Da Vinci Artists' Permanent Watercolor - Gold Ochre, 15 ml tube

Pigment Information

This color contains the following pigments:

PY83-Diarylide Yellow 83

PY43-Brown Ochre

Pigment Name

PY83-Diarylide Yellow 83

Pigment Type

organic, disazo

Chemical Formula

C36H32Cl4N6O8

Properties

Diarylide Yellow is a semi-opaque, moderately staining, intense deep reddish yellow pigment with good tinting strength.

Permanence

Diarylide Yellow 83 has very good lightfastness and permanence. However, it can fade in tints, so some artists do not consider it suitable as an artists' color. Many other diarylide yellow pigments are reported to have fair to poor lightfastness, and some are completely fugitive. Diarylide Yellow 83 is reputed to be one of the most permanent of the entire group.

Toxicity

Diarylide Yellow has no significant acute hazards, but chronic hazards have not been well studied.

History

Diarylide Yellow comes from a family of azo pigments called Diarylide. These yellow hued pigments were developed around 1940 and are very important in printing inks.

Pigment Name

PY43-Brown Ochre

Chemical Name

iron(III)-oxide, partly hydrated

Chemical Formula

Fe2O3(• H2O)

Properties

Brown Ochre provides artists with earthtones from cream to brown and is a dull, dark variety of Yellow Ochre. Its transparency varies widely from opaque shades to more transparent ones, which are valued for their use as glazes. It has good hiding power, produces a quick drying paint, and can be safely mixed with other pigments. The highest quality Brown Ochre comes from Cyprus, where it is yellow in its raw form and is roasted to get the deeper brown-red varieties that result when water is removed. (See Yellow Ochre, PY42/43.)

Permanence

Brown Ochre has excellent permanence.

Toxicity

Brown Ochre is non-toxic.

History

Ochre comes from the Greek word ochros, meaning pale yellow. It has been used since prehistoric times, and evidence of its use has been found in some of the earliest known cave paintings in Lascaux, France. It has also been called Goethite, after the German philosopher and mineralogist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).