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Azure - turquoise and comes from an ore called azurite (copper carbonate) |
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Malachite - greenish and comes from a copper ore- copper carbonate-hydroxide |
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Red Earth - comes from iron oxide. |
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Ultramarine - deep blue and comes from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli |
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Vermilion - bright red made from cinnabar (mercuric sulphide) from volcanic rocks. |
Origin
Pigment
provides the colour that artists use.
Early pigments
came from natural materials like plants
and animals, or were produced by simple chemical
processes by taking colour from a mineral such
as Malachite.
Metals were treated with liquids such as vinegar
or heated with a substance like sulphur
to obtain pigment.
The pigments used by the cave painters of long ago were
ground from brown-red earth's or clays
such as iron oxide and yellow
ochre. They were often mixed with animal
fat to make them waterproof.
As time went on many more natural pigments were found and
artists had a much wider range of colours to use.
The first artificial
pigment was produced in 1856 - a purple colour
called mauvein. This paved the way for modern
synthetic colours or dyes.