Pigments: the Cool Colors

A List and Brief Description of the Violets, Blues and Greens

Jun 26, 2008

Artists' pigments such as the phthalocyanines, cobalts and ultramarines that produce cool hues (colors) are listed below and their nature and use is briefly examined.

The cool colored pigments start with the blue violets and go through the medium (warm blues), the greenish blues, the cooler, bluer greens, ending with the cool yellow greens which, as odd as it may seem, included the lemon yellows. The list below shows the relative color position of each pigment and also, in most cases, gives the pigment's Color Index Name and briefly describes the pigment.

A Note on the Phthalo Blues

Except for Phthalo Turquoise (PB16), the Phthalo Blues have the basic Color Index Name of PB15. However, there are several very different hues of blue that this list indicates by using the full Color Index Name consisting of the "PB15" followed by a colon and another number. Unfortunately, many manufacturers use only PB15 for all the different phthalo hues.

A List of Cool Pigments:

(In the list below, pigments are listed within each hue group in the order they go around the color wheel. For instance, within the "Greenish Blues" section of the list, the moderately greenish Cerulean Blue is listed closer to the warmer "Medium Blues," while the very greenish turquoise blues are closer to the "Bluish Greens.")

Blue Violets:

Dioxazine Violet (PB23) - sometimes listed as warm, sometimes as cool.
Cobalt Violet Deep (PV14) - the darker, bluer version of Cobalt Phosphate, very permanent but probably toxic.
Ultramarine Violet (PV15) - definitely a blue violet, slightly more violet than French Ultramarine.
French Ultramarine (PB29) (Ultramarine Red Shade) -- duller and more violet than Ultramarine Green Shade.

Medium Blues:

Ultramarine Green Shade (also Ultramarine Light or Permanent Blue in some brands) -- close to cobalt blue hue and often sold by itself or with added white and phthalo blue as Cobalt Blue Hue or Cobalt Ultramarine.
Cobalt Blue -- somewhat dull, slightly whitish, very permanent middle blue -- close to the true blue of the light spectrum.

Greenish Blues:

Phthalo Blue Red Shade (PB15:6) - close to Cobalt Blue but much darker and somewhat greener.
Phthalo Blue Green Shade (PB15:1) - very dark, intense blue, making very intense green mixtures and manically brilliant sky blues.
Prussian Blue (PB25) - extremely dark, older, but quite permanent metallic blue.
Indanthrone Blue (also Indanthrene or Anthraquinone) (PB60) - similar to Prussian Blue but a muted, very permanent modern, organic, "blue jeans" blue - makes excellent natural green mixtures with yellows.
Cerulean Blue (PB36) - very permanent cobalt "sky blue" - Cerulean Blue Hue is usually a mixture of a phthalo blue and a white pigment although at least one brand's mixture contains a cobalt pigment.
Phthalo Manganese Blue (PB15:4) - a relatively new, fairly light blue and very close to genuine Manganese Blue - the only opaque phthalo blue.
Manganese Blue (PB33) - the greenest of all the blues, a weak tinting color and toxic.
Turquoise blues - often considered blue greens, there are various varieties: Phthalo Turquoise (PB16), a moderately permanent pigment, and two very permanent cobalt pigments, Cobalt Turquoise Deep (PB36), a somewhat dull, greener color related to Cerulean Blue and Cobalt Turquoise (Teal Blue) (PG50), a brilliant, opaque color.

Blueish Greens:

Phthalo Green Blue Shade (PG7) - the older, "standard" phthalo green - very intense "acid green."
Viridian Green (PG18) - hydrous chromium oxide, similar hue to Phthalo Green Blue Shade but far more permanent although lighter and weaker - rarely used in acrylics.

Cool yellow-greens:

Hooker's Green - genuine Hooker's Green was replaced with the low permanency Naphthol Green (PG8), which itself has been generally replaced by mixtures using Phthalo Green Blue Shade and various muted yellowish pigments.
Phthalo Green Yellow Shade (PG36) - much closer to natural foliage colors than Phthalo Green Blue Shade.
Cobalt Green Deep (PG26) - very permanent, dull shade, recommended for painting the greens of the American Southwest.
Cobalt Green Light (PG19) - very permanent, somewhat dull but pleasant green.
Chromium Oxide Green (PG17) -- the most permanent green, really a slightly cool, dull olive green hue - very opaque.
Green earth - various natural earth colors - dull, weak tinting colors, often made more intense with small addition of phthalos or other greens.
Sap Green Mixtures (their hue varies widely) - usually a dark mixture of Phthalo Green Blue Shade and a warm yellow or yellow orange - they are designed to match typical cooler foliage green hues.
Cooler olive green mixtures - very much like sap greens but with more yellow added and sometimes using the yellow shade of phthalo green - typical midsummer greens.
Lemon Yellows: Cadmium, Bismuth and Azo (Arylides or Monoazos (PY3) including brand name Hansa Yellow Light, Benzimadazolones (PY175) and Bismuth lemon (PY184) - very light, usually opaque to semi-opaque - technically, these are classified as the warmest of the "greens" even though we perceive them as the cool hue of yellow.

Sources:

Schmincke Horadam Watercolor Brochure
The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, by Ralph Mayer, Viking Press, 1982.
The Materials & Techniques of Painting, by Kurt Wehlte, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982.
List of Colors Used in Talens Products, online resource (no URL currently available).
Dick Blick art supplies website: click on the magnifying glass next to most of the individual colors of professional artists' paints for detailed pigment information.

The copyright of the article Pigments: the Cool Colors in Painting/Drawing is owned by George Stephen Murray. Permission to republish Pigments: the Cool Colors in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.