Happy World Pigment Day!-March 22
- Mar 22, 2023
- 2 min read
I subscribe to various paint manufacturers that make paint and various art supplies. Today I opened an email from Liquitex. Did you know that Liquitex is the first company that developed acrylic paint back in the 1950s? The email said that today, March 22, is World Pigment Day!
Of course, that caught my eye! You can learn a lot from the original source. I like to get it from the "horse's mouth", so any time I do research, or want to learn something, I try to find the original source. (This is why the Bible is my favorite book. You can't get any more original than that!).
If I want to know more about a specific brand of paint, I try to see if the manufacturer has their own website, instead of getting it second hand from a store that sells their brand. Often paint manufacturers have great art tips and tutorials on their own site.
Do you know what pigment means? It is any substance that makes a color. In the art world we get our colors or pigments from various sources; plants, rocks, animals, insects, shells, burnt sticks, etc. Humans are very resourceful and "have made their mark" with paint or drawing supplies from the simplest of materials since the dawn of mankind. Did you know that the Indian Yellow used to come from the urine of cows? Vermeer, Turner, and Van Gogh used it in their paintings. You may look at Starry Night in a whole new way. Just another reason not to touch paintings at the museum! Did you know the specific blue color in Kosher Jewish prayer shawls was thought to be made by a specific snail that lived in that area. The snail disappeared for hundreds of years and has recently been rediscovered. Just a little FYI.
If you are interested in art tutorials, tips, lessons, etc. sign up at various paint manufacturers and get their newsletters. You will learn a lot.
Here are some links to some very reputable artist paint manufacturers.
https://www.liquitex.com headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio
https://www.goldenpaints.com headquarters in New Berlin, New York
https://www.winsornewton.com/na/ headquarters in London, England
I rally like your painting with hands and colors. Was it commissioned for a company? The science vs mixing of colors always fascinated me also. Aren't we glad we don't have mix our own pigments?
Keep laying down the pigments that make spiritual sense!!!!!!
It fascinates me that pigments and light have different rules. Black in light is the absence of all colors but pigments, or paints and inks are the presence of all colors. Learned that 50+ years in high school and I think that is still correct in this culture correct environment.