Gamblin 1980 Oils - PR83-Alizarin Crimson

Gamblin’s approach is different. 1980 colours contain pure pigments, the finest refined linseed oil, and marble dust (calcium carbonate). Since oil painting began, these three ingredients have made more affordable colours.

Painters experience true colours without homogenized texture or muddy colour mixtures. Gamblin's approach to using traditional raw materials and processes ensures that artists experience the luscious working properties they expect from their oil colours.

Alizarin Crimson: Cool, slightly bluish-red with a smoky glaze. 19th-century “lake” colour was made by fusing a dye onto a substrate. Only Alizarin Crimson is still commonly used by painters today. Modern synthetic preparations of Alizarin Crimson have better permanence and lightfastness than the original natural pigment extracted from the madder plant.

Pigment Composition and Permanence

• Pigment Name: PR83-Alizarin Crimson
• Pigment Type: Organic

Properties

Alizarin Crimson, the traditional cool counterpart to Cadmium Red, is a clear ruby-red with a maroon masstone and a bluish undertone. It is the artist's principal deep red pigment, is transparent, and has good tinting strength.

When mixed with white, it creates bright, rosy pinks, a range of purples and violets when mixed with intense blues, can be slow-drying when used with oils, and is compatible with all other pigments.

Permanent Alizarin Crimson mixes well with Ultramarine in acrylic and watercolour form. Permanent Rose and Quinacridone Rose are possible alternatives on a watercolour palette. Alizarin Crimson is a popular glazing colour.

Permanence

Alizarin Crimson is considered fugitive or marginally lightfast, and the appropriateness of its use in the modern artist's palette is a subject of debate. There are many concerns regarding its permanence, mainly when mixed with ochre, sienna, and umber or when used thinly. It is the least permanent red commonly used by today’s artists.

Modern synthetic preparations of Alizarin Crimson have better permanence and lightfastness than the original natural pigment extracted from the madder plant.

Quinacridone pigments have created a modern hue that closely matches the original hue. Still, many artists object that the modern hue's transparency and handling characteristics differ from the original.

Toxicity

Alizarin Crimson can be slightly toxic if it comes into contact with the skin and may cause some allergies. There is no significant acute toxicity.

History

The word alizarin comes from the Arabic word al-usara, meaning juice. The base ingredient of this pigment is the Madder plant (Rubia Tinctorum). As early as 1500 BC, artisans in Ancient Persia, India, and Egypt used it for dyes and inks.

In 1804, George Field, an English dye maker, developed Madder Lake by binding madder to alum, a white powder.

The German chemist Carl Grabe and Carl Liebermann produced the first synthetic variety of this pigment, commonly known as Alizarin Crimson, in 1868. They used anthracene, which significantly improved the lightfastness. The Colour Index International designation PR83:1 has been used to identify this synthetic laked pigment.