Holbein Watercolour Cadmium Green Deep 15ml Tube

Cadmium Green Deep (W270) Vert de Cadmium Foncé

Cadmium Yellow is brilliant (cadmium(II)-sulfide), dense, and opaque, with good tinting strength and very high hiding power. It is the artist’s principal bright yellow and is available in light, medium, and dark shades. The deeper shades appear deep orange and have the greatest tinting strength. It is slow-drying in oil form and is used in both oil and watercolour form. It cannot be mixed with copper-based pigments. A clean Cadmium Orange is created when Cadmium Yellow is mixed with Cadmium Red. Hues vary by brand. Cadmium pigments have been partially replaced by azo pigments, which are similar in lightfastness to the cadmium colours, cheaper, and non-toxic.

Cadmium Yellow is usually available in a pure grade, or in a cadmium-barium mix. This mix has the same permanence with a lower tinting strength.

Historically, Cadmiums get their names from the Latin word cadmia meaning zinc ore calamine, and the Greek word kadmeia, meaning Cadmean earth, first found near Thebes, the city founded by the Phoenician prince Cadmus. Metallic cadmium was discovered in 1817 by Friedrich Strohmeyer. Oil colours were first made from Cadmium Yellow pigments in 1819, replacing toxic Chrome (lead) Yellows. However, their production was delayed until 1840 due to the scarcity of cadmium metals. Landscape painters, such as Claude Monet, preferred Cadmium Yellow to the less expensive Chrome Yellow because of its higher chroma and greater purity of colour.

Phthalo Green (organic) is a transparent, cool, bright, high intensity colour used in oil and acrylics. It comes from a Phthalocyanine Blue pigment where most of the hydrogen atoms have been replaced with chlorine, forming highly stable molecules. It has similar pigment properties and permanence to Phthalo Blue. It is slow drying and an excellent base colour for mixing a range of bright greens. Phthalo Green is considered a very good alternative to Viridian because it is intense and mixes well and can be used to emphasize mineral colours in various tints. However, its tinting strength is very high, so it can overpower other colours. This pigment most closely resembles the discontinued and toxic Verdigris.

Historically, this bright blue-green was developed in 1935 and has been in use since 1938.

Viridian (inorganic) is the standard green and is stable, powerful, and cold with an emerald green undertone. It has a transparent hue, good tinting strength, a dark masstone that can be almost black at full strength, and a slow drying time in oil form. Viridian is commonly replaced by the darker, more saturated, and staining Phthalo Greens, but its properties make it a necessary part of the palette of an experienced landscape painter.

Historically, Viridian’s name comes from the Latin viridis, meaning green. The process for manufacturing Viridian, or Transparent Oxide of Chromium, was patented by Guignet in Paris in 1859. However, it had actually been discovered by Pannetier and Binet in 1838. Viridian replaced Verdigris, which was reactive and unstable, and Emerald Green, which was a poisonous copper aceto-arsenite used as a rat poison in the sewers of Paris.

• Pigments: Cadmium Yellow (cadmium(II)-sulfide) PY37, Phthalo Green (polychlorinated copper(II) Phthalocyanine) PG7, Viridian (chromium(III)-oxide dehydrate) PG18
• Code TNH
• Permanency: *** Absolutely Permanent Colour. Cadmium Yellow is lightfast and permanent in most forms, but like most cadmium colours, it will fade in fresco or mural painting. The deeper shades are the most permanent. The pale varieties have been known to fade with exposure to sunlight.
• Phthalo Greens are completely lightfast and resistant to alkali, acids, solvents, heat, and ultraviolet radiation. 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.
• Viridian has excellent permanence, except in high-temperature work, and is highly valued as a glazing colour.
• Quality: Exceptional
• Price Series: C
• Toxicity: Cadmium Yellow is a known human carcinogen. It can be hazardous if chronically inhaled or ingested.
• Phthalo Green has no significant hazards, but it contained PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) until 1982.
• Viridian is slightly toxic.