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Blockx Soft Pastel - Indanthrene Blue 522

Soft Pastel

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$6.16

Blick Art Materials · recorded Oct 22, 2026, 12:41 AM UTC

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Product details
Blick SKU
21918-5522
About this product range

Blockx Soft Pastels are handmade in Belgium using pure pigments in the same tradition started by company founder and chemist Jacques Blockx in 1844. Four subsequent generations of Blockx family members have combined traditional methods with modern chemistry to create artist's colors that are pure, permanent, lightfast, and stable.

Colors are named in such a way as to make it easy for artists to choose the exact shades they need. For example, Apple Green's five shades are: Apple Green 641, Apple Green 642, Apple Green 643, Apple Green 644, and Apple Green 645.

If the color name ends in:

  • 1 — the pure color is upgraded with black
  • 2 — this is the pure color
  • 3 — the pure color is tinted with white
  • 4 — the pure color is tinted with more white
  • 5 — the pure color is tinted with much more white

These watersoluble pastels are soft and velvety in texture, possess a superb tinting strength, and will draw on any surface, although they're best-suited for pastel paper.

Individually wrapped pastel sticks are 2-1/2" L x 1/2" Dia (65 mm x 12 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.

Indanthrene Blue

Pigment code
PB60
Type
organic, vat dyes
Chemical name
complex, insoluble anthraquinone
Chemical formula
C28H14N2O4
Properties
Indanthrene Blue is a clear, clean, deep blue organic pigment. It has moderate to high tinting strength and is not as overpowering as Phthalo Blue. Hansa Yellow Deep, Benzimidazolone Orange, and Raw Umber are its best mixing complements.
Permanence
Indanthrene Blue is permanent with excellent lightfastness in both masstone and tints.
Toxicity
Indanthrene Blue varies in its acute toxicity, though toxicity is generally slight.
History
Indanthrene Blue is the oldest vat dye, discovered and patented in 1901 by Rene Bohn. It is considered the first anthraquinone vat dye, a group of dyes characterized by excellent lightfastness. The pigment originates from this dye.
Description
Indanthrone.

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