Mount Vision Handmade Pastel - Midnight Blue 540
Soft Pastel
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$4.84
Blick Art Materials · recorded Oct 21, 2026, 8:15 AM UTC
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Product details
- Blick SKU
- 21949-5540
About this product range
The "feel" of a pastel — or how a pastel releases to paper — depends on the individual pigments used and the base they’re mixed with. Karl Kelly, owner of Mount Vision Pastel Company, understands that. By combining his technical expertise and artistic background, Kelly has translated the vivid color and unique density of individual pigments into high-quality, affordable pastels for the artist who sees beyond the expected when it comes to color.
Each hand-rolled stick contains a unique combination of traditional and synthetic pigments, combined to bring out their inherent beauty, enrich their undertones and make each color sing, both individually and together. Combined in varying degrees with marble dust, chalk and clay to assure a consistently smooth and buttery feel, colors lay down with minimal resistance, allowing several layers to accrue without becoming too thick.
Each stick measures 2-1/2" Long x 1/2" Dia. (64 mm × 13 mm).
Pigment information
General reference notes about pigments can describe other media (such as oil). They do not verify this product’s exact formulation or behavior.
Permanent Carmine
- Pigment code
- PR185
- Type
- organic, monoazo
- Chemical formula
- C27H24N6O6S
- Properties
- Permanent Carmine (HF4C) is a non-staining, transparent red pigment that is similar to natural carmine in its hue and other properties.
- Permanence
- Permanent Carmine (HF4C) has excellent lightfastness for a transparent red pigment.
- Toxicity
- Permanent Carmine (HF4C) has no acute toxicity.
- History
- Permanent Carmine (HF4C) has been developed as a replacement for Carmine, a transparent red derived from the cochineal insect. It is one of a large group of azo pigments that were discovered and developed by Hoechst in the 1950s and 1960s. In comparison with natural carmine derived from cochineal, it is far less expensive, and offers superior lightfastness.
Titanium White
- Pigment code
- PW6
- Type
- inorganic
- Chemical name
- titanium dioxide
- Chemical formula
- TiO2
- Properties
- Titanium White is the most brilliant of the white pigments. It is considered an all purpose oil color useful in all techniques and the best all around white. Its masstone is neither warm nor cool, placing it somewhere between Lead White and Zinc White. It is less prone to cracking and yellowing than Lead White, but it still yellows easily. Titanium White dries slowly in oil form, more slowly than Lead White but more quickly than Zinc White. It is opaque in oil and acrylic forms and semi-opaque in watercolor form. This pigment has good chemical stability, and its tinting strength is superior to both Lead White and Zinc White.
- Permanence
- Titanium White has excellent permanence and lightfastness.
- Toxicity
- Titanium dioxide is highly stable and is regarded as non-toxic.
- History
- Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth's crust, however mineral deposits that are economical to mine are less common. Titanium dioxide was first discovered in 1821, although it could not be mass produced until 1919. Widespread use of the pigment began in the 1940s. Since that time, it has become the most commonly used white pigment. The name comes from the Latin word Titan, the name for the elder brother of Kronos and ancestor of the Titans, and from the Greek word tito, meaning day or sun.
Ultramarine [Blue]
- Pigment code
- PB29
- Type
- inorganic
- Chemical name
- complex silicate of sodium and aluminum with sulfur
- Chemical formula
- Na8-10Al6Si6O24S2-4 or Na6-8Al6Si6O24S2-4
- Properties
- Ultramarine is the standard warm blue, a brilliant blue pigment that has the most purple and least green in its undertone. It has a moderate to high tinting strength and a beautiful transparency. Synthetic Ultramarine is not as vivid a blue as natural Ultramarine. Ultramarine dries slowly in oil and tends to produce clean, though granular, washes in watercolor. French Ultramarine mixes well with Alizarin colors in oil and watercolor form to create a range of purples and violets. It can dull when mixed with white in acrylic form, but mixes well with other colors. The shade varies based on manufacturer. Considered a great color for glazes, it is not suitable for frescoing.
- Permanence
- Ultramarine has excellent permanence, although synthetic Ultramarine is not as permanent as natural Ultramarine. It may discolor if exposed to acid because of its sulfuric content.
- Toxicity
- Ultramarine has no significant hazards.
- History
- The name for this pigment comes from the Middle Latin ultra, meaning beyond, and mare, meaning sea, because it was imported from Asia to Europe by sea. It is a prominent component of lapis lazuli and was used on Asian temples starting in the 6th century. It was one of the most expensive pigments in 16th century Europe, worth twice its weight in gold, and so was used sparingly and when commissions were larger. Ultramarine is currently imitated by a process invented in France in 1826 by Jean Baptiste Guimet, making blue affordable to artists and extending the range of colors on their palettes.
- Description
- Artificial Ultramarine, French Blue, French Ultramarine, Gmelin's Blue, Guimet's Blue, Permanent Blue, Royal Blue, Synthetic Ultramarine. New Blue describes particular shades of Ultramarine. Armenian Blue and Lazuline Blue are names for genuine Lapiz Ultramarine. Sky Blue is a pale tone of Ultramarine.
Phthalo Blue
- Pigment code
- PB15:3
- Type
- organic
- Chemical name
- beta copper phthalocyanine
- Chemical formula
- C32H16CuN8
- Properties
- Phthalo Blue PB15:3 is a structural variant of Phthalo Blue PB15 that produces more greenish tones.
- Permanence
- Phthalo Blues are completely lightfast and stable and are permanent for all paint uses. They are currently used in inks, coatings, and many plastics due to their stability and are considered a standard pigment in printing ink and the packaging industry.
- Toxicity
- Phthalo Blues have no significant hazards, although those made before 1982 contained some PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).
- History
- Developed by chemists using the trade name Monastral Blue, the organic blue dyestuff now known as Phthalo Blue was presented as a pigment in November 1935 in London. Its discovery was accidental. The dark color was observed in a kettle where a dye was being made from a British dyestuff plant. The demand for such a pigment came from commercial printers who wanted a cyan to replace Prussian Blue.
- Description
- Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Winsor Blue Green Shade
Ivory Black
- Pigment code
- PBk9
- Type
- charred animal bone
- Chemical name
- carbon + calcium phosphate
- Chemical formula
- C + Ca3(PO4)2 or C x CaPO4
- Properties
- Ivory Black is a cool, semi-transparent blue-black with a slight brownish undertone and average tinting strength. It mixes well with any color, and creates a range of dull greens when mixed with yellow. It has good properties for use in oil, can be slow to dry in oil form, and should never be used in underpainting or frescoing. Ivory Black is denser than Lamp Black.
- Permanence
- Ivory Black is very lightfast and has good permanence, though it is considered the least permanent of the major black pigments.
- Toxicity
- Ivory Black has no significant hazards.
- History
- Ivory Black is a carbon based black first named as Elephantium, and described in the 4th century BCE as produced by heating ivory scraps in clay pots to reduce the ivory or bone to charcoal. The deviation in names is because the more expensive varieties of this pigment were made by burning ivory, and the less expensive ones by burning animal bone. In the 19th century, the name Ivory Black was finally permitted to be applied to Carbon Black pigments made from bone. True Ivory Black is rare in modern times due to the protection of ivory, and the synthetic variety produced today was discovered in 1929. Bone Black is produced as an industrial pigment.
- Description
- Animal Black, Blue Black, Bone Black. Paris Black is an inferior grade of Ivory Black. Incorrectly labeled as Frankfort Black.
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