Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor - Sepia, 21 ml tube

Pigment Information

This color contains the following pigments:

PBk7-Lamp Black

PBr7-Burnt Sienna

Pigment Name

PBk7-Lamp Black

Pigment Type

inorganic

Chemical Name

carbon

Chemical Formula

C

Properties

Lamp black is a very opaque, heavily staining black pigment that does not have much covering or tinting power. It is typically the most opaque black in watercolor form. Though a very pure black, it tends to muddy slightly in mixtures. Natural sources may be brownish or bluish in tone because of impurities. When used in oil paints, it is one of the slowest drying pigments, and should not be used in underpainting or applied in layers underneath other colors.

Permanence

Lamp Black is very lightfast and absolutely permanent. It is used in all techniques in permanent painting.

History

Lamp Black is a carbon based black traditionally produced by collecting soot (known as lampblack) from oil lamps. It has been used as a pigment since prehistoric times. It is the black found in Egyptian murals and tomb decorations and was the most popular black for fresco painting until the development of Mars Black.

Pigment Name

PBr7-Burnt Sienna

Pigment Type

earth

Chemical Name

iron oxides

Chemical Formula

Fe2O3

Properties

Burnt Sienna is a warm, mid-brown color formed by burning the yellow-brown limonite clay called Raw Sienna. It ranges from semi-opaque to semi-transparent due to the combination of its opaque, red-brown mass tone and its transparent, orangey undertone. It is an excellent mixing complement for blues and greens and creates salmon or peach colored tints when mixed with white. It can be useful for subduing bright colors and does not get chalky in dark mixtures.

Permanence

Burnt Sienna has good permanence and is considered one of the most versatile of the permanent pigments.

History

Burnt Sienna has been used as a pigment since prehistoric times, but its current name came about during the Renaissance. It comes from the city of Siena, in Italy, and is short for terra di Siena, meaning earth of Siena. Sienna was famous for the mining and production of earth pigments from the Renaissance until World War II. Due to the depletion of clay deposits in Tuscany, Italian siennas now come from other areas, including Sicily and Sardinia.