Varieties of dry paint pigments and how to dilute them correctly, tips
When choosing a paint, color is often the deciding factor. But in the proposed palette it is often not possible to find a suitable shade. The problem can be solved with dry paints. These are powdered dyes that are added to water, glue or oil. Dry pigments are produced from natural or artificial raw materials and are used in repairs and artistic creation.
Advantages and disadvantages of dry formulations
Several pigments are mixed to obtain the desired shade. Dry paints are suitable for indoor and outdoor use. The quality of dry pigments depends on the degree of grinding. If, when sifting through a sieve, no large lumps remain, this means that the coloring powder is evenly mixed into the base.
When choosing dry paints, their hiding power is taken into account - the property of covering the surface with an opaque layer, measured in grams per square meter. Dyes with high covering power are consumed economically.
Pigment varieties
The dyes are distinguished by their color, their natural or artificial origin.
white
Are used as dry paint:
- chalk - gray, white, yellowish, chipped into large pieces or powdered. It is more convenient to use fine chalk, since it is enough to pour the substance into the water. Grind large pieces yourself. The aqueous solution is filtered and infused until a precipitate forms. Then the water is drained, the upper layer of chalk is collected, dried and sifted. The finished powder is used for painting;
- lime - white paint is prepared from three parts water and one part lime. The solution is well mixed. The finished paint resembles milk in consistency. For coloring, slaked lime is often used. The white color can be modified by adding chromium oxide, ocher or lime red lead;
- whitewash - a fine powder is obtained by calcining metals: titanium, lead carbonate, lithopone, zinc. Titanium white is used in art paint sets. Also, the dye is included in oil paints and putties for finishing work.
Chalk is most often used in everyday life: to paint fences, borders and tree trunks, to whitewash ceilings and walls. It is not used in the production of paints and varnishes.
YELLOW
In visual arts and finishing works, ocher is popular - a watery iron oxide with a mixture of clay.The dye gives all shades of yellow, including gold. The terracotta color is obtained from burnt and calcined ochre. The permanent pigment does not fade, so exterior walls can be painted with ocher paint.
Rarely, crowns are used in finishing work - zinc and lead pigments. They give bright lemon yellows and oranges, but are toxic and only suitable for outdoor use. Zinc crowns are more resistant to ultraviolet rays, but have a lower covering power than those made of lead.
Blue
Aqueous solutions are colored blue or ultramarine. The substance is obtained chemically. Ultramarine is combined with chalk or lime to produce blue paint and is also used to remove the yellow cast from white paint.
A natural source of blue paint is the mineral lapis lazuli. Natural ultramarine or artistic lapis lazuli is obtained from crushed and refined stone. Pure pigment diluted in oil is applied in transparent layers. Most often it is mixed with water-soluble resins and paints - tempera, watercolors.
red
Three dry pigments are used to paint the walls:
- red leaded iron - gives a brick red color. The orange tint is obtained using the lead variety, but when painting the pieces, it is replaced by burnt ochre;
- mummy - suitable only for interior decoration, under the influence of rain the pigment darkens to a brown color;
- cinnabar - resistant to alkaline and acid solutions, changes color in the sun.
Ocher is also called red pigments. It is a type of red lead made using a different technology: anhydrous iron oxide is mixed with clay.
Mummy dye gets its name from its source - bitumen embalmed Egyptian mummies.It contains fatty kaolinite and a large amount of hematite.
Green
Distinguish between lead greens and chrome greens. Dry pigments are obtained by mixing crown yellow and azure. The more or less blue color of the mixture produces different shades of green. Lead greens are used in the paint and varnish industry for the manufacture of oil paints and enamels. But the drying pigment exfoliates: the crowns settle in the pot and the azure floats, blue and yellow spots appear on the wall. Chromium oxide, or chromium green, does not dissolve in water. The substance is toxic: it causes dermatitis, allergies. He was assigned the third danger class.
brown
For sheer, reddish hues, use a dry shadow stain. The woody shades are obtained using burnt sienna. After staining, the wood looks like oak or ash. Sienna has a low hiding power. The beautiful texture of the wood and the flaws on the walls will also be visible under the paint.
Kolkotar belongs to brown mineral paints. Like red lead and red ochre, it is an anhydrous iron oxide. The substance occurs naturally as red iron ore.
Kolkotar artificial mineral paint, obtained from the processing of ferrous sulfate, is very popular.
Black
Sources of black:
- soot - the dye is obtained by burning natural gas, oil or their mixture, as well as heating the gas in a vacuum, suitable for oil, soap and glue bases;
- charcoal, graphite - water-soluble products of burning wood and fossil coal.
The printing industry uses soot-based black ink. Its particles are toxic and settle in the lungs.Charcoal is safer. It is used as a food coloring.
Graphite is a natural mineral with a layered structure. In addition, the substance is obtained artificially: by heating coke, cooling cast iron and decomposing carbides at high temperatures. The pencils are made from a mixture of graphite and kaolin.
Metallic
Metallic dyes include:
- aluminum powder;
- zinc dust;
- stainless powders based on chromium, nickel, iron.
Properties of some metallic pigments:
- gold - resistant to acids and heat;
- silver - darkens in air, but does not change under varnish;
- stannous - reacts with inorganic acids;
- zinc - dissolves in hydrochloric acid.
Aluminum dyes are also sensitive to acids and alkalis. Another source of metallic pigments is mother-of-pearl from shells. Metallic pigments form a reflective coating that resists heat and water and prevents corrosion. They are used for painting gas tanks, refrigerators.
How to properly dilute dry dyes
Before being added to the oil base, the pigments are only sifted. To color white aqueous compounds, a solution is prepared: the powders are poured into water, stirred and filtered.
To get a new shade, add two or three pigments to a container.
The diluted dye is poured into the paint or enamel in a thin stream, then the composition is thoroughly mixed. To make the mixture homogeneous, pour into an aqueous solution and mix at the same time. Pre-screening and dissolving the pigment helps prevent clumping and uneven color distribution. The following dyes dissolve in water and oil:
- soot;
- blue;
- cinnabar;
- Mummy;
- shadow;
- ocher;
- Sienna.
Red lead and chromic oxide are also universal pigments. Chalk and lime only dissolve in water.
Additional tips and tricks
The number of dyes is chosen taking into account the covering power:
| Dye | Application rate in grams per square meter |
| white titanium | 50-75 |
| Yellow ochre | 65-90 |
| crowns | 110-190 |
| Artificial ultramarine (blue) | 50 |
| Azure blue | 10-60 |
| iron red lead | 20 |
| Mummy | 30-60 |
| Cinnabar | 80-120 |
| chromium oxide | 40 |
| lead greens | 70 |
| Shadow | 40 |
| Soot | 15 |
| coal | 30 |
| Graphite | 30 |
| Metallics | 3-4 |
Features of working with dry paints:
- favorable temperature for mixing and coloring + 5 ... + 35 degrees;
- before painting, mix a small amount of pigment and base to check the intensity and shade of the color;
- the paint is applied in a maximum of three layers;
- the oil or glue base is stirred with a drill, since during manual stirring the pigment is not evenly distributed;
- water with dye is infused for 15 minutes;
- the painted surface dries completely in 24 hours.
Before painting, the walls are cleaned of traces of old paint, dirt, dust. A primer will make application easier and extend the life of the new coating.
Dry watercolors for painting are sold in separate cubes. They are used as usual in a bowl - soften with water, pick up with a brush and adjust the intensity on the palette by adding pigment or water.