Tag: #ink

by F. Walker

Why would you want to pre-mix a green hue and store it in a tube?  Is it not easier to just mix yellow and blue on your palette and hope for the best? However, if you want a consistent green that is pre-mixed according to a fixed formula, having a tube ready to go is very handy when you are in a hurry and you need to focus on mixing other colours.

I often wondered, why, in oil painting, every brand has a Permanent Green Light until I bought a tube and realized how handy it is to have a consistent green that I can easily lighten or darken according to need. A little more blue will turn it into permanent green medium while more yellow will give you various shades of apple green.

Apparently, there is no reason to call the colour “Permanent green”; it just started that way and no one knows why. It has nothing to do with the permanence or lightfastness of the pigments. In fact, in the case of printing inks, the yellow that is used is mostly PY3, or Hansa yellow which is listed as moderately lightfast. 

For the purpose of this mixture, we will use Process yellow and Process blue from Calego Safe Wash ink. This Process yellow is listed as PY3, or Hansa yellow, a Monoazo, also called Arylide yellow. The masstone is a bright lemon yellow with a slightly greenish undertone. It is semi-transparent.  It is best to avoid the Diarylide yellow as the undertone has a reddish tint. Hansa yellow is a synthetic organic pigment. Organic yellow pigments tend to be less lightfast than non-organic pigments such as the cadmium yellows. The Process blue used in the mixture is phthalocyanine blue or PB15:3, which has a deep blue in mass tone with a greenish blue in shades. The phthalocyanine family of pigments has good lightfastness, but dulls over considerable time.

So here’s an easy way to make a tube of your own permanent green. In the post Transfering ink we saw how easy it is to fill an empty tube with ink. 

So let’s start … you will need (Fig. 1) :

1. One tube of process yellow
2. One tube of process blue
3. A glass plate
4. A large palette knife
5. A small palette knife
6. One tablespoon (for use with the yellow)
7. One 1/8  teaspoon (or 1/4 tsp for the blue if you wish to double the recipe)
8. One 37 ml tube
9. A pair of pliers

Recipe:

You will use a larger amount of process yellow and a much smaller amount of process blue. You want to achieve a middle to light green, not too light but certainly not too dark. It is much easier to darken a color later on than to try to light it. So decide what shade of green would be suitable. A good idea is to use a tube of permanent green from a reputable brand in oil paint and try to match it.

My recipe was the following: ( I doubled the recipe to fill the 37 ml tube). These proportions are approximate and may vary according to the brand of ink that you are using. 

1 tablespoon of process yellow

1/8 teaspoon of process blue

Instructions:

Spread the yellow on a glass plate (Fig. 2). Work the ink until it is soft. Start adding the process blue, slowly until you get the desired hue. Compare that with the permanent green light in oil paint. I used the Seymour Wallace Permanent green light fine oil  purchased from Select Fine Arts on St Joseph Blvd in Orléans to get a match. If your green is too dark, as in Fig. 3, just add more yellow.

You may want to do only one recipe and fill only half the tube, depending on your needs. Start filling your empty tube using the hints from post Transferring Ink. Loosen the cap and tap down to get the ink flowing. Stop around 2/3 full and start pressing down on bottom end. Use pliers to pinch the ends together. Fold the ends twice.

You will now have a nice tube of permanent green. (Fig. 4) When you want it lighter on your palette, it is then easy to add some yellow; if you want it darker, just add a touch of blue. Fig. 5 shows the home-made green and the Seymour Wallace Permanent green.

All photos courtesy of Francine Walker

by F. Walker

There are a few reasons why one would want to transfer ink from a can to a tube. 

1. The hassle of opening a can and dealing with removing the numerous covers. 
2.  The ink has dried and you have to remove the top layer. 
3.  You can’t find the right colour in a small tube, like ultramarine. 
4.  You want to make your own ink and you need to store it. 
5. The considerable cost savings in buying the larger format. 
6.  The ease in transporting tubes as opposed to cans.
7.  Certain colours are out of stock in the smaller tubes, but available in the can.
8.  You use a lot of certain colours, such as white, black, primary colors and of course the extender.
9.  You want to stock up before the next pandemic in case production comes to a halt again.
10.  Cans are messy.

Here are the tools that you need (Fig. 1). It is really easy and not messy at all. 

1. A glass plate for the mixing
2. A large spatula
3. A rubber spatula
4. A smaller spatula
5. An empty tube (tube sizes are 37 ml and 125 ml. The tubes are available at Select Fine Arts on St Joseph Blvd in Orleans or directly from Kama Pigments in Montreal)
6. A pair of pliers
7. A good blade to clean up

Pull out a good amount of ink from the can onto your glass plate. 

Work the ink with a large spatula to soften it if it is too stiff. 

Loosen the cap to allow the ink to move down the tube more easily.

Turn the tube upside down; take the small spatula and start filling the tube (Fig. 2)

After each fill, tap the tube on the glass plate to help move the ink down the tube.

Continue filling the tube, constantly taping the cap lightly on the glass plate.

Fill the tube until it is about 2/3 full and start checking that you do not overfill (Fig. 3). You need the space towards the end to be able to shut the tube with your pliers.

Slowly start pressing down on the last 1/3 of the tube making sure that the ink doesn’t overflow. 

Take your pliers and squeeze the ends together (Fig. 4)

Fold the ends twice and squeeze tight. 

Take the rubber spatula and clean the inside walls of the can. 

Replace the many covers on the ink in the can.

The contents of the can will fill a large 125 ml tube, with enough left over to fill a 37 ml tube (Fig. 5). 

Identify the colour and clean up! (Fig. 6)