#lead white

[rapscallion-rumble]

Art Nerd Paul Zielinski

He's very avid about historical paints.

[arthistoryiscooliguess]

Oh to be a baroque artist (going absolutely insane due to lead poisoning from the white paint)

[honorablelynx]

Man, humans really risk their lives utilizing the most toxic elements as pigments just to get some sick colors on their stuff.

Uranium glass, radium (and tritium) dials, uranium orange (uranium oxide), cadmium yellow, lead white, arsenic green, london purple (which also contained arsenic), etc. I'm sure the list goes on.

First thing i gathered from all this is that man, arsenic in particular has really wicked optic properties, that stuff is used in so many pigments. Sucks it's also deadly, like real deadly, fish cartonisly floating in the water upside down and cross eyed kind of deadly.

Second of all, it really shows how humans are a really solution oriented species. Like, if we have a problem and we discover a material/element/compound that's really useful for that problem because of it's properties, our first instict is to develop a solution to the problem. And once the solution works and it doesn't seem to cause inmediate harm, we just fucking roll with it and make it mainstream. Then, unfortunately, like 35 years later a group of scientist (bless their hearts) will be like "actually, this is really fucking bad for you, in fact, you shouldn't even touch it with a ten foot pole". And the engineers will go back to the drawing board (or maybe not, because the companies decide to postpone it as much as possible though lying, gaslighting and overall toomfoolery cause capitalism).

Also it's really fucking funny how people that are born in generations where the danger of something that was widely used back then is known will be like "lol, lmao even, couldn't be me. This guys were dumb as rocks". Like they won't be saying that about us in the future with microplastics and stuff. For real though, it's honestly kind of problematic how good we are at internalizing information that has been discovered and how bad we are at putting ourselves in the place of the people that didn't have access to that information. Like yeah, everything seems really intuitive when you're given the full picture, the troublesome part is to fucking get there. I think this is part of why it's so difficult to get research funded in things that don't seem directly useful.

In conclusion, if a new radical pigment or material appears I would wait a bit if I were you before using it in every square inch of your house.

[novemberhudson]

Lead white roundup

I am testing the excellent Michael Harding brand Cremitz white. It really is good stuff. Along with Kremer’s Cremitz white, it’s among the best lead whites that I’ve used. Of course, the lead whites from all the manufacturers still providing the all-important paint are excellent. By the last count, there are eight art supply manufacturers offering lead white today. I’ve used them all. As all…

View On WordPress

[novemberhudson]

Review: RGH Flemish White

Review: RGH Flemish White

I am a fan of RGH’s cremnitz white and regularly use it in my paintings, Like their cremnitz white, RGH’s Flemish white is lead-based. Regular readers know that I only use lead-based whites in my oil paintings. Flemish white is made with lead sulfate. There are many ways to make lead paint which is not surprising given that lead occurs naturally and also as a by-product of various chemical…

View On WordPress

[novemberhudson]

Almost ready

I put the final toned ground on the linen-cotton blend canvas that I recently wrote about. The canvas is dry, indeed, it was dry the same day I applied the ground, but it still needs to cure for a few days. Dry to touch doesn’t mean really dry. When it’s done curing, I’ll sand it and store it until I have a design ready. I like to have 5-6 large canvases ready ay any time. I have gone on tears…

View On WordPress

[gautamshah]

WHITE PIGMENTS

by Gautam Shah ➔ White in Nature Lime, Chalk and Gypsum were the first ever whites used. These were available nearly everywhere, and if required its processing was easy. Next to arrive on the scene was Lead white, probably from Greece. Lead white -a carbonate of lead was prepared from metallic lead and vinegar. It was the only white used in art paintings for several generations in spite of…

View On WordPress