Gamblin 1980 Oil - PG7 Phthalo Green; PG18 Viridian

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.

Viridian was first synthesized in 1859; nontoxic Viridian replaced Verdigris and Emerald Green as a glazing colour by the turn of the 20th century. It has good tinting strength, and its tint is muted like the colours of the natural world.

PIGMENT COMPOSITION AND PERMANENCE

• Pigment Name: PG7 Phthalo Green (Polychlorinated copper(II) phthalocyanine)
• Pigment Type: Organic

PROPERTIES

Phthalo Green is a transparent, cool, bright, high-intensity colour used in oil and acrylics. It comes from a Phthalocyanine Blue pigment in which most hydrogen atoms have been replaced with chlorine, forming highly stable molecules. It has pigment properties and permanence similar to Phthalo Blue.

It is slow drying and an excellent base colour for mixing a range of bright greens.

Phthalo Green is considered an excellent alternative to Viridian because it is intense, mixes well, and can be used to emphasize mineral colours in various tints. However, its tinting strength is very high, so that it can overpower other colours. This pigment most closely resembles the discontinued and toxic Verdigris.

PERMANENCE

Phthalo Greens are completely lightfast and resistant to alkali, acids, solvents, heat, and ultraviolet radiation. Due to their stability, they are currently used in inks, coatings, and many plastics and are considered a standard pigment in printing ink and the packaging industry.

TOXICITY

Phthalo Green has no significant hazards but contained PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) until 1982.

HISTORY

This bright blue-green was developed in 1935 and has been used since 1938.

PIGMENT COMPOSITION AND PERMANENCE

• Pigment Name: PG18 Viridian (Hydrated chromium(III)-oxide dehydrate)
• Pigment Type: inorganic

PROPERTIES

Viridian is the standard green. It is stable, robust, 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 power, 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.

PERMANENCE

Viridian has excellent permanence, except in high-temperature work, and is highly valued as a glazing colour.

TOXICITY

Viridian is slightly toxic.

HISTORY

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