Master Pigments

The Master Pigments website went live in ***0, and has been steadily gathering interest and orders. Attila despatches regularly to the UK: e-mail him to request a current price list using the website enquiry form. Mineral pigments such as lapis lazuli, azurite and malachite are naturally much more costly than the synthetic substitutes, though very competitively priced. There is also a range of high quality ochres and earth colours which are very inexpensive. I was very fortunate to receive a pack of samples which I have been experimenting with over the past few months. All Attila's oxides and ochres are very finely ground and melt easily into the egg tempera mix without mulling or residual grittiness. He has evidently chosen a small range of intense and highly differentiated earth colours. I painted out samples of realgar (golden orange) and orpiment (brilliant lemon yellow), and used a tiny touch of orpiment in a painting. These are arsenic compounds, so obviously more than average care is required in their handling and disposal. They are fluffy and difficult to wet, even with alcohol. I found that none of the various cadmium yellows approximated these two pigments: they are quite startlingly strong and bright, giving the lie to the notion that historical pigments are less garish than modern chemical ones. Most interesting to me was the range of mineral pigments I was sent.