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  • #477056
    Dcam
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        What do you members do to keep your bright, glaring, super saturating, shouting, Phthalo blue work for you? (sometimes spelled Pthalo).
        Do you run screaming from it, or do you have a friendly relationship with it?
        Do you have a magic mix that involves the culprit? Do you like its strength or do you tone it way down?

        #868951
        Richard P
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            I think it depends how you mix colours. If you use a limited palette with a blue as a primary then you have to be really careful not to overpower every mix with a phthalo.

            However if you only use blues for green-blue to blue-violet colours ranges, then you can start with a phthalo blue and modify it to change the hue, value and saturation. I find it easy to manage it that way.

            #868932
            Dcam
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                I find it safe to start with a color and then carefully mix the phthalo in small amounts til’ desired end, Richard.
                I can get a nice black with Burnt umber and Pthalo Blue.

                #868952
                Richard P
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                    You could use student grade phthalo paints – they normally have less pigment

                    #868942
                    DaveCrow
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                        I add the pthalo in tiny amounts, very slowly. It is a strong pigment.

                        "Let the paint be paint" --John Marin

                        #868956
                        TomMather
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                            I avoid it like the plague. However, I have a tube of Lukas Cyan that is a milder, muted mix of Pthalo that is very useful for painting skies and much easier to control

                            #868944
                            JCannon
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                                I have a couple of tubes of Pthalo blue, one Pthalo-Ultramarine admixture, and a Pthalo turquoise. Don’t really use ’em. For me, it’s Prussian or Ultramarine.

                                But…W&N uses Pthalo to make a pseudo Magnesium Blue which does a very good job of replicating the characteristics of the genuine stuff. And that tube I love. I like it better than either of the Ceruleans.

                                #868938
                                Gigalot
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                                    Actually, Phthalo blue is less saturated paigment than Ultramarine. Moreover, Blue pigments are much less saturated than “ideal” blue color. For example, Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow are much more saturated and they are almost ideal Red and Yellow colors. Phthalo blue and Quinacridone Magenta are not ideal blue and Magenta. But they have good color and pigment fastness for automotive and printing industry. Phthalo can easily mix with Titanium White or Zinc to paint sky, drapery, flowers, to paint atmospheric perspective. When more concentrated it can easily replace Cobalt Blue. It mix very pure color, not as gray as Ultramarine. With Eggshell white, Talc and Zinc White Phthalo is useful for glazing. It is the best mixing pigment for metallic colors and gives gorgeous opaque metallic color with aluminum powder.
                                    Phthalo Green PG36 is incredible color, the best vivid green I had ever seen before! It can mix ideal glaze color with Calcium Carbonate paste as well as Phthalo Blue.

                                    #868933
                                    Dcam
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                                        #868947
                                        melissacarmon
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                                            Hi, Dcam! As someone who loves this color I wanted to chime in. I also paint with four blues, so I guess when reaching for phthalo it’s with a specific purpose in mind.

                                            Here’s how it works for me:

                                            First, there are so many phthalos- I favor PB 15:3. I am using it for a green-blue cyan note, so it’s always going to have that green cast, and when I want that color, that’s what I use. It’s almost always for high chroma work that I use phthalo. If I want something towards “middle blue” that can be pulled in with ultramarine. The other thing I use it for is punchy greens (in the yellow green part of the spectrum), however I don’t use those greens all that much. I love it for being able to get there if I do want it. (phthalo plus Hansa or Cad yellows). Those greens can be dulled in a number of ways- with earth tones, or with a mix of po20 and pv15.

                                            Second, I sometimes draw out a line or very thin scrape with a palette knife from the dollop of phthalo on the palette. Then, after wiping off the knife, I barely tap or flick that drawn out bit to get a small amount on the palette knife for mixing. It makes it a little easier to add just a smidge at a time.

                                            The other thing that I have done as an exercise is mix unusual greys with phthalo to explore its properties. It is interesting to play around with, for example, mixing greys out of ultramarine vs. phthalos. Of course it just takes a tiny tap of phthalo relative to the other colors.

                                            I don’t use this very much in my own painting practice, but off the top of my head, I think the complement to phthalo is cad red ( pr108) and you can mix some really steeley greys that way. I have a few that I tubed up at different values.

                                            For low chroma work, when I need a blue- green that has less on an electric tint (say for portraiture) I use cerulean instead. :)

                                            #868934
                                            Dcam
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                                                #868948
                                                contumacious
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                                                    I love to take the green and the blue when I paint outdoors, since I don’t need very much. It did take me a while to learn not to add too much to a mix, but I am very comfortable with them now. A 10ML syringe will last a long time! I suck it back into the syringe when I am done painting so I never have to throw any away.

                                                    #868929

                                                    Not all PthPhthfththalo blues are created equal.
                                                    The standard typical one that people think of is my least fave blue in the world, I almost never use it.
                                                    BUT variations such as Gamblin’s manganese hue, which is a single-pigment variation is wonderful and lovely.

                                                    I also like PthPhththfthalo turquoise, it doesn’t seem to invade everything.

                                                    Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
                                                    Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air

                                                    Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde

                                                    #868939
                                                    Gigalot
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                                                        Manganese Blue HUE is a Phthalo with much Blank Fixe content, probably one part Phthalo to fifty parts of Blank Fixe.

                                                        #868930

                                                        [B]one part Phthalo[/B] to fifty parts of Blank Fixe.

                                                        That’s probably why I like it. :D

                                                        Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
                                                        Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air

                                                        Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde

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