Rublev Colours Pigment Antica Green Earth - 100 g

The mineral component of this pigment is glauconite, a greenish mineral composed of hydrated iron-potassium silicate, containing small amounts of aluminum, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and numerous trace elements. Independent analytical testing has also identified copper phthalocyanine green as a minor colorant in this product, mixed with yellow ochre — the combination that accounts for the more olive, grayish-warm tone of this pigment compared to our Verona Green Earth.

Green earth pigments were often used by medieval artists for flesh undertones. This green underpainting neutralized the effect of the pinks and reds of the flesh colors. On the color wheel, the hue of green earth is the approximate complement to the pink used by medieval painters.

Complementary colors neutralize each other, and this neutralization was important for medieval painters because of the materials they worked with. Paint pink and red flesh tones directly onto white gesso would achieve a “sunburn” effect in the figures’ flesh. To neutralize pink, painters painted a layer of green earth under the pink. The light would pierce the pink layer, then the green, and reach the white. White reflects all wavelengths of light, so the light is reflected back through the paint. Each color paint absorbed some colors, or wavelengths, of the light. Thus, as the light passed back through the paint to the viewer, the flesh tones appeared neutral.

Painters using this product for verdaccio underpainting should be aware that the PG7 content produces higher colour strength than pure mineral glauconite. The characteristic low tinting strength of genuine mineral green earth — which is the operative property for verdaccio — is a property of the mineral, not of phthalocyanine. For historically accurate verdaccio behaviour, Tavush Green Earthis the confirmed genuine mineral alternative.

WARNING: Exercise care when using dry pigments. Do not eat, drink or smoke. Avoid breathing dust. Use a NIOSH-certified dust respirator. Wash hands immediately after use. If the creation of dust is likely, wear protective clothing.