| Author | Message | ||
  Patricia Corbett |
Hillary Page tested the Koi watercolors in her book. The carmine contains, I think, two pigments, one a supposedly fugitive pigment, maybe some kind of napthol, but did not fade for her. She also gave the vermilion a good rating. As I recall, the violet faded for her. I think her results otherwise are mostly consistent with yours. | ||
Linda |
Alas, it's true...the truth can be hard on the stomach. Label it whatever you like, brown-nosing, glorification (I've always found the labels people use reveal more about themselves than others). Three Proofs that Jesus was Puerto Rican: His first name was Jesus. He was bilingual. He was always being harrased by the authorities. Three Proofs that Jesus was Italian: He talked with his hands. He had wine with every meal. He worked in building trades. Three Proofs that Jesus was Black: He called everybody "brother". He liked Gospel. He couldn't get a fair trial. Three Proofs that Jesus was a Californian: He never cut his hair. He walked around barefoot. He started a new religion. | ||
Dake |
Oh and re the news.....ask the Palistinians and the FDNY about reality and "consumerism" silly! | ||
Dake |
No Linda, rarely is B-Ning conducted for the hope of material gain,it just happens,most often for no gain at all, material, or otherwise.In fact it mostly occures due to a delusion of glorification by association but i know this is not the fact in this case...it just happens. Look i appreciate Bruce and Lex too(I fear the worst for Lex, either RIP or in an asylum somewhere) but your gush of mush was too much for my stomach. | ||
Cathy |
Dake you are sooo spicy!! Linda, I bet the only time you have a brown nose is when you get too close to the paint! I have missed the banter. Keep it up! :-D Cathy | ||
Kukana |
Dake, you're a hoot! Keep it up, you character!!! | ||
Linda |
And, silly, the news is to promote consumerism and fear, distraction from true life purpose and shows you WHAT to think. I AM an artist, an individualist, perhaps eccentric, uplifting of all talents and gifts, and I see the potential in humanity. Focusing on anything less is a waste of time! You have a rollicking sense of humor I enjoy, as well as speaking your mind no matter what anyone else thinks. This is a rare delight! and I know others appreciate these facets of you, besides just me. | ||
Linda |
Brown-nosing? You brat! But to brown-nose implies something material will be gained, yes? What do I gain here, with my kind words (when very few people can take a compliment anymore)? I gain my own happiness, that I share beauty in all aspects. Do I need to brown-nose for that? Har! | ||
Dake |
And Linda you must win the award for the best brown-nosing ever. I think the seagulls and bagels rule. People on the whole suck! Checked the news lately. Sorry to sound so serious in such a fun place...once again couldn't help it...and I'm too far away for any of you to get me hahahaha. ...Okay hit the trenches Dake!! | ||
Linda |
My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE subject regarding watercolor!!! Lex, why don't you write the list of the hands down winners, and a little about how you use them? But you're STILL my hero for doing the work, taking the effort to share it with us, being open-minded enough to give it a shot in the first place, and then sharing it with grace and HUMOR! May we all emulate you. And drollere, I can never find the words to express my true-felt gratitude for you. My gratitude for you always reduces me to mush, for you are ever so magnanimous yet humble, so EXCELLENT for the future of watercolor your continuing works are...you restore my faith in humanity on a REGULAR basis! People ARE the greatest. We just RULE!!! So...here's my shot at humor, heh heh heh, Know why they're called seagulls? Why, because they fly over the sea. You know, if they flew over the bay, they'd be called bagels! | ||
drollere |
feather: uv protective glass or plexiglas helps a lot. but direct sun is always bad, cumulatively if not immediately. | ||
drollere |
yes, to quote one of my favorite watercolor web sites: "I realize that it's convenient and reassuring to take the word of "experts" on the matter of paint lightfastness, but once you see your own paint tests produce results that simply do not jibe with published ratings, you will never again bother to consult any other source (including me). You will do your own tests." lex's comment, "considering the reputations of vermillions [sic] and carmines I expected much worse," implies he is thinking of the original pigments by that name, but his follow up shows he knows that paint companies can name their paints ANYTHING THEY WANT. the paint name tells you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about what is in the paint. the ASTM lightfastness standard is based on change measurements that treat hue, value or saturation changes as equally bad. the most common lightfastness damage is in saturation (slight dulling or graying), then in value (lightening, but sometimes darkening); less common is a hue shift ("color" change). if the total shift on any or all those dimensions is greater than some specific amount, then the paint is classified as fugitive. i've been having a running correspondence on this topic with the editors at _watercolor_ magazine, because they describe artists' palettes that include alizarin crimson or rose madder, without mentioning that the pigments are fugitive. i actually came here to post a kind of reader survey on this issue ... under a separate topic. | ||
feather |
Question for everyone: I've got a ton of windows in my house, and I'm running out of wall space that doesn't get at least some direct sunlight each day. Does anyone know how well UV glass used in framing works to help protect a W/C painting? | ||
Kukana |
Very Interesting. Thanks | ||
feather |
Thanks for posting Lex. Nice presentation! Do more, do more!!!!! | ||
Lex |
Well, as we've all been told we should conduct our own tests to determine the lightfastness of our paints rather than relying on manufacturers' claims or even the recommendations of other artists. So, here's my first contribution. As I've mentioned before my first love was for Koi watercolors - they were affordable (priced about the same as Grumbacher Academy and other student grade paints), with brilliant colors and a characteristic that approaches gouache in some ways making it more versatile than other student grade paints I'd tried. This isn't a test of the complete line up - I never bought Ivory Black and some tubes were never available where I shopped. But this test covers most of the line, which is still available as a set but not in individual tubes.  Rather than indulge in color corrections that would have taken hours to get right I just did a simultaneous straight scan of both sheets - the control sheet and the sheet exposed to southern window light for four months. But while the hues are not accurate the degree of color shift and fading is. There were some real surprises: Based on reputation I expected Chrome Green Deep to fade. Instead it shifted dramatically toward blue without fading. Again, I expected Chrome Light Green to fade more than it did. As expected, Chrome Yellow faded - but I didn't anticipate a near-total fade out. Ta-ta, dahling. Pale Orange was the biggest surprise and disappointment - I've used this as the basis for skin tones, at least until settling on a palette of Schmincke and Sennelier paints. Because Koi Pale Orange is a very opaque paint I expected it to be more lightfast. Instead it faded as dramatically as Chrome Yellow. Goodbye, Pale Orange. Vermillion and Carmine faded only ever so slightly - you probably won't notice it in the scan but it's just a tad more noticeable in the originals. Still, considering the reputations of vermillions and carmines I expected much worse. I'm guessing the Koi Carmine is a quinacridone; don't know about the Vermillion but if it were more expensive I'd say cadmium. Unfortunately Sakura doesn't specify pigments for their Koi line (they do for their Impellist line). Perhaps the most pleasant surprise, the violet didn't fade as badly as I expected. Violets are notorious for poor lightfastness so the fact that this one remains visible without color shift is as amazing as amusing. That leaves a pretty healthy selection of apparently lightfast paints which I will continue to use 'til they're gone. After that I'll probably stick with artist grade stuff simply because I'm worth it. Or is that Heather Locklear I'm thinking of...? |
