K R O M A artist acrylics

text descriptions of KROMA colours

Arylide yellow This is monoazo yellow pigment with a reddish hue, almost an 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 orange or deep yellow are required. It is easy to make a very transparent brown glaze with this colour.

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.

Benzi yellow (6 G)
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.

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.

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 Burnt sienna is heated in a furnace it changes shade to give a fiery–red colour.
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.

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).

Cadmium dark red
A rich opaque bluish red made from genuine, chemically pure cadmium. While it has excellent lightfastness, it is not weatherfast, and is not recommended for use in outdoor murals. 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. The unique combination of hue and opacity in a dark cadmium cannot be approximated with any other single source pigment. Naphthol reds blended with earth tones are sometimes used as a cadmium substitute. For guidelines on safe usage see health and safety information for cadmiums

Cadmium light yellow
Genuine cadmium, opaque. 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. For guidelines on safe usage see health and safety information for cadmiumsCadmium medium yellow
An opaque mid 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. For guidelines on safe usage see health and safety information for cadmiums

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 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. For guidelines on safe usage see health and safety information for cadmiums

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.

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.

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.

Hansa light yellow (10 G)
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.

Hansa medium yellow (2 G)
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.

Iridescent Gold
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.
Iridescent gold blended with earth tones such as the siennas make copper/bronze colours.

Iridescent silver
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.
Our Iridescent silver is made with pearlescent white blended with carbon black pigment.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Red oxide
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.

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.

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.

Ultramarine blue (green shade)
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.

Ultramarine blue (red shade)
A very purple blue with excellent lightfastness; this is one of the most standard and important pigments for the artist. The name ultramarine, comes from the Italian oltremare which means “from over the seas”. Natural Ultramarine was originally made from rare lapis lazuli stone, mined in Afganistan and treated in a complex and laborious process to rid it of its non-blue impurities. Ultramarine is now made artificially, and while it is chemically identical to the lapis derivative, costs a fraction of the price, and is much more intense. Ultramarine blue is sometimes referred to as “French Ultramarine”, a name that relates to its development in a contest during the 19th Century where it was first patented in France. The pigment has very poor flow properties in oil paint, however, in acrylic paint they are fairly good. The paint sold by some manufacturers as ‘cobalt blue hue’ is usually made from ultramarine mixed with 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.

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.

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.

Zinc 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.