pigments-msg - 4/24/05 Period pigments. Modern sources and substitutions. Safety concerns. NOTE: See also the files: painting-msg, Ren-paint-art, fabric-paint-msg, dyeing-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: just Kate Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: LONG - Re: Need help with period paint! Date: 6 Feb 1996 07:36:22 GMT Organization: University of California, Davis Cystenin at Amethyst.Wanet.Net (Kenneth Allen Stoner) wrote: > I am interested in using period paints and pigments in my > illumination. > What I would REALLY like is something more like a period Guache. I I've been making my own pigments for a few years now. Some of them are very dangerous to make, and I attempted them only because I'm a geochemist in real life with gobs of haz mat training. I would urge you to buy gouache in tubes if you want to use the toxic ones (and even then, use tons of caution and paranoia). I'll explain in a bit. Please have patience and read on. To wit, I will recommend the following reading list to you, for this subject is so large that conversation on the rialto would not be enough, especially in light of the safety issues. I urge you to read these books in the following order (safety first, then good "review" works, and then the original period handbooks) Health Hazards Manual for Artists, by M. McCann isbn: 0-941130-06-1 a good intro to what you need to worry about, written by a PhD industrial hygenist with a clue, at a level anyone can understand. A Palette of Period Pigments, by Linda Anfuso (Baroness Megan from Stonemarch) CA #43. An excellent intro to period pigments, written by a woman who studied period paint in grad school, for an SCA audience. One of the best CA's of all time, IMHO. Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting, by Daniel Thompson, Dover Books, isbn 0-486-20327-1 The Practice of Tempera Painting, by Daniel Thompson (the dude got around...) Dover Books isbn: 0-486-20343-3 And then, when you've read both of Thompson's books, take the advice of an earlier poster (whose name has unfortunately already dribbled out the hole in the back of my head), and land a copy of _The Craftsman's HAndbook_, by Cennini, translated by (you guessed it!) Daniel Thompson (See, I told you he got around...) Dover Books isbn: 0-486-20054-X (no kidding, there really is an X in that isbn#) The reason I recommend reading Thompson's books BEFORE his translation of Cennini, is that he explains all the mistakes, ommissions and assumptions that Cennini makes therein. It makes life a lot easier. There are also available (from Dover, again): On Divers Arts, Theophilus, isbn 0-486-23784-2 On Technique, Vasari, isbn 0-486-20717-X If you are at all chemically inclined, read: The Physics and Chemistry of Color, by K. Nassau, 1983, John Wiley & Sons, NY. isbn:0-471-86776-4. Get it from the library. This is an expensive book. Make sure you can actually understand it before thinking of making the investment. This is currently one of the authoritative texts in the field. The answers to your grinding problems are in Thompson's _Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting_, and the scientific explanation is in Nassau, chapters 5 and 13. Pigments and paints are not hard to do, but I will opine that first you should do some research (the indented list above I would consider essential) and then you should take steps to have a safe and healthy workspace. If you have children under 12 or small pets (ie cat sized), please do not even think of doing any mercury, arsenic, or lead pigments at home. Toxicity effects are not linear with size, they are exponential (no, this isn't an exageration; it's just the truth) and the single largest culprit in metals poinsoning of small children in this country is DUST, which is impossible to prevent unless you are working in a clean lab or other adequately vented and isolated area (like a lab hood). . Yes, it really is way cool to paint with pigments you've made, but stick to stuff that's moderately safe. I've made most of the really toxic pigments, just to say that I've done it; but I very rarely ever paint with them (usually just once, again to say that I've done it). This is a list of tube gouache where the pigment and mordant are the same as in period (except when avail only as a watercolor). And when in doubt, ask the salesclerk, read the label or call the manufacturer. viridian (dark dark green) vermilion (heraldic red) Ultramarine (heraldic blue) Lamp Black Bistre, Burnt Umber, all : Ochres, Burnt Sienna, raw : Umber, raw Sienna, Van Dyke: Gack, this has turned into a tome! I'm outta here! Hope this helps. Email me direct if you have questions. ttfn, Twcs (procrastinating again) From: ez010263 at ucdavis.edu (Kate was here) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Tempera Panel Painting/Gesso Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 01:36:02 GMT Organization: UCD I have some thoughts to share, having been perverse enough to try this myself. Slaking the plaster takes weeks. I did mine in a bucket in the bathtub (my housemate still hasn't forgiven me). The directions in Cininni and Thompson work and well too. When you make your gesso sotile, substitute zinc oxide or titanium oxide for lead white in the recipe. The substitution works as well as the lead white, and won't poison you, your pets or your loved ones. Armenian bole is available from Pendragon and other specialty calligrphy supply houses in the US; it's not even all that expensive. Rabbit skin glue is available from good art or calligrphy supply firms; fish glue is harder (in my experience) to get. If you have a compost pile and means to keep small children and animals out of it, the dutch process for making lead white is easy and fairly safe upto the point where you uncap your jar and take it out. The thought of anyone grinding their own lead white makes my skin crawl, because lead pigment dusts are the primary culprits in lead poisoning. Please please please cheat and use a substitute! (I've been doing toxic substances professionally for almost a decade: lead is bad stuff - there's a reason we took it out of gasoline...) Please do not contemplate making your own vermillion either. If there's one thing worse than lead, it's mercury. Can you say Minamata disease? Yuck! Ick! Gack! Please cheat and use something less lethal to you and your loved ones! Mercury is the only toxic metal for which there is NO chelation "cure" for removing it from human tissue. When it got time to build up layers of gesso on wood, use a thick lamination of wood or wet the back side if the water in the gesso mix seeps deeply into the wood. Not to have the wood all the way wet uniformly is to invite bad warping (this is the unfortunate voice of experience here). For making the laminations of wood, find a place where no one else will be around to smell the cheese glue in all its glory. Unchanged cat boxes smell better. Get a glass plate and meuller for mixing your pigments and your gum water (well, I use gum water becuase I've had the best luck with it). You can buy gum water pre-made from winsor-newton or you can make it up from scratch. There's little difference between the two; made-from-scratch has the added advantage that you can directly control the strength of the brew. The disadvantage is the mess. I've made the assumption that you have Cininni and both Thompson books (all avail from Dover) at hand, as well as Divers Arts (Theophilous) and Vasari on Technique (also from Dover, I believe). Mayer's _Artist's Handbook_ is an essential modern reference as to old materials and modern substitutes. The Calligraphers Handbook, editted by Child, has some surprisingly good recipes in it which are pertinent to your project. Get one of the several manuals on artist safety and read it before doing anything. From: bbrisbane at aol.com (BBrisbane) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Medieval Paints Date: 3 Jun 1996 22:57:56 -0400 The following is a letter I posted in February in response to another gentles query. I send it now to you. Please understand that the person this was sent too was virtually clueless and so my words took a very didactic tone. Rick's/Balderik's post was very true and correct, and it saves me from having to type it too! So please heed his post. I will add one thing here, it appears to me that what you want is a list of colors that would appear to give the appearance of those used by the Vikings, Celts, etc . . . If that is so, I can give you such a list or you can simply index the Books of Kells and/or Lindisfarne. The Paints used for Manuscripts, furniture decoration, leather painting, wall painting, etc.. are virtually the same. All that is being changed is the binding medium, the 'glue' if you will. In the case in question, an egg tempera was possiblly used as historically that was extensively used upon wooden objects. Again, for types of glue see Rick's post. If I can help in any other way, please ask. --- Brendan Date: 96-02-05 13:42:45 EST From: BBrisbane Subj: HELP FOR PERIOD PIGMENTS To: Cystenin at amethyst.wanet.net cc: Jad, I am Lord Brendan Brisbane, Minister of Arts and Sciences to the Principality of AEthelmearc in the Kingdom of the East. I would like to give you aid in your endeavor and perhaps point you down the path of period painting. I have followed the replies that your missive has received and it appears that none of them answered your query. I apologize in advance if my letter appears too terse or hard, but it is my desire to provide you information in a succinct form. Also be aware that I have but your original posting to base my response upon, and so I am not aware of what You KNOW about working with Period Pigments. Standard Disclaimer: I am not an Expert, I am simply passing on to you what I have learned via my experiences in studying and working with Period Pigments (PP). I would admonish you to weigh, sift, test, any information given to you, and find out for yourself whether what was passed on to you was the truth. That goes for my writings too! I would also like to say that an Artist is not made by having a Degree in art and you should not let anyones credentials be the deciding factor in your search for knowledge. Find out for yourself. Firstly, I was thrilled to find your posting and to see the enthusiasm of your missive. I applaud such enthusiasm and intent. However, your missive did give one the opinion that someone told you that Egg Tempera was the only period form of painting, and so you dove right in and studied just that, Egg Tempera Painting. There are many differing forms of period painting, each of which has traits and characteristics that makes that form suitable for using upon one type of surface, while often making it unsuitable on other surfaces. Furthermore, Egg Tempera painting is one of the most dificult forms of painting (second to Fresco in my experiences), and can yield dissapointing results if one does not adequately study the form, and experiments a little. As you have sited, you have already had at least one dissapointing result. MiLord, you wished to find a paint that would function more like Gouache. I can only presume that you are at least familiar with that form of painting. To attain a PP paint more like Gouache you should begin by finding what precisely Gouache consists of. "The Artist's Handbook, of Materials and Techniques" by Ralph Mayer, 5th Edition, Viking Press, ISBN 0-670-83701-6 ($30, Hbk). in chapter 7 tells us that Gouache consists primarily of Gum Arabic and chalk. The Gum Arabic is a binding medium, a tempering agent, a glue if you will. That causes the paint to adhere to the surface of application. In Egg Tempera this is facilitated by the egg yolks. The chalk is simply an additive for the purposes of yielding an Opaque paint. If one were to remove the chalk so as to have just PP and Gum Arabic, you will have Watercolor paints. I beleive that this is what you are looking for. Gum Arabic is easily manipulated, dissolves in water, but will not keep. It does produce the ease of painting you find in using Gouaches, however, PP have varying characteristics which means they do not all flow the same. Your Gouaches are all consistent in their ability to flow, your PP will be determined by the amount of processing (grinding, milling, and mulling) they receive by your hands, and the structural make-up of the pigment substances (ie. . . ., Clays will grind up to a fine creamy consistent powder, while semi-precious stones like Malachite and hematite will tend to break apart into crystalline bits, pieces, and powder.). You will find that in the processing of Lapis that as you grind in finer and finer, it becomes lighter and lighter until its color washes out completely. As lapis is ground, it's crystaline structure defracts the light stiking it further and further and finally you will have but a useless white Powder. In - "The Craftsman's Handbook, Il Libro dell Arte" by Cennino Cennini as translated by Daniel V Thompson Jr. Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-20054-X (Still available for about $6, Pbk. This was written in Period). - you will find on pages 36 to 39 that Ultramarine Blue is gained from Lapsi via a 'leaching' process, and not by grinding. Lapis alone utilizes this technique. Now what I'd like to address, and would admonish you to do, is on becoming a Craftsman. Being an Artist is simply not enough, one must also be a Craftsman. An artist, particularly one who works in PP, needs to intimately familiar with his tools, surfaces, materials, and all of their interacting characteristics. There is much more to making paint than just mixing PP with a binding medium. There is the processes of grinding your pigment substances, Mulling the paint (this process thoroughly mixes your PP with the medium, and then there is the actual process of painting. Painting is NOT as easy as all that! The craftsman will be aware of the chemical properties of his paints, what paints to use with what techniques (meaning; panel Painting, manuscript Illumination, Fresco), for PP are not universal in regards to the surfaces and binders with which they are mixed. Fresco work has a palette which is limmited to Earthy pigments: yellow/red/brown clays, lampblack, terre-vert, and others. Other painting forms have restrictions due to the interactions of the chemicals themselves. In watercolors (using pigment with your gum arabic) the mixture of Vermilion Red (Mercuric Sulfide) with Lead White (Lead Crabonate) yields . . . not pink but Grey. It does not matter how or in what quantity you mix them, you always get the same dead grey. It is chemically something other than it had been, and you cannot readily know what you have made. There are much worse reactions! Some of them are deadly, while others are a cumulative poison, and you must also consider safety precautions as you work. The fine dust produced in grinding pigments is one of the most dangerous parts of the work. So you can see that there is much more involved with using PP than slapping paint onto a scroll. Lead white and Silver leaf, or any other paint with a heavy metal content is unsuitable for painting work that is exposed to the air. Such paints will dull, tarnish, or blacken over time and alter the painters original intent. It is a matter of craftsmanship to know which paints you can use how and with what binders. The remedy for these chemical reactions lay in several techniques; Laying a WASH if color over a DRY under painting which allows the two colors to be seen together (this of course means using a binding medium which encapsulates (surrounds) the paint layers completely and keeps air from affecting them. ALL of these things the Artist/Craftsman will know. I would Admonish you, my lord to savor that enthusiasm, harness it, and focus it on knowing your tools and materials before you find your wasting your time and money. Other Books for your Contemplation: (You Should Read These!) The Craftsman's Handbook, "Il Libro dell Arte" by Cennino Cennini as translated by Daniel V Thompson Jr. Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-20054-X (Still available for about $6, Pbk. This was written in Period). Vasari on Technique, by Georgio Vasari, Dover Publcations, ISBN 0-486-20717-X (About $10, Pbk. This was written in Period). The Materials of the Artist, and their use in Painting, By Max Doerner, Harcourt Brace Pub, ISBN 0-15-657716-X (About $14, Pbk). The Painter's Handbook, by Mark David Gottsegen, Watson Guptill Pub, ISBN 0-8230-3003-2. (About $30, Pbk --- Great Book!!). Artist's Pigments, a handbook of their History & Charcteristics, Volume-1, Robert L. Feller Editor. Nat'l Gallery of Art Pub, ISBN 0-89468-068-2 ( $17, Pbk. Very Tough to find!! You can still get them through Kremer Pigments in NY. Epitome of Books on the subject of specific chemical, analytical, and historical pigment information). Artist's Pigments, a handbook of their History & Charcteristics, Volume-2, Ashok Roy Editor. Nat'l Gallery of Art Pub, ISBN 0-89468-189-9 ( $35, Hbk. Very Tough to find!! You can still get them through Kremer Pigments in NY. Epitome of Books Vol 2 in serires (Vol 3 not released yet) on the subject of specific chemical, analytical, and historical pigment information). I hope you can chew on this for awhile. There is plenty more where that came from! If your coming to Estrella Wars look me up at 'Brendan's Banners' -------------- Brendan From: david.razler at compudata.com (DAVID RAZLER) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Medieval Paints/toxic Date: Tue, 04 Jun 96 23:17:00 -0400 Organization: Compu-Data -=- Turnersville, NJ -=- 609-232-7747 RC>You'd have to do some research to find out specifically which RC>organic/inorganic pigments/dyes/stains would have been in general use RC>for furniture in the time/place you are interested in. A few may be RC>poisonous, but there should be plenty that aren't. RC>Hopefully, someone else will be able to give you a better answer. RC>Rick/Balderik A good many period ingredients for paints and other colors (dyes, stains, glazes, whatever) are VERY toxic. BUT the paint or dye isn't except if you chew your furniture or fabric . For the most part, it is the artist who is in danger, not the user. For instance: If you want to make good vermilion sealing wax, you will want to work outside and stay upwind, because vermilion is mercury ore, and when you heat the stuff, it gives off mercury vapor. You might even want to put the seal on a document outside. But when you've got the seal on the document, the hazard is entombed. Safe. Paris green is a great paint pigment, wood preservative *and* poison OK, unless you cover it with a good varnish, you wouldn't want to sit on a chair painted with the stuff. Use the varnish and so what? Period glazes and even glazes used well into the 20th Century *are* a problem, especially if you use the period glazed stuff every day - but food-safe substitutes exist. I don't know if I'd eat off *real* Tudor greenware, but the Black Rose Creations [yes, it's a shameless plug] feast gear I have looks like the real thing and won't poison me even if I use it every day for acid-rich foods. And a lot of craft books are so damned dangerous they should almost be banned. I have one on leaded glass technique that says that when you're using hydrofluoric acid, (etches glass, probably one of the worst things you can pour on yourself because, unless properly neutralized, it causes chemical burns that keep on burning just this side of forever,) you should use bare hands for better control over the etching process. For real. There *are* several books and even a few government publications on the dangers to artists and crafts-workers from period and current materials . I don't know what's period color for period gear. But with a little care, even a genuine 100% authentic reproduction can be made and used safely. A,T/dmr From: Dani Eder Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: White Lead Date: Sun, 02 Feb 1997 19:46:18 -0600 Organization: Castle Guild, Society for Creative Anachronism Charissa wrote: > Patrick Kemp wrote: > > I am attempting to mix up some gesso. > > > > In every recipe I have seen, white lead is one of the ingredients. > > Nothing I've read so far explains the purpose of the > > lead, only that it is needed in the recipe. > > I don't know what gesso is, but I may have a theory :) Gesso is the name for the material put on a painting panel (wood) or canvas to prepare it for painting. As far as White Lead and alternatives, the following is from "The Artists Handbook of Materials and Techniques", by Ralph Meyer, 5th ed., Viking, 1991, ISBN 0-670-83701-6, pp 114-116: Common names:Flake white, white lead, basic lead carbonate Chemical Formula: 2PbCO(3) - Pb(OH)(2) Toxicity: Considered extremely toxic; do not ingest; do not breathe dust White lead. Is one of the earliest artificially manufactured pigments recorded; it was employed in China as far back as we have any history of the materials of Chinese painting and was used in the earliest periods European civilization. It was the only white oil color widely available to artists until about the middle of the 19th century. Its use was not greatly diminished by substitution of newer whites until about 1910. It has very desirable properties when ground in oil. It unites with oil to form a buttery paste which has fine brushing qualities, and is noted for its opacity or hiding power and its pleasing tonal characteristics. It produces paint films of great durability. The best variety of corroded white lead is made by the so-called Old Dutch process. Its defects are its poisonous action if taken internally and its property of turning brown when exposed to sulfur fumes. Suitable for artists' use only if well protected by oil, varnish, or overpainting; under these conditions it is absolutely permanent. It should not be used in other mediums. The best quality is not darkened by mixture in oil with other well made permanent colors. ------- Common names: Zinc white, Chinese white, permanent white Chemical Formula: ZnO Toxicity: Not considered toxic; do not breathe dust Zinc oxide. Zinc white as a paint pigment is free from the two drawbacks of flake white. It is not poisonous and since zinc sulfide is white, any action that sulfur fumes might have on the zinc oxide in a painting will not alter its color. In oil it has a harsher, colder, or bluer effect and is very much less opaque than flake white. It is employed in oil only where its lack of great opacity is either desirable or of no detriment. Zinc white is a reactive pigment in oil and unites with it but not in the same way as flake white does. It tends to make a brittle hard film in comparison with the tough, flexible film of white lead. Poppy-oil films are definitely less permanent with zinc than with flake white. First made and sold in France toward the end of the 19th century; successfully made in a large scaleindustrial manner in 1845; began to be accepted as a general industrial pigment around 1860; but not very widely adopted by artists as an oil color until the 20th century. However, under the name of Chinese white it was almost immediately put into use as an artists' watercolor. One English firm has had it on the market as a prepared watercolor since 1834. ------- Common names: Titanium whate, titanium dioxide Chemical formula: TiO(2) Toxicity: Not considered toxic; do not breathe dust Titanium dioxide. The titanium pigments have the greatest opacity and tinctorial power of any of the whites. Titanium is the most important opaque white pigment in current use. The grays produced by mixing black with white lead appears neutral or warm in comparison with the cooler, more bluish grays of titanium and black. It will be seen that although neither of the drawbacks of flake white is present in titanium and zinc, and although flake white has none of their drawbacks, we have no entirely perfect white for universal pigment use. An extremely dense, powerful opaque white of high refractive index and great hiding power. Absolutely inert, permanent. Properties known since 1870 or earlier, but not successfully produced in a pure white grade until 1919 in Norway and America. -------------------- When I was collecting dry pigments to use for period-style painting, I decided to substitute Titanium dioxide for the period lead-based white because of safety. You did not mention what type of surface the gesso you were preparing was for. To prepare a wood panel with a white painting surface, I used a mixture of hide glue and ground white chalk. It takes about a half dozen layers painted on to completely hide the wood. Lightly sanded with fine sandpaper and finished by rubbing with a slightly damp cloth (which dissolves the glue a bit and allows final smoothing), it yields an ivory-like finished surface. Daniel of Raven's Nest Newsgroups: rec.org.sca From: whitleys at world.std.com (Bill and/or Kathleen Whitley) Subject: Re: White Lead Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 03:18:36 GMT Organization: Pandemonium Press > "Patrick Kemp" writes: > >I wish to substitute the white lead ( as it's poisonous ) but whithout > >knowing what purpose it has in the recipe, I cannot find something with > >similar qualities. Titanium Dioxide (aka Titanium White) is an inexpensive modern substitute for White Lead (Lead Oxide); use it in the same proportions as the recipe called for White Lead. It is available in powdered form in better paint or art supply stores (the kind which sell powdered pigments). Johnson's Artist Supplies, on Neuberry St. in Boston MA is where we get ours. My Lady (Mistress Caitlin fitxHenry) makes gesso with this, and it works just fine. The reason it is in the recipe (as we understand it) is to give the gold leaf another metal to attach to. (I'm not an alchemist, I was told this by someone who claims to know about these hidden things...) Anyway, it works. We have more information available on Gesso (recipes, substitutions, instructions, etc.), if you would like it, just ask... Oohashi Katsutoshi From: irgenwer at ix.netcom.com (Kate was here) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: White Lead Date: Tue, 04 Feb 1997 21:55:07 GMT Organization: Quahaug Cannery Dani Eder posted: >Charissa wrote: >> Patrick Kemp wrote: I can't figure out why I'm reminded of the begats out of the bible... ;-) >> > I am attempting to mix up some gesso. >> > In every recipe I have seen, white lead is one of the ingredients. >> >> Nothing I've read so far explains the purpose of the >> > lead, only that it is needed in the recipe. The purpose of lead white in gesso is the same as potatoes in stew: it adds body and bulk. Lead carbonate is significantly denser than the anhydrite (CaSO4) in gesso recipes. By itself, anhydrite which has been slaked by hand from scratch (yes, I have done this - I'm talking from experience here, not quoting a book) is extremely fine. The stuff I've made passes a 400 mesh sieve without grinding before hand! If you breathe hard or sneeze, you could easily lose two measuring cups worth - it's that fine. Adding the lead white makes the dry ingredients less likely to go away. The chemical properties of the lead white in the mix are debated, even now. For state of the art information on lead white as a pigment, check out the _Artists Pigments_ book series put out by the National Gallery in London, in conjunction with the Smithsonian in DC. The Getty recently put out a symposium preceedings volume (1995? 1994? I'd have to go and look the book back up...) which has an excellent article on period gesso recipes (with a wonderful little discussion as to why Daniel Thompson's translation of Cennini is probably flawed with regards to the gesso recipes!). I've been using TiO2 as a replacement for lead white in my gesso recipes. Back in 1988 or so, when I first started to play around with making gesso, I ran into an older gentleman in Amsterdam Art in Berkeley. To this day, I regret not getting his name so I could adequately thank him. The man was a professional painter, and we quite literally ran into each other physically rounding the same corner in the store. The corner was where both of us were headed - it was where the dry pigments were displayed. After dusting ourselves off, we ended up talking, about dry pigments (what else?) for quite a while and about gesso recipes and gold leafing. He advised me to substitute titanium white for lead white. It works as well in gesso as lead white does - yes, I have made both. By the way, if you leave out the lead or titanium white, the gesso batch will dry extremely HARD. It will be hard to break when you want to reconstitute it (for leafing), and it will be hard to carve (for shaping a ground for leaf, or for making sculpted shapes like on a picture frame or on tourney shield. The addition of your choice of white pigtment makes it softer and easier to use for leafing. (I've been playing around with gesso recently. I ran into a gentleman named Ian [whose last name I've forgotten already, alas] from Forgotten Sea/Calontir at Lillies last year who's been working on a gessoed tourney shield. After some traded emails and then talking at Lillies, I went home with all the gears going in my head. How to make a really tough gesso that could stand up to fighting? Well, now I know: slaked plaster, rabbit skin glue, powdered sugar or honey, water, a little armenian bole for color (optional) and NO WHITE PIGMENT. Awesome stuff. I'm hoping I have time to do up a shield for the Pas d'Armes my shire is holding in April.) >As far as White Lead and alternatives, the following is from >"The Artists Handbook of Materials and Techniques", by Ralph >Meyer, 5th ed., Viking, 1991, ISBN 0-670-83701-6, pp 114-116: Mayer is a good book, especially if you're not a chemistry nerd like me. But Mayer is dated - he died back in 1979. (I have a fuzzy memory of this happening since I was going to Columbia at the time, and because I worked in one of the Deans' offices, I always knew who it was who died when the flags in front of Lowe Library were at half mast. For those who don't know, Mayer was a professor at Columbia University in NYC). Anyway, there are places in Mayer which we now know to be wrong - though overall, Mayer is still a book worth having. However, especially when it comes to the chemical composition of pigments, be wary of the info in Mayer. These days, I check the info in Mayer against the _Artists Pigments_ series, the yearly transactions of the National Gallery (London), and Studies in Conservation (probably the best journal of "museum science" in English). In paticular, Mayer's info on the lead pigments is flawed. Unfortunately, Mayer and Thompson seem to be accepted refs for SCA purposes, and people are generally unaware that the material in their books predates the analysis of period pigments by modern spectroscopic methods. Most of Thompson's stuff was published in the 30's. Mayer wrote the first edition of his book in the late 30's (published in 1940). >Common names:Flake white, white lead, basic lead carbonate >Chemical Formula: 2PbCO(3) - Pb(OH)(2) >Toxicity: Considered extremely toxic; do not ingest; do not breathe dust Don't play with lead if you have children or pets. Metal toxicity in children and small animals is orders of magnitude worse than in adults. Lethal dose (LD50, actually) for metals is not linear with size - it's exponential. Just because it's period isn't a good reason to use the stuff. After all, we don't do mercury gilding anymore either... >To prepare a wood panel with a white painting surface, I used >a mixture of hide glue and ground white chalk. Chalk, Daniel? Do you mean, CaCO3, CaSO4, CaSO4.2H2O or either of these three mixed with Kaolinite (as in blackboard chalk)? ttfn, Twcs Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 22:54:10 -0400 From: Margo Lynn Hablutzel To: A&S List Subject: source for pigment This from Mistress Aidan, C&I Laurel from Calontir now living in Al-Barran in the Outlands: --------------- Forwarded Message --------------- I just got a great catalog in the mail--chock full of "real" pigments, in quantities from 100g to 1 kilo of ground pigments, at impressive prices. It is the Sinopia Pigments and Materials catalog, Fall 97. They also have a website (duh) at http://www.sinopia.com. This outfit apparently specializes in sales to people who do art restoration (!) and frescoes, thus the large quantity. They also sell brushes and various equipment. Just thought I'd pass this on to any interested illuminator types.... Ms. Aidan Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 13:27:34 +0000 From: "Erin Kenny" Subject: SC - (Fwd) Re: Colours in period paintings I asked my husband for his opinion on the pigment issue (remember the carrots?). He is a fine artist (well, now he makes his living programming, but that's another story), and his primary area of study these days (in the SCA) is Renaissance painting (styles, pigments, etc). Here's what he has to say: - ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- I'm not an expert but... Red tends to fade towards a muddy brownish red as well as lightening up. A "muddy brownish light red" looks somewhat orange, so I guess it is possible that a red pigment to be "orange-ish" with age. On the other hand, if the orange is a bright orange, it was probably always orange (ie painted orange), and was painted using non-organic pigment. Most period colours that changed colour were natural pigments that, well, rotted with age, leaving them turning brownish. This continued for as long as natural, organic pigments were used. Most modern pigments are stable chemicals rather than organic. Stuart - --------------------------- Claricia Nyetgale Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 14:15:13 -0500 From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow) Subject: Re: SC - OT: pigments > >I actually already use cadmium red, yellow, and orange in watercolors, but it >doesn't look like Master John the Artificer makes them to sell as ground >pigments. Based on the advice of those on the scribes list work with these >type of pigments on a regular basis, they are much safer in cake form as shell >colors, which is what I'll be doing with them before I use them. > >Noemi Hello! What do you mean by "shell colors"? (My dictionary must have 30 definitions for "shell", but nothing that would apply to pigments.) What would "shell" mean in relation to this recipe from Murrell? from _A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen_, 1617: #76 - To make any other conceit as Buttons, Beades, Chaines, &c. Having fashioned your buttons made of this stuff all of a bignesse, either with your hand and knife, or in a mould, if with a knife, then you may turne vp the ridges and the nib, like the threds of silke buttons, and the gound-worke is white of it selfe, if you will haue them greene and white, then temper sap-green with gum Arabick water on the top of your pensill, and strike it down the ridges of the button, not touching the button on the creases. If you will haue them siluer, then strike them downe with shell-siluer, the like may be done with shell-gold. if blew, then Azur being first steept in vinegar, for else it is verie dangerous, the vinegar killeth the strength of the blew: If you would haue them red, then vse "Rosa-paris" (italics in the original) on the top of your pensil: when these buttons be readie and drie, you may set them vpon a card of Sugar plate, and fasten them with Gum-dragon steept in damaske Rose-water and the owne paste tempered verie soft, serue it in on plates of glasse, or keep it as long as you will. Cindy Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 14:37:44 EST From: Varju at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - OT: pigments renfrow at skylands.net writes: << Hello! What do you mean by "shell colors"?>> Ooops. . .I was using scribal terms there. . . Shell colors are when you take the natural pigments mix them with binder and a bit of water, place them in shells and let them dry. It creates something similar to a modern cake watercolor and makes the more dangerous pigments a bit safer because you aren't inhaling the powder. (Unless you happen to point your brushes by sucking on them. :->) <> The shell-siluer (I'm guesssing that is shell-silver) and shell-gold would be similer, and are specially prepared gold and silver, again mixed with binder and placed in to shells to use for painting. Preparing the gold to make into shell gold was supposed to be a dangerous process, using cyanide I think. Noemi Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 12:50:59 EST From: Varju at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Sap Green: Was: Recipe from Murrell renfrow at skylands.net writes: << Hello! Yes, you did send me that info, but someone here mentioned other sources of the color besides buckthorn & I was wondering what documentation they had? >> Well, I did not mention it but I do have several other types of green that were used for manuscript painting in period. The first two of these do fall under the VERY toxic definition. One is copper green or verdigris green, which is the color of tarnished copper. The other is viridian which is a tealish green. A really true dark green was created using ground up malachite. (Much the same way that really spectacular blue was created using ground up lapis lazuli.) More information on period paints, at least those for illumination, can be found in: _Medieval Illuminators and Their Work_ by Jonathan J. G. Alexander _On Divers Arts_ by Theolpolis trans by John G Hawthorn and C. S. Smith (availible in the latest Dover catalog) _The Craftsman's Handbook_ by Cennino Cenini (also availible from Dover) The first is a modern discussion on tools and materials, the other two are reprints of period manuals. Theolpolis wrote in the 12th century, Cenini in the 15th. Noemi who really is more of a scribe than a cook. . . Windkeep, Outlands Cheyenne, Wyoming From: "David Cameron Staples" Subject: Re: Tres Riche Heures Newsgroups: rec.org.sca In Tue, 28 Oct 2003 11:23:46 -0700, Shannon Moyes Clark in hoc locus scripsit: > The blue may be lapis, it is a rich deep blue, or it may be azurite. > Very similar to lapis but more a touch more green/blue, azurite is also > a semiprecious stone and has the luster and light reflection of a real > mineral rather then a manufactures pigment. Indigo will be even more > gray/blue then your azurite. It could also be a mixed blue, yellow and > green, but orpiment and verdigris are NOT friendly with each other. You > can temper indigo with saffron in your binder and eliminate some of the > gray. Orpiment (=Sulpher Arsenide?) is notoriously unfriendly with *everything*. The best reference to period pigments and studio techniques I have ever found, _The Art Forger's Handbook_ by Eric Hebborn, gives period testimonials about how you can use orpiment, but only to provide a bright yellow highlight to golden or yellow satin drapery, and to never ever use it in a lower layer, as it will bleed through any pigment laid on top of it. For the record, Mr Hebborn's recommendation is to damage the area where the orpiment *would* be, and 'repair' the damage with cadmium yellow, rather than making your own orpiment (real orpiment, due to its unfriendly qualities and *ahem* poisonousness, is almost unobtainable these days.) -- David Cameron Staples | staples AT cs DOT mu DOT oz DOT au Melbourne University | Computer Science | Technical Services Ia! Ia! Cthulhu ftaghn! From: val_org at hotmail.com (Gunnora Hallakarva) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: SCA period paints and pigments for FURNITURE Date: 24 Mar 2004 20:08:05 -0800 Paint consists of a pigment, such as ochre, mixed with a binder, such as oil or egg yolk. Most of the period "paint recipes" that survive are intended for artists' paint, not furniture, walls, or everyday objects. For one example of surviving paint on wood, consider the Gokstad ship, which had 64 shields, with some painted entirely in yellow, possibly using a paint based on orpiment, As2O3, and the others painted in black, possibly with a paint based on charcoal as its pigment agent (Peter Beatson, The 'Viking Shield' from Archaeology, http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html). "Red pigments in ancient paints seem to derive from mineral sources i.e..red ochre (Fe2O3, as on the Jelling figurine: Marxen and Molkte 1981); or cinnabar (HgS, as on the Illerup shield of c.200AD: Forhistoriskmuseet, Moesgard Denmark: pers. obs. 1994). Also on the Jelling figurine were a dark blue paint made by mixing powdered white chalk with burnt organic matter (charcoal?), and a yellow of orpiment (As2O3) in an oil base" (Peter Beatson, The 'Viking Shield' from Archaeology) I'd recommend taking a look at Theophilus, who very carefully describes how to make paint, glue and varnish: Theophilus. On Divers Arts: The Foremost Medieval Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking, and Metalwork. Trans. John G. Hawthorne and Cyril Stanley Smith. New York: Dover. 1979. Available from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0486237842/thevikinganswerl Theophilus describes creating paints from a variety of pigments: red from burnt ocher, cinnabar, minium (red lead, Pb3O4), carmine (cochineal), and folium (a vegetable juice); yellow from orpiment or saffron, green from various copper salts, especially copper acetates and copper chlorides, as well as various chlorophyll greens from vegetables; blue from copper carbonate (Cu3-(CO3)2OH2), indigo, and various plant substances; black from lampblack or ground charcoal; and white from lead carbonate, ground bone ash, calcium carbonate, lime, gypsum or chalk. ::GUNNVORLL Edited by Mark S. Harris pigments-msg Page 17 of 17