone black pigments. Mars black comes from a group of artificial mineral pigments, the synthetic iron oxide group, derived from the oxidation of metallic iron. Commercial manufacture dates from the mid 1800’s and this group of pigments has gradually replaced many of the natural earth pigments, for example, red oxide, burnt umber, violet oxide and yellow oxide.
Mars black has average tint strength, good hiding power, and good flow properties. It has excellent lightfastness and very good weather-fastness. For specific effects and purposes however one should review the properties of bone black and carbon black pigments.

(see “Colour Mixing” section for information about blacks)

Carbon Black

This pigment came into commercial use in 1884. Sometimes it is referred to as lamp black, or less commonly furnace black. Originally, lamp black was made from the soot from lamps or fireplaces. Modern carbon black is pure carbon and is made from partially combusted mineral or vegetable oil. It became the most economical black for many applications due to its surprisingly high tinting strength.
One of the most important things to note about this pigment is that it can be awkward to use due to its high tinting strength and small particle size. For example even after blending for a long time with another colour, streaks of black may still be showing in the mix. On the other hand, it will interfere with the saturation less in a mix, which keeps the colour fuller and darkens it the most. Further, even the smallest amount of carbon black in a mixture will create large incremental jumps in dulling and darkening the mix. Carbon black is not the blackest or the most jet black, despite its high tinting strength. However as the paint film is very shiny it gives a very black appearance. One of its great abilities is in glazing. Because it is the most transparent black, it will impart an even and transparent darkening with the least light interference possible when heavily diluting with water in washes or with clear acrylic mediums in glazing techniques. Once you are used to the special qualities of this black pigment it can become very valuable.

(see “Colour Mixing” section for information about blacks)

Zinc Oxide White

Zinc is a semitransparent white with a slightly bluish undertone. It first came to be popular in the 1830’s under the name “Chinese white”. While it has an excellent lightfastness rating, when used in exterior applications it has a tendency to “chalk”; to develop a powdery looking surface, and so is not recommended for use in outdoor murals. Because it is semitransparent, when it is used in blends, zinc white allows the other colours mixed with it to remain visible. Zinc white can be used to create bright, clean tints by adjusting tonal value without decreasing saturation.

(see “Colour Mixing” section for information about whites)

Titanium White

Titanium white is the most widely used white pigment. It has outstanding opacity and good tint strength. Since its introduction in the mid 1900s, it has effectively replaced lead white pigment, which is toxic. Pure artist’s colours often need to be mixed with white in order to adjust them to the desired tonal value. Artists frequently find themselves going through amounts of white much larger than other colours in their palette. While the opacity of titanium white means that it has good hiding power, this quality also means that subdued “pastel” tints are created when it is blended with other colours. It is worth also considering zinc white and raw titanium, which have different qualities from titanium white, but which can both be used to adjust tonal value.

(see “Colour Mixing” section for information about whites)

Group Sets

mk10thfloor — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:11:03 +0000

Our Group Sets provide ideal colour combinations for painters. Perfect for beginners, intermediate and professional painters alike, including those studying and teaching colour theory.

5 Colour Group Set

This set contains a cool red blue and yellow; the process primaries, plus black and white. Selected to create the broadest range of hues using only limited pigments and their blends.

10 Colour Group Set

Selected to create the broadest range of colours using only ten pigments and their blends.
This set contains a warm and a cool of each of the primaries; one which is semi-transparent, one which is opaque, plus two earth tones, for desaturating the colours, and black and white, for creating tints and shades.

15 Colour Group Set

Selected to create the broadest range of colours using fifteen pigments and their blends.
This set contains the same colours as the ten colour set, plus dioxazine violet, phthalo green, arylide yellow, a red and a green earth tone. These additions allow you to achieve a fuller range of colours with less mixing, and makes it easier to create clean hues in the secondary colour areas of purple, orange, and green.

15 Colour PLUS Group Set

Contains all of the colours in the fifteen colour set with the addition of Gesso and Clear Gel and larger sizes of the colours you need most!

All Colour Group Set

Contains all of the KROMA artist acrylics colours in one set covering the complete spectrum.

Full Spectrum Group

The colours in this set have been selected to create a full, highly saturated spectrum.
To even out the tonal shifts that naturally occur from colour to colour (violet being darker than yellow, for example), the darker pigments have been adjusted with precise additions of zinc white to create a smooth tonal gradation across the colour spectrum. This allows the student of colour theory to identify and explore the shifts between colours clearly, without being confused by tonal shifts.

Also included in this group are zinc white and bone black, for use in exercises involving tone, saturation and shade. As Zinc (sometimes known as mixing white) is a more transparent white than the more familiar Titanium white, its addition lightens colours while allowing them to remain saturated, whereas titanium white, being more opaque, hides more of the colour that it is added to, making more subdued “pastel” tints.

Bone black has been selected, rather than Mars or Carbon black, because of its matte sheen and relatively low tinting strength, which makes precise tonal adjustments in small increments easier to achieve, than when using high tint strength blacks.

Gouache has traditionally been used for exercises in colour theory because the addition of white fillers to the pigments makes the colours easily visible and creates uniform opacity. By adding white to artist’s acrylic colours in a systematic way that is unique to the needs of those studying and teaching colour theory, we have designed a palette that combines many of the qualities of gouache with the advantages and affordability of acrylics. We have worked with the instructors at the faculty of Fine Arts at Langara College, in Vancouver, B.C., to create a paint system for teaching colour theory that would improve on the performance of gouache in a classroom setting. Unlike gouache, which is resoluble once dry, acrylic paints dry to a flexible waterproof film, a finish that is more robust and less vulnerable to marring, and which makes over-painting to correct mistakes easier. As designer’s gouache is used in work intended for reproduction, permanence may not be a requirement. All the pigments used to make KROMA artist’s acrylics have excellent light-fastness, and are suitable for use in all kinds of fine art or craft applications.The colours in this wheel have been blended without the addition of black or white.

Gesso

mk10thfloor — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:10:47 +0000

KROMA acrylic gesso is a very high quality ground available at a very reasonable price. It is suitable for priming and preparing canvas, wood, paper, board and many other surfaces prior to painting.

BLACK GESSO

WHITE GESSO

NEUTRAL GREY GESSO

Acrylic Mediums

mk10thfloor — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:10:29 +0000

Clear mediums can be used to alter artist’s acrylics in different ways to achieve different results. We offer three clear mediums, which differ in their viscosity, (thickness), and their sheen. Which one you choose will depend on the effect you wish to achieve.

GEL MEDIUM (Our thickest medium. Dries to a semi-gloss sheen.)

MATTE MEDIUM (Medium viscosity. Dries to a matte sheen.)

Dry Pigments

mk10thfloor — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:09:20 +0000

Please call to order: 1 888 669 4030 or (604) 669 4030

Click to view price list for Dry Pigments