Mars Red Light Oil Paint

Mars Red Light is an intense russet (brownish red with yellow undertones) oil color. Mars colors are permanent pigments with good tinting strength and are good driers for oil paints. Originally a brand name in the late 18th century, Mars colors is now the common name for synthetic iron oxide pigments. Their chemical and physical properties are similar to those of natural iron oxides. Mars colors are permanent pigments with good tinting strength and are good driers for oil paints.

Mars Red Light is a high-tinting iron oxide pigment with the brightest yellow undertones we could find in a synthetic iron oxide. We grind it in pale refined linseed oil. The very fine particle size of the pigment gives this paint a thick, buttery consistency that pulls long with the brush stroke.

Please read the article “Mars Is Closer Than We Think” for more information on Mars colors.

Composition and Permanence

For a detailed explanation of the terms in the table above, please visit the Composition and Permanence page.

Notes

Some separation of pigment and oil may occur in Rublev Colours Artist Oils, and it is a natural process when no wax or stabilizers are added to the paint to prevent it.

All color swatches on this website are approximations of the actual color of the oil paint. We have taken every care to match the color in these pictures on calibrated color monitors to the actual color. However, because of the wide variance in color monitors, your results may vary.

Color Swatch Note: The color swatch was created with a thick application of color (left side) and a tint (right side) made with equal parts of color and titanium white, applied to acrylic-primed cotton canvas.

Drawdown Note: The image of the “drawdown” contains a pre-mixed paint film of 6 mil (0.006 inch) thickness applied to a standard test card for the purposes of examining color consistency, opacity, and other qualities. The drawdowns show the color at full strength (mass tone) on the left and mixed with titanium white at a 1:2 ratio on the right. The bottom area of the drawdowns is scraped to show undertones.