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Paint Dots Summer 2021

To go to Winter 2022 Paint Dots, click

www.rachelsstudio/paintdotsWinter22

For paint dots this summer quarter, I chose to try the colors suggested by handprint.com to make what he calls "synthetic black".  He suggests three colors to create the 'perfect' black and I've always wanted to try his suggestions.

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The colors are:

M Graham Phthalo Green

Schminke Van Dyke Brown

Daniel Smith Permanent Brown

Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue

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Go to http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterfs.html and search the page for 'synthetic black' to read more about his thoughts on this mix.

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Let's explore these colors in more depth...

In Depth

M Graham Phthalo Green  

I find this a very hard paint to work with because it is very staining and the paint itself doesn't dry, so I had to put extra wax paper over it to mail.  I make a point not to put it in my palette because it will 'take over' and make a mess.  Suffice it to say it's a very strong color, but that's probably why it makes such a gorgeous black.  It helps create a black mix that is DARK, yet as transparent as black can be, as opposed to heavy granulated blacks I usually resort to like my mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue or my beloved Daniel Smith Lamp Black.  Both of the options I usually use result in an opaque black that is more chalky and heavy.  I have yet to find a black that is transparent.  Until I tried this mix.  And I like it!  I never thought I'd see the day when I found a good use for Phthalo Green!

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Schminke VanDyke Brown

I chose this paint color because it's a brown and I haven't tried any other browns aside from my Burnt Sienna and I thought it would be a healthy thing to branch out and at least try something new.  I wanted a fourth paint to add to my paint dots that I sent out so this is the one that is NOT used in the Synthetic Black Mix.  The pigments in this convenience mix include 3 pigments, the first of which is PY 153 (Nickel Dioxine Yellow).  According to Handprint, "though typically not as strongly tinting or textural in mixtures as cadmium yellow deep, its transparency, versatility and hue shifts (in the darker brands) make it one of the most evocative and effective yellow pigments you will find."  It is commonly called New Gamboge by paint manufacturers. 

Next is PBk7 (soot from furnace burned petroleum or wax)  Handprints says "Furnace black PBk7 is another amorphous carbon black pigment, produced by burning coal wastes or natural gas in enclosed furnaces, available from about 40 registered pigment manufacturers worldwide for use in printing inks, construction and decorative applications. The ASTM (1999) and my own tests rate its lightfastness in watercolors as "excellent" (I). Across most brands, this pigment is very lightfast, opaque, staining, and very active in wet applications."

Lastly this VanDyke Brown includes PBr7 which is natural iron manganese oxide and is the main pigment in most burnt siennas.

Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue

I chose this paint color because it's the second color handprint.com suggested as part of the Synthetic Black Mix.  According to handprint, it was discovered in the early 1900s and is the oldest vat dye.  Because handprint said this brand was the most lustrous, dark and intense, I chose this one. He says "Indanthrone blue PB60 is a lightfast to very lightfast, semiopaque, heavily staining, very dark valued, dull blue violet pigment."

 

Daniel Smith Permanent Brown

 You may have noticed the third mix suggested by handprint was

Benzimida Brown which Daniel Smith calls Permanent Brown.  According to handprint, "Daniel Smith permanent brown is the only commercial source in watercolors; the paint is moderately active wet in wet but has only moderate tinting strength. There is a reddish tint to this pigment that makes it resemble a diluted indian red in moderately light applications; the lightest tints take on a pinkish flesh color.  An interesting pigment, with good mixing potential with blues, violets and all warm colors, but most of its mixing potential can be found in other paints, most obviously with a dark burnt sienna. Not an essential pigment, but its transparency and tinting strength make it worth exploring for landscape and portrait palettes."

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Schminke VanDyke Brown

I chose this paint color because it's a brown and I haven't tried any other browns aside from my Burnt Sienna and I thought it would be a healthy thing to branch out and at least try something new.  I wanted a fourth paint to add to my paint dots that I sent out so this is the one that is NOT used in the Synthetic Black Mix.  The pigments in this convenience mix include 3 pigments, the first of which is PY 153 (Nickel Dioxine Yellow).  According to Handprint, "though typically not as strongly tinting or textural in mixtures as cadmium yellow deep, its transparency, versatility and hue shifts (in the darker brands) make it one of the most evocative and effective yellow pigments you will find."  It is commonly called New Gamboge by paint manufacturers. 

Next is PBk7 (soot from furnace burned petroleum or wax)  Handprints says "Furnace black PBk7 is another amorphous carbon black pigment, produced by burning coal wastes or natural gas in enclosed furnaces, available from about 40 registered pigment manufacturers worldwide for use in printing inks, construction and decorative applications. The ASTM (1999) and my own tests rate its lightfastness in watercolors as "excellent" (I). Across most brands, this pigment is very lightfast, opaque, staining, and very active in wet applications."

Lastly this VanDyke Brown includes PBr7 which is natural iron manganese oxide and is the main pigment in most burnt siennas.

Art Supplies

For Summer 2021 art supplies I included:

- 3 Round Bamboo Brushes - different sizes.  These are vegan, natural hair, good quality brushes that are inexpensive to boot!

-A sheet of Cold Press Saunders Waterford paper

 

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