Gamblin 1980 Oils - PR101 Red Iron Oxide
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.
Venetian Red (formerly called Iron Red Light) is also a Mars Colour. Venetian Red is lighter and more of a brick red. It is dense and has
excellent hiding power.
PIGMENT COMPOSITION AND PERMANENCE
- Pigment Name: PR101 Red Iron Oxide (Synthetic red iron
oxide-yellowish shade)
- Pigment Type: earth, synthetic
PROPERTIES
Red iron oxide varies in hue and transparency, depending on
hydration and slight impurities. Indian Red is a slightly duller, deep brick
hue with a bluish undertone. It is very dense and opaque, with excellent
tinting strength and covering power.
It is dependable when mixed with all other permanent
pigments and yields good flesh tints when mixed with Zinc White. It is the
synthetic version of PR102, a pigment made from earth reds or natural red iron
oxides, and the names applied to PR101 and PR102 often overlap.
Synthetic red iron oxides have mostly replaced natural red
iron oxides and are brighter, more robust, refined, and more permanent. Indian
Red is the highest grade bluish shade. Light Red, English Red, and Venetian Red
are yellowish shades. Mars Violet is a dull and subdued bluish or purplish
oxide.
PERMANENCE
Red iron oxide is very lightfast and has excellent
permanence.
TOXICITY
Red iron oxide has no significant hazards.
HISTORY
Natural red iron oxide comes from the mineral ore hematite, which
the ancient Greeks called bloodstone from the word hema, meaning blood. Hematite
is one of the oldest pigments, has been used by every major civilization, and
was an essential mineral for medieval alchemists.
It was not widely used in artists' materials until the 17th
century and was not produced in large quantities until the 18th century.
