R&F Encaustic Paint Block - Cadmium Yellow Light, 40 ml

By itself, it has a sense of purity and clarity without the usual hint of greenishness that would sour it. In mixes, however, it is biased toward green.

• Pigment Composition: PY37-Cadmium Yellow
• Paint Lines: Encaustic, Pigment Stick
• Opacity: Opaque
• Pigment Stick Drying Rate: Medium
• Classification: Synthetic Inorganic
• Chemical Composition: c.p. cadmium sulfide
• Safety Information: Conforms to ASTM D-4236
• Safety Warnings: This product contains cadmium, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.

Pigment Name: PY37-Cadmium Yellow

Classification: inorganic, cadmium

Chemical Composition: cadmium(II)-sulfide

Properties

Cadmium Yellow is brilliant, dense, and opaque, with good tinting strength and 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 used in 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 a cadmium-barium mix. This mix has the same permanence with a lower tinting strength.

Permanence

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.

Toxicity

Cadmium Yellow is a known human carcinogen. It can be hazardous if chronically inhaled or ingested.

History

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.