Spring / Summer Palette

 

For my Spring / Summer Palette I made some slight adjustments including the removal of cobalt blue (PB28) and the addition of a second blob of isoindolinone yellow (PY110). After using it for awhile the cobalt blue was redundant with phthalo blue sapphire (PB15) and has some slight toxicity being made from cobalt. Cobalt is not really poisonous, in fact we need a teeny tiny but in our diet, but large amounts of it could cause illness. The main concern would be for aquatic life, although I always collect the waster water when painting on location and dispose of it down the sink. I thought about some possible replacements since there was a free spot and settled on a second blob of iso yellow. I have one from Holbein, and then a larger one from Daniel Smith company called permanent yellow deep, both are PY110. This pigment is very stable and bright like a tangerine, it is a modern version of an azo dye. In the old day, like 19^th century old, they called these 'coal tar' dyes and they were terrible at the time, a kind of dark magenta that faded quickly. It would not be long before the entire spectrum could be made from coal tar (azo) dyes and derivatives. Most of the paints on my palette are derived from those chemicals. Handprint.com by MacEvoy has a lengthy discussion on chemistry of pigments.  I made a link there in case you are curious.