subject: The ways to make a pigment [print this page] The ways to make a pigment The ways to make a pigment
For thousands of years, artists used pigments (the particles of color you apply to paper to create your image) manufactured from natural sources, but over the last few hundred years, many man-made pigments have been developed by using chemical processes. As a rule, the relatively new man-made pigments are brighter than those made from natural sources. In fact, the developments of bright new pigments and of tubes that made paints portable influenced the rise of Impressionism.
Many of the same pigments are used in pastels, oils, watercolors, printing inks, and other art media. For example, the phthalocyanine blue pigment you find in pastels is the same pigment you find in oils or acrylics, but it may be more finely ground for one medium than it is for another. On the other hand, if you like cadmium reds or yellows in oils or acrylics, you won't find them in pastels. Some common artist paints contain heavy metals, such as cobalt or cadmium, that have been rendered nontoxic in paint. Because of the increased risk of exposure with pastels through handling the product or inhaling the dust, pastels substitute other pigments for these metals to approximate the colors of those pigments.
Some of the most interesting pastels are handmade from mixed pigments by small pastel producers. Instead of mixing pigments according to a systematic color plan, these producers are interested in making beautiful or unusual colors. The manufacturers are often artists who become interested in making their own pastels because they can't find the colors they want from established manufacturers. Handmade pastels are beautiful and exotic, but for beginners they're a little like handing over the keys of a sports car to a teenager they may be an expensive learning curve.
