Monday 4 May 2015

UNDERSTANDING COLOUR CODES FOR ACRYLIC ARTIST PAINT - Golden Cosmos ACEO, ATC

GOLDEN COSMOS by Sea Dean
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UNDERSTANDING CODES FOR ACRYLIC ARTIST COLOURS

If you look at the information area on acrylic paint containers, it can help your save money and heartache. If the paint you are working with doesn't give detailed information it may not be high enough quality for long term enjoyment. Astute buyers will always ask if professional paint has been used.

Read this useful article by David Myers and bookmark for review the next time you purchase paint. understanding colour coding is crucial to an artist. It's also important to understand transparency, fade resistance etc which I will cover in the future. FOLLOW my blog so you don't miss my useful pop up free tips.

Below is the meaning of colour mix codes,

... Excerpt

Natural Dye and Solvent Pigments
These are naturally occurring organic pigments and dyes. Most, with a few exceptions, are plant or animal extracts or dyes that must be fixed to a substrate to become a pigment (i.e. Madder Lake).  

Blog note:- Therefore they include an extra step which alters their consistency. It may also be useful knowledge in some applications like marketing to nature lovers or creating toys.

A few natural pigments are organic natural earths, such as Cassel earth (Van Dyke Brown). They are designated with a CI Generic name which consists of the usage class (Natural), the basic hue (Brown), followed by the CI serial number (i.e. Natural Brown 8). Natural pigment CI generic names are often abbreviated with the usage class (N), + the hue abbreviation (Br), + the serial number. (i.e. NBr 8) 

NY = Natural Yellow;
NO = Natural Orange;
NR = Natural Red;
NV = Natural Violet;
NB = Natural Blue;
NG = Natural Green;
NBr = Natural Brown;
NBk = Natural Black;
NW = Natural White; 

Blog note:-  natural products may be more prone to fade and/or have unusual textures or ways of mixing with other paint. For instance they may curdle under extreme temperature, be gritty, or extremely transparent etc.
Pigments
Pigments can be organic or Inorganic. They can be completely synthetic, naturally occurring minerals, or lakes based on synthetic derivatives of natural dyes. Pigments are designated with a CI Generic name, (i.e. Pigment Red 106, Cadmium Red) which consists of the class (Pigment) and the basic hue (Red), followed by the CI serial number. Pigment CI generic names are often abbreviated, e.g. usage class (P), + the hue abbreviation (R), + the serial number. (i.e. PR83 for Pigment Red 83).

PO = Pigment Orange;
PR = Pigment Red;
PV = Pigment Violet;
PB = Pigment Blue;
PG = Pigment Green;
PBr = Pigment Brown;
PBk = Pigment Black;
PW = Pigment White;
PM = Pigment Metal

Blog note:- Pigment designations are a complex subject, but this will get you on your way to understanding more about the paint you are using.

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