by Jerritt TurnerDisclaimer: I am a student at Emporia State University and created this website as a class project for mineralogy. Read this at your own risk! All kidding aside, I hope this page informs you on the minerals that make paint what it is - an interesting medium for artistic expression! |
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Blue |
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| Ancient Egyptians first started using blue back around 3100 B.C.1 It was the first synthetically made mineral to be used as a pigment. To make it, they first took a mixture of calcium, copper, and quartz (identical to the mineral cuproivaite CaCuSi4O10) to a temperature of 1652°F, then brought down to a lower temperature for curing.2. They would then place this either in a liquid formula or into a wax for hot wax applications. This variation of blue is called "Egyptian blue," for obvious reasons--was also known as "Pompey Blue". It is still in use today, but declined dramatically from the Roman period on, almost to the point of obscurity. |
 Image provided by |
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Image scanned by Mark Harden |
Although known since antiquity, azurite (Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2) was used rarely as a pigment until the Middle Ages.3 Its relative ease to find in and around copper mines, plus its wonderful dark blue hue, made it perfect for artists and craftsman to use in paintings. Despite its popularity then, it is not used today for pigments. Due to the fact that azurite's base metal is copper, all azurite paints eventually decay from a dark blue hue to a sickly green as the copper tarnishes. The painting to the right and left, "The Mona Lisa" by Da Vinci, showcases this in the green sky and green water. To the left, "The Mona Lisa" has been unaltered. To the right, "The Mona Lisa" has been color compensated for the green in the azurite. Big Difference! |
 Image scanned by Mark Harden |
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Yellow |
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| During the Stone Age, clays heavy in iron oxide were used to depict yellow 4. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing oxidation of the pigment, most appear to be red. However, this can be offset by the hue of the clay. Pigments were simply dried and smashed to get the consistency one needed.
Yellow is a very difficult color to make with natural minerals, so yellow ochre was used until synthetic means were derived. |
 Image taken from Web Exhibits5 |
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Red |
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 Image of ground |
Red Lead is the primary color of red, and it is derived from the mineral Minium6. Like the name implies, Minium is a lead oxide. When lead oxidizes, it turns red. It was used until concerns with lead poisoning began surfacing, and it slowly died off.
Another common form of red we see everyday is a hydrated iron oxide. You can commonly see iron oxide on the bumpers of older cars, old buildings, basically anything that is made of iron and did not come from space. The iron oxide in blood and in clays is used in various cave paintings around the world, such as the cave paintings at Lascaux. When in clay, red oxide is referred to as red ocher. |
 Image of minium |
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Green |
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 Picture of Verdigristaken
| Verdigris (Cu(CH3COO)2 * H2O) was one of the colors of choice for our ancestors 8. It is another copper oriented mineral, so the eventual tarnishing of the pigment would not hurt it as much as azurite. Copper was covered with winemarc, an ammonia, and submerged in acetic acid, and the acid catalyzed the copper and winemarc, making Verdigris.
Malachite is another mineral our ancestors used to create a green color 9. A bit weaker than Verdigris, Malachite was pulverized and water added to it. However, its weaknesses as a pigment (not very resistant to heat or acid), made it less desired. |
 Image taken from WebExhibits. |
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Purple |
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| Unfortunately, no sources of purple minerals have enough cover ability to create the purple look. Most purples throughout time are the combination of blue and red or the slime of a particular type of snail.
A very expensive type of dark blue/purple comes from the mineral lazurite. It combines with other types of minerals to form the complex rock called lapis lazuli. It is powdered and purified by mixing with wax and lye. |
 Ultramarine taken from WebExhibits |
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Orange |
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 Orpiment picture taken |
Most oranges are the combination of reds and yellows. In the Middle Ages, a expensive and not so good mineral called orpiment was used 14. Orpiment is a yellow arsenic sulfide. That's right...Arsenic Sulfide! This toxic pigment has been used throughout antiquity, and really came into style in the early 1300's. It was so expensive, only the richest patrons could afford it and paintings commissioned by these elite are full of rare pigments like ultramarine and orpiment. |
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Black |
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| Charcoal was the main black colorant back in the Stone Age and into today 11. An organic carbon, charcoal, does poorly in moist areas unless fixed with a preservative. Dry caves preserve charcoal surprising well.
Charred bone was also used as a black colorant. It has more of a bluish hue and is smooth where charcoal is rough. Rather than the carbon charcoal, bone black has much more phosphates and calcium than charcoal. |
 Image taken from WebExhibits |
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White |
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 Mineral image taken |
Most whites from antiquity are the stable fossilized remains of unicellular algae, known as chalk 12. Chalk has very limited hiding power, so it was used mostly for outlines of animals or figures that signified a greater power. From the Greeks onward, lead white was and still is a useful and solid white color that covers well. It is made by placing lead strips in weak vinegar, and burying them in manure. The heat and CO2, combined with lead and vinegar make a white crust on the lead. Chemically, it is the same form as hydrocerussite13. |
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Brown |
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| The two forms of mineral browns most often used are very chemically similar. Brown ochre is yet another iron oxide. Iron oxides come in many colors, from light blue to black, depending on the solid that is around it. It is found in many cave paintings, and much early art.
Umbra is also an iron oxide, but has some manganese-oxide mixed in. This gives the umbra a superior covering power, as well as helping with its viscosity. |
 Image of Brown Ochre taken from WebExhibits |
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