Feeling Blue? Lapis lazuli vs. Ultramarine

[Bees-in-Art]

A bit of blue fun. I still haven't used the LL but hope to in next day or two. I left my Phthalocyanine Blue Lake and Prussian Blue tubes in the studio, but it would have been nice to add them to the collection.

Andrew



Lapis Lazuli (Afghan):

Series 7 (extremely expensive!)
Semi Transparent
Natural Earth
Pigment: Inorganic
Oil Content: Average
Tint Power: Low
Drying: Average to Slow
Lightfastness: Not Tested

Ultramarine Blue:

Series 1 (cheap as chips!)
Transparent
Silicate of Sodium, Aluminium and Sulphur
Pigment: Inorganic
Oil Content: Average
Drying: Average
Lightfastness: Excellent
Tint Power: Average

[Einion]

I'll be very interested in seeing more pics of the paints in use if you could post them, to give a better appreciation for how they compare side by side.

The mattness of the paint swatch on the Lapis Lazuli (Afghan) will have some influence here but this looks like it confirms many of the objections raised about modern versions of the real deal - that you're paying a premium for something that just doesn't stand up against the synthesized equivalent.

Nearly every version of Genuine Ultramarine I've seen myself, including versions marketed as Fra Angelico Blue, appears a little dark and dull (some very much so). This calls into question whether any of them do actually match what was available historically, except in regards to the extraordinary price!

Einion

[llawrence]

The Da Vinci lapis in watercolor is definitely grayer than synthetic ultramarine - also a bit more cyan, like an ultramarine light. It's fun to play with for now, while it's comparatively inexpensive; but at some point the Chilean mines will start playing out, and then it'll probably get more expensive again. Now's the time to buy if one wants to, is my guess.

In my opinion where natural ultramarine really shines is in oil paint - it makes for a perfect glazing blue, precisely because it's less intense than the synthetic. Nice and light, lays over like a charm. I'm interested to try some low grades of lapis ("ultramarine ashes") for the same reason, I'm guessing it might be wonderful for glazing shadows.