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| When viewing a painted surface, whether it be a wall or canvas, clearly the colour is what the observer sees. However a paint manufactured from pure colour alone would be impossible to apply and quite useless. The coloured component, generally a pigment, is usually a powder material in its pure form. Pigments are also relatively expensive. |
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| Production of paints consists of four main stages, although the scale of production does add complexity to the total process. |
| Initially the pigment or colour has to be dispersed to give a concentrated mix. In its simplest form this can be carried out by the actual artist using a pestle and mortar. In volume production high speed mixers are used. |
| The second stage is to dilute or let down this concentrate into the paint medium or 'vehicle'. |
| Testing of the paint follows to ensure it meets the manufacturer's standard of which viscosity, and of course shade, are two important characteristics. |
| Finally the paint has to be filled into the appropriate container and labelled appropriately. If the paint is rather thick when cold then it can be filled while warm which will help it to flow more easily and fill the container. |
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| So what goes into the formula of modern artists paint? Well the simple answer is 'many things' however this multitude of materials can be broken down into a series of manageable groups. |
| Generally combining materials from four major groups produces paints. Pigments have been mentioned above, and more of them later. |
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| These types of material are often referred to as resins and their property is to bind the colour particles into a coherent film; this being both during application of the paint and after having dried. |
| Binders were originally naturally occurring materials such as: vegetable gums e.g. Arabic vegetable oil, linseed and poppy seed oil, beeswax, egg yolk, some glues, and natural and artificial resins. The choice of binder has a significant effect on the artist's final work. |
| But many synthetic resins exist with more being added regularly. It is generally accepted that the modern resins are superior to natural products, particularly if the cost of these materials are taken in account. |
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| These materials adjust the paints consistency and are added by the paint manufacturer as well as the artist. In watercolour paints the solvent is simply water while oil paints will use turpentine or oils + turpentine + a varnish. |
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| In this group come preservatives, thickeners, wetting agents and driers. |
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