Holbein Artists' Watercolor - Compose Blue, 15 ml tube

Pigment Information

This color contains the following pigments:

PB15-Phthalo Blue

PW6-Titanium White

Pigment Name

PB15-Phthalo Blue

Pigment Type

organic

Chemical Name

copper phthalocyanine

Chemical Formula

C32H16CuN8

Properties

Phthalo Blues are pure and clean primary blues with superior covering power. They have a very high tinting strength and tend to overwhelm other pigments, but if color strength can be controlled, they make predictable mixed colors. In oil form, blues are very deep and slow drying. When mixed with other colors or if chlorine is added, Phthalo Blue quickly tends towards green. When using alone, mix with some white, as Phthalo Blue can be semi-transparent and almost black on its own. It is among the most compatible of modern colors with mineral colors and is considered more reliable than Prussian Blue, while sharing the same physical and color properties. Phthalo Blue is a good color for glazing.

Permanence

Phthalo Blues are completely lightfast and stable and are permanent for all paint uses. They are currently used in inks, coatings, and many plastics due to their stability and are considered a standard pigment in printing ink and the packaging industry.

Toxicity

Phthalo Blues have no significant hazards, although those made before 1982 contained some PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

History

Developed by chemists using the trade name Monastral Blue, the organic blue dyestuff now known as Phthalo Blue was presented as a pigment in November 1935 in London. Its discovery was accidental. The dark color was observed in a kettle where a dye was being made from a British dyestuff plant. The demand for such a pigment came from commercial printers who wanted a cyan to replace Prussian Blue.

Pigment Name

PW6-Titanium White

Pigment Type

inorganic

Chemical Name

titanium dioxide

Chemical Formula

TiO2

Properties

Titanium White is the most brilliant of the white pigments. It is considered an all purpose oil color useful in all techniques and the best all around white. Its masstone is neither warm nor cool, placing it somewhere between Lead White and Zinc White. It is less prone to cracking and yellowing than Lead White, but it still yellows easily. Titanium White dries slowly in oil form, more slowly than Lead White but more quickly than Zinc White. It is opaque in oil and acrylic forms and semi-opaque in watercolor form. This pigment has good chemical stability, and its tinting strength is superior to both Lead White and Zinc White.

Permanence

Titanium White has excellent permanence and lightfastness.

Toxicity

Titanium dioxide is highly stable and is regarded as non-toxic.

History

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, however mineral deposits that are economical to mine are less common. Titanium dioxide was first discovered in 1821, although it could not be mass produced until 1919. Widespread use of the pigment began in the 1940s. Since that time, it has become the most commonly used white pigment. The name comes from the Latin word Titan, the name for the elder brother of Kronos and ancestor of the Titans, and from the Greek word tito, meaning day or sun.