Rublev Colours Dry Pigments

Rublev Colours dry powder pigments are made directly from mineral and organic sources. For Rublev Colours mineral pigments our geologist, who has many years experience selecting mineral pigments for painters in Russia, travels to distant locations, and hand selects mineral ores for use in our pigments. We process the minerals by washing, grinding and levigating for use as fine artists' pigments, and prepare them for shipment.

We travel worldwide to observe firsthand the growing and processing conditions of natural materials used in our organic pigments. We inspect the cochineal picking at cactus plantations in Chile, madder root harvest and indigo vats in India, and campechianum trees growing in Honduras.

From Antiquity to the Renaissance, artists knew their pigments intimately. They bought pigments from sources they found to be reliable. They washed and ground their pigments. They prepared them with their favorite medium. It was tedious work to make paint, but what they gained from their efforts was an intense understanding of colors not possible any other way. For several centuries now, artists have bought pigments without knowing their origin. To obscure the origin of their pigments paint makers sold their colors under confusing and sometimes misleading proprietary names.

Today, this situation has not changed much. At Natural Pigments we want to remove the mystery of pigment sources and disclose both their origin and known composition. We want you to gain the same kind of intimate knowledge artists had when they bought and made their own paint.

Satisfaction Always Guaranteed

Natural Pigments guarantees your satisfaction with every purchase, so if you are not completely satisfied with the color of your pigment, or for any other reason, you may return the unopened package for a full refund.

Read more about our Returns Policy

Notes about Rublev Colours

Availability of Pigments

Pigments shown in each category of the table above are stocked by Natural Pigments. There may be several different hues and grades available for each mineral. To learn more about each mineral, click on the image of the pigment. The photos above do not necessarily represent the entire range of hues available from Natural Pigments. Because of the seasonal purchases we make of minerals, some pigments may be out of stock at the time you place your order. The online store will indicate whether an item is out of stock. You can still add it to your shopping cart and we will let you know when it will become available. If you pay for your order with a credit card, we will only charge your account for the pigments we actually ship.

Note About Pigment Photos

All pictures of pigments in this web site are only approximations of the actual color of the pigment. We taken every care to match the color in these pictures on calibrated color monitors to the actual pigment. However, because of the wide variance in color monitors the results you get may vary.

Descriptions of Pigments

To help you select pigments from our store we have organized our natural mineral pigments according their basic color and by the mineral species of origin.

Each pigment in our store is listed by the name of the natural mineral pigment, and if there exists a synthetic substitute, the common name of the artificial pigment. Common names in other languages and alternative and obsolete color names are also provided because many inquiries begin with obscure and little-used color names.

The general arrangement of the information for each pigment in the store is as follows: name of the pigment, description of its color, ASTM lightfastness rating, if available, chemical identification and properties, known use in history, estimate of its value in permanent painting, its absorption rate in oil and grinding characteristics, and evaluation of its toxicity.

History of Use

The dates attributed to the historical use of colors in the store have been arrived at by a study and comparison of literature on the subject. Some references are mentioned where the dates are obscure.

Lightfastness

Information on each pigment includes an ASTM lightfastness category in oil, acrylic and watercolor media where test data is available:

Pigments falling in the lightfastness III category may be sufficiently lightfast only if they are used full strength (not tinted with white) and are provided with extra protection from ultraviolet light. Artists should test these colorants to be sure they are satisfactory for their purposes.

Care in Handling Pigments

We advise the utmost care and precaution while handling pigments. These pigments are not intended for use by children and caution should be exercised to not allow children and pets access to them.

Read more about handling pigments