Chemistry of Paints & Pigments

A Survey of Blues


Perry Johnson, MFA
Associate Professor - Painting
School of Art Craft & Design

Common Name

Color Index Name

Composition

  • swatch images
    (source and medium)
  • notes

Common Name

mass tone
knife applied
undertone scraped
50% white50% medium

Lapis Lazuli

NA

natural complex sodium silicate containing sulfur and aluminum

  • Daniel Smith | safflower oil
  • notes
    • Called Ultramarine Blue, or blue from beyond the sea. In medieval times, Afghanistan. Also present in Chile, though not as brilliant.
    • Used at least as far back as ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt
    • Miners would light fires under the blue seams in the mine, then throw cold water onto the rock to shatter the blue stone out.(Finlay 45)
    • See also Fra Angelico Blue

    Links

Lapis Lazuli

Vivianite

NA

Hydrated Iron Phosphate

Vivianite

Fra Angelico Blue

NA

natural complex sodium silicate containing sulfur and aluminum

Fra Angelico Blue

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise

NA

Natural mineral turquoise; hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise

Indigo

NB1

Fermented extract from the leaves of Indigofera tinctoria

Indigo

Phthalocyanine Blue RS

PB15

copper phthalocyanine

Phthalocyanine Blue RS

Phthalocyanine Blue GS

PB15:4

Beta copper phthalocyanine

Phthalocyanine Blue GS

Prussian Blue

PB27

Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide

  • Permanent Pigments | linseed oil
  • notes
    • Invented: Berlin in 1704 by Johann Jacob Diesbach as he was trying to make Florentine Lake. The potash he used was contaminated with animal blood, the iron triggering a reaction producing iron ferrocyanide.
    • Unrelated to its color, it can be used to treat radiation poisoning. (Coles 121)

    Links

Prussian Blue

Cobalt Blue

PB28

cobalt (II)-aluminate

Cobalt Blue

French Ultramarine

PB29

Complex sodium silicate containing sulfur and aluminum

  • Williamsburg | linseed oil
  • notes
    • Discovered: 1826 in France by Jean-Baptiste Guimet and Christian Gmelin in 1828, although there was already some knowledge of a synthetic ultramarine color found on the inner walls of lime kilns by 1787.
    • "Ultramarine violet can be made by heating a mixture of Ultramarine Blue with ammonium chloride. Ultramarine pink is derived from ultramarine violet by heating it with gaseous hydrochloric acid. However, as the ultramarines move towards the red shades, they lose their tinting strength and opacity."(Coles 131)

    Links

French Ultramarine

Blue Verditer

PB30

basic copper (II)-carbonate

  • Cornelissen pigment | poppy oil
  • notes
    • Invented/Discovered 17th century Europe when copper nitrate was spilled onto chalk by accident during a silver extraction process. (Coles 77)
    • Chemically identical to the naturally occurring Azurite.

    Links

Blue Verditer

Azurite

PB30

natural basic copper (II)-carbonate

Azurite

Azurite Gunjyou

PB30

natural basic copper (II)-carbonate

Azurite Gunjyou

Egyptian Blue

PB31

copper calcium silicate

Egyptian Blue

Smalt

PB32

ground potassium glass containing cobalt oxide

Smalt

Manganese Blue

PB33

barium manganate sulfate

Manganese Blue

Cerulean Blue

PB35

cobalt-(II)-stannate

Cerulean Blue

Cobalt Titanate Blue

PB36

Cobalt Chromite Blue Green Spinel Co(Al,Cr)2O4

Cobalt Titanate Blue

Cerulean Blue Chromium

PB36

Cobalt Chromite Blue Green Spinel Co(Al,Cr)2O4

Cerulean Blue Chromium

Indanthrone Blue

PB60

anthraquinone

Indanthrone Blue

Zirconium Manganese Blue

PB71

Zirconium Vanadium Blue Zircon (Zr,V)SiO4

Zirconium Manganese Blue

Maya Blue Deep

PB82

Indigo containing magnesium aluminum layered silicate

Maya Blue Deep

Maya Blue

PB82

Indigo containing magnesium aluminum layered silicate

Maya Blue

YInMn Blue

PB86

mixed metal oxide Y In Mn

YInMn Blue

Ivory Black

PBk9

once was made from charred ivory tusks, but now charred animal bones

Ivory Black

Cobalt Teal

PG50

Cobalt Titanate Green Spinel (Co)2TiO4

Cobalt Teal