R&F Encaustic Paint Block - Naples Yellow, 40 ml

A lead-free mix, it captures the low-key sweet yellow of the traditional lead-based colour.

• Pigment Composition: PY37-Cadmium Yellow; PW6-Titanium White; PY42-Yellow Ochre; PW7-Zinc Sulphide White
• Paint Lines: Encaustic, Pigment Stick
• Opacity: Opaque
• Pigment Stick Drying Rate: Slow
• Classification: Synthetic Inorganic
• Chemical Composition: Cadmium yellow, iron oxides, zinc-titanium white
• 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 forms. 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, 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, while 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.

Pigment Name: PW6-Titanium White

Classification: Inorganic

Chemical Composition: titanium dioxide

Properties

Titanium White is the most brilliant of the white pigments. It is considered an all-purpose oil colour that is useful in all techniques and the best all around white. Its masstone is neither warm nor cool, placing it between Lead White and Zinc White. It is less prone to cracking and yellowing than Lead White, but it still yellows easily. Titanium White dries slowly in oil form, more slowly than Lead White but more quickly than Zinc White. It is opaque in oil and acrylic forms and semi-opaque in watercolour form. This pigment has good chemical stability, and its tinting strength is superior to both Lead White and Zinc White.

Permanence

Titanium White has excellent permanence and lightfastness.

Toxicity

Titanium dioxide is highly stable and is regarded as completely non-toxic. Animal studies do not indicate that it is absorbed biologically, even after long periods of exposure. The primary safety concern is the inhalation of fine pigment dust particles.

History

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth's crust. However, mineral deposits that are economical to mine are rare. Titanium dioxide was first discovered in 1821, although it could not be mass produced until 1919. Widespread use of the pigment began in the 1940s. Since that time, it has become the most commonly used white pigment. The name comes from the Latin word Titan, the name for the elder brother of Kronos and ancestor of the Titans, and from the Greek word tito, meaning day or sun.

Pigment Name: PY42-Yellow Ochre

Classification: Synthetic Inorganic

Chemical Composition: iron (III)-oxide, hydrated

Properties

Yellow Ochre provides artists with earth tones from cream to brown. It has good hiding power, produces a quick drying paint, and can be safely mixed with other pigments. Its transparency varies widely from opaque shades to more transparent ones, which are valued for their use as glazes. If gypsum is present, Yellow Ochre is not suitable for frescoing. (See Brown Ochre, PY43.) PY42 is made from synthetic iron oxides. PY43 is made from natural iron oxide.

Permanence

Yellow Ochre has excellent permanence because ochres are some of the most permanent pigments available.

Toxicity

Yellow Ochre is non-toxic unless it contains manganese.

History

Ochre comes from the Greek word ochros, meaning pale yellow. It was one of the first pigments humans used, and evidence of its use has been found at 300,000-year-old sites in France and the former Czechoslovakia.

Pigment Name: PW7-Zinc Sulphide White

Classification: Inorganic

Chemical Composition: zinc sulfide

Properties

Zinc Sulphide White is a semi-transparent yellowish-white pigment. Zinc sulphide and zinc oxide (PW4) are often combined to create a more natural white colour. Transparency increases as particle size decreases. When slight impurities are added, zinc sulphide has phosphorescent and electroluminescent properties. It is often used to manufacture fluorescent or glow-in-the-dark paints.

Permanence

Zinc Sulphide White has excellent permanence and lightfastness.

Toxicity

Zinc Sulphide is non-toxic, but ore deposits often contain lead. Traces of lead and other impurities may be present in pigment powders. Ingestion is not recommended.

History

Zinc sulphide, when combined with slight impurities, has phosphorescent properties. It is often used for invisible ink that glows with ultraviolet light and fluorescent paints.