Cerulean blue/viridean green

[timelady]

First post in this forum, so I hope someone out there can help!

Today I went to my 2nd shop in search of cerulean blue. Utter frustration. It is the colour I use most - problem is I always seem to need it when all the shops run out! A couple years ago someone told me a mixture of other colours to get cerulean blue - does anyone here have a good home made brew? I bought a tube of manganese blue hue out of absolute desperation. Like it but it's not the same. http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/frown.gif

And an easier question - is there a reason (chemical or otherwise) that viridian green goes clumpy and dry extremely quickly? It just seems so odd. In case it matters, I use Windsor & Newton artists oil colours exclusively. The only other brand I can get is Grumbacher but don't like it.

Tina.


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http://www.tina-m.com

[Michael2]

Originally posted by timelady:

Today I went to my 2nd shop in search of cerulean blue. Utter frustration. It is the colour I use most ..


If you use cerulean blue the most, you must spend a lot of money on paint!

If I really wanted it quick, I'd order it from a mail order/internet vendor and have it overnighted. Although you won't get it until Tuesday because it's the weekend now and it won't go out until Monday.

Of course you can mix a blue color from phtalo/ultramarine and titanium white, but it probably would't have the exact same mixing properties as the real stuff.

[Degas5]

Ooo, such beautiful colors cerulean and viridian. I don't think you'll be happy with anything but the genuine cerulean blue. It has unique characteristics, that you can't make in any mixture that I can think of. I love it for it's atmospheric effects. Find it very useful in scumbling it over areas that I want to push back or to tone down a color that comes forward more than I'd like. It's also one of the few medium value blues that you can use to lighten a color without having to use white to lighten it. I doubt you will get that granular quality that is unique to cerulean with anything but cerulean; manganese blue is a lovely blue (btw, WN no longer makes true manganese blue; it's thalo I think) but Blockx makes a lovely one. WN Viridian should not clump up. Maybe it was a bad batch. I like their viridian very much. It's one of the darkest ones that I know of. Maybe if you write WN (they have a site) and tell them of problem, they will send you a new one. Last year they had a problem with the production of viridian; maybe it had something to do with that.

[timelady]

Interesting... my viridian could be last year's. Although I buy a lot of cerulean, most of my other tubes of colour last around 3-6 months, so my viridian is probably a year old. actually, now I remember that I did buy it in the summer. I also mix my paints with liquin - viridian is the only one that I can prepare on the palette and minutes later it's already drying out!

My Manganese is manganese blue hue, so you got that right! It's nice though and still has an A permanency rating so I gave it a try. I have a fetish for blues you see. Is Blockx an american brand? I'll have to check out online ordering.. funny, I order all my printmaking supplies online (paper and lino is very heavy to carry on a train!) but never thought about looking for paint online. Funny how you overlook the obvious.

I don't mind spending the money on cerulean - it's £11-14 a tube here. Cerelean with windsor orange also makes really nice greys. But I will see if the manganese hue with a touch of white is acceptable for this weekend, but it won't glaze the same because of the white.... http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/frown.gif

Tina.



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http://www.tina-m.com

[Degas5]

Tina, Blockx is made in Belguim. I once tried to locate their site online and was not successful in finding one, but maybe they have one now. They don't advertise that much here in the States. I will have to try that mixture of cerulean and winsor orange. Years ago one of my favorites mixes was cerulean and a teeny bit of grumbacher cad orange (their cad orange is unlike most other brands; you may know what I mean if you used it). If you have any other favorite mixes please share http://www.wetcanvas.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Leopoldo1]

Tina, I discovered Robert Doak's pigments a year back, he is out of New York. His version of Cerulean is called Algers Blue and is the most superior I have seen. Worth a try.

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"Each artist must take inventory periodically and give himself an honest evaluation so that he can make the proper changes, rather than remain stagnant" NICOLAIS FECHIN