Dry pigment has four categories: earth colors, organic colors, manufactured colors, and mineral colors. Earth colors are those such as ochre, umber, and sienna. Organic colors are often plant-based like the indigos and Indian yellows or the red that is made from insects (cochineal). The manufactured colors are produced with a chemical process and are often the most toxic, but stunning. Mineral colors, such ultramarine (ground lapis lazuli), often have chemically-manufactured versions. In the end, some colors are considered “fugitive,” meaning they and are prone to change. Other colors may be labeled “poisonous” as they not only change, but also attack their neighbors.
Dry pigment painting is incredibly complex if you are unfamiliar with the medium. There are surprises that will occur with certain color combinations. Old books, manuscripts, and other publications may briefly mention historical painting techniques with dry pigment, but you have to look for them. The Chicago Sunday Tribune article “Paint Mimic Scenes, Men Who Have Found Fame in the Wing and Drop Curtains” described the challenges of certain colors for the nineteenth century scenic artist (Dec, 18, 1892, page 41). For the article in its entirety, see installments #246 to 251. The article reported that scenic artist “must avoid powerful greens which become coarse” and “strong blues which grow black.” Furthermore, they must “exaggerate yellows which are robbed of strength by excessive light.”
I love studying dry pigment and historical scenic art techniques. It is both exciting and extremely frustrating. Just like making bread, a few simple ingredients can produce drastically different end products. To explore the nuances and master the color combinations is more than a simple challenge. Producing a new painting with dry pigment is radically different than trying to match colors during restoration. A new painted composition becomes all about technique. Restoring an old composition is all about science. You need to identify identify the correct color combination while factoring in discoloration, color characteristics and other factors that will continue to affect a hue over time.
“In painting,” or retouching damaged areas of paint on any historical backdrop is appealing to many people. You need to get in the original artist’s head and take the whole composition into account. This is the big appeal for many individuals during a restoration project, especially if they are artists.
I have frequently had people say, “give me a call when you get to the painting part.” They simply don’t understand that most of my knowledge comes from handling the historic scenes well before picking up a brush to apply any paint. One must also be familiar with the history of scenic art techniques as well as the history of color. Unless there is severe water damage, applying paint to a historic backdrop makes up approximately 5%, or less, of any restoration project. Ideally, you don’t want to apply any paint at all if the damage is minimal.
During restoration it is imperative to create a color chart of the colors. Dry pigment colors vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Slight changes of color occur over time. Think of the current need to place batch numbers and manufacturing dates on cans of paint. There are always variables and if the paint fails, the manufacture needs to consider what happened to that entire batch, or whether something happened to the paint after it left the factory.
For dry pigment powders, you cannot always identify a manufacturer, or even the decade when it was made. Some colors are no longer available, and yet they are still needed when mixing the correct sky colors. There is also the consideration that not every drop used the correct color combinations in the beginning. Not every studio purchased a good batch of binder and not ever paint boy prepared the size water correctly. I am sure that some projects left the studio with the instructions “just get it out the door today.”
Some colors have high dye contents. This means that a particular color – like malachite green – will continue to permeate any other color placed on top of it. A pure white highlight painted over a malachite green base will become a lovely shade of pale green. No matter how thick that white paint is when applied, the base color will rise to the surface. You have to understand what colors must be used sparingly. There is a science to the paint mixing and application.
The preparation of the dry pigment paste is also very important in the painting process. If you rush the preparation and a few granules do not dissolve in the paste they will eventually reappear – even a century later. Pigment granules that did not dissolve at the time of initial application will blossom when water (or any liquid) is introduced at a later date. You can literally see the granules on the surface of historic drops and there is nothing that can be done. If they are scraped off, the powder will spread and the color reappear. If the painted surface becomes wet, a yellow background with small particles of magenta that was mixed into the base color to “warm it up,” with turn the area bright pink.
Then there is whiting. Whiting is the wild card when mixing paint. It was a product used by scenic artists to both prime the fabric surface and lighten some of the colors. When mixed with other colors it can cause a wet color to appear many shades lighter once dry.
Light colors are the most tricky to match during restoration as the wet color applied to the composition appears to be nothing like what you are matching. You just have faith that it will dry the same shade and that there wasn’t anything in the original base coat that will shift the final color. The variables are the type of whiting and the type of color. There is nothing like having a dark blue magically transition to sky blue in the last thirty seconds of drying a test sample.
Regardless of all the ups and downs, painting with dry pigment is extremely exciting. It is therapeutic, like the ceremony of making tea. Yes, some people can heat up a cup of water in the microwave and plop a tea bag in for their cup of earl grey. However, there is another process: the careful measuring of loose-leaf tea, the correct water temperature and straining the tealeaves that is almost like a ritual. Your first sip marks success. The preparation of dry pigment and hide glue mirrors that same ritual process for me. Anyone can pop open a can and scoop out color. I enjoy sharing a heritage with those who came before me.
To be continued…
