
Product details
- Blick SKU
- 21948-6912
About this product range
Blick Artists' Soft Pastels are available in a variety of rich, vibrant colors and soft hues, ideal for all types of pastel painting and color sketching.
Created by combining the finest pigments with a minimal amount of binder, Artists' Soft Pastels have a velvety texture that offers easy laydown and consistent coverage. They're great for blending, layering and softening edges — all with minimal crumbling. They're also extremely lightfast.
Available by the individual stick, sets of full length sticks, or half stick sets that allow artists access to twice the color and twice the creative possibilities of the full stick sets. Individual sticks measure 2-1/2" L x 1/2" Dia (64 mm x 13 mm). Half sticks measure 1-1/4" L x 1/2" Dia (32 mm x 13 mm).
For professional quality at an affordable price, artists choose Blick Artists' Soft Pastels.
Please refer to the Item Specs tab of this page for lightfast ratings.
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.
Ultramarine Violet
- Pigment code
- PV15
- Type
- inorganic
- Chemical name
- complex silicate of sodium and aluminum with sulfur
- Chemical formula
- H2Na(4-6)Al6Si6O24S2
- Properties
- Ultramarine Violet is a semi-transparent, dull purple to pale violet with low tinting strength. As a pigment, it is weak in most oil applications, but it performs better in water-based mediums, pastels, and chalks. It is generally the bluest of the violet pigments, although there can be significant differences in color across brands. It is not suitable for fresco work and does not mix well with yellows. Ultramarine Violet is a variant of Ultramarine Blue, and their pigment properties are identical.
- Permanence
- Ultramarine Violet has excellent permanence and lightfastness.
- Toxicity
- Ultramarine Violet has no significant hazards.
- History
- Unknown.
- Description
- Mineral Violet, Violet Ultramarine, Ultramarine Red.
Red Iron Oxide
- Pigment code
- PR101
- Type
- earth, synthetic
- Chemical name
- iron oxides (synthetic), iron oxide, silica, alumina, lime, and magnesia or hydrated iron oxide
- Chemical formula
- Fe2O2 or Fe2O3 x H2O
- Properties
- Red iron oxide varies in hue and transparency, depending on hydration and slight impurities. Indian Red is a slightly duller, deep brick hue with a bluish undertone. It is very dense and opaque, with excellent tinting strength and covering power. It is dependable when mixing with all other permanent pigments and yields good flesh tints when mixed with Zinc White. It is the synthetic version of PR102, which is a pigment made from earth reds, or natural red iron oxides, and the names applied to PR101 and PR102 often overlap. The synthetic red iron oxides have mostly replaced natural red iron oxides and are brighter, stronger, finer, and more permanent. Indian Red is the highest grade bluish shade. Light Red, English Red, and Venetian Red are yellowish shades. Mars Violet is a dull and subdued bluish or purplish oxide.
- Permanence
- Red iron oxide is very lightfast with excellent permanence.
- Toxicity
- Red iron oxide has no significant hazards.
- History
- Natural red iron oxide comes from the mineral ore hematite, called bloodstone by the ancient Greeks from the word hema, meaning blood. It is one of the oldest pigments, has been used by every major civilization, and was an important mineral for medieval alchemists. It was not widely used in artists' materials until the 17th century and was not produced in large quantities until the 18th century.
- Description
- Indian Red, Colcothar, English Red, Light Red, Mars Red, Mars Violet, Morelle Salt, Pompeian Red, Indian Red, Red Oxide, Sinopia, Spanish Red, Terra Rosa, Tuscan Red, Venetian Red, Venice Red.
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