My Current Project: Testing LightfastnessI've been chipping away at lightfastness testing my paints.
What is lightfastness?
Basically, it means how well a pigment can resist change in the light. So a paint with excellent lightfastness is very stubborn, and a paint with poor lightfastness fades or turns into a different color. Opera Pink, Genuine Alizarin, and Rose Madder are some well known non-lightfast colors.
There are many different ways to test your paints for how lightfast they are at home. I'm just painting swatches, cutting them in half, and then hanging one half in a window and the other I'm hiding in my swatch book. By the end of the summer the ones in the window will have gotten a big hit of sunlight, and some of them will have faded, while others have persevered.
My process looks like this:
Each color gets it's own well-labeled container, or scrap of paper. Really, if paint
And now for the fun part! Being delighted and dismayed by my results!
What am you looking at here?
Brand - I stuck in some initials to indicate brand. DS is Daniel Smith, MB is Maimeri Blu and so on.
The name of the color - this is the name the paint manufacturer gave to their paint. Names are not regulated, and if they want to name their paint something like "Emotional Platypus" they can, and to be perfectly honest, I hope they do.
The pigment name - These are regulated, and are usually displayed in fine print somewhere on the tube or pan. They are the color family and number. For example, PV19 is Pigment Violet #19. All paints made with PV19 will have similar working properties, but they will not be identical.
A little sun - The section of the card with the little sun drawn on it is the section that was taped to the window. The other half of the swatch were stuck in a photo album, stored in a dark corner under my desk.
As you can see I am having problems with my scanner.
I hope this will still provide useful information, despite the scans of the cards being of dubious character.
Daniel Smith Limited Edition Anthraquinoid Scarlet PR168
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed from window on January 25, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Pink PV42
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed from window on January 25, 2014
Results: color barely shifted towards violet
My results may match the information given by the manufacturer (not enough information given).
Daniel Smith Genuine Burnt Bronzite
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: no change
My results do not seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Pyrrol Red PR254
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Rowney Georgian Cadmium Red Hue
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: no change
No pigment numbers or lightfastness ratings provided on tubes.
Rowney Georgian Vermilion Hue
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: unacceptable amount of fading and browning
No pigment numbers or lightfastness ratings provided on tubes.
MaimeriBlu Primary Magenta PV19
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Rose PV19
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: Hue has slightly shifted towards a darker red
My results do not seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Coral PR209
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: Hue has slightly shifted towards red
My results do not seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Akashiya Watercolor Brushpen - Red
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: Unacceptable lightening and shifting of color
No pigment numbers or lightfastness ratings provided on brushpen.
Disclaimer: Links are for Amazon, and in theory I might get a few cents if you purchase through the link. It's not meant to be an annoyance, more of a 'Why not have more money for paint?' I am not receiving any compensation from any of these companies for using or reviewing the paints.
I hope these results are of interest to you, and I hope to be able to get better images soon.
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed from window on January 25, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Pink PV42
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed from window on January 25, 2014
Results: color barely shifted towards violet
My results may match the information given by the manufacturer (not enough information given).
Daniel Smith Genuine Burnt Bronzite
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: no change
My results do not seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Pyrrol Red PR254
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Rowney Georgian Cadmium Red Hue
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: no change
No pigment numbers or lightfastness ratings provided on tubes.
Rowney Georgian Vermilion Hue
Taped to window on May 12, 2013
Removed from window February 1, 2014
Results: unacceptable amount of fading and browning
No pigment numbers or lightfastness ratings provided on tubes.
MaimeriBlu Primary Magenta PV19
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: no change
My results seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Rose PV19
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: Hue has slightly shifted towards a darker red
My results do not seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Daniel Smith Quinacridone Coral PR209
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: Hue has slightly shifted towards red
My results do not seem to match the information given by the manufacturer.
Akashiya Watercolor Brushpen - Red
Taped to window on May 5, 2013
Removed on January 25, 2014
Results: Unacceptable lightening and shifting of color
No pigment numbers or lightfastness ratings provided on brushpen.
Disclaimer: Links are for Amazon, and in theory I might get a few cents if you purchase through the link. It's not meant to be an annoyance, more of a 'Why not have more money for paint?' I am not receiving any compensation from any of these companies for using or reviewing the paints.
I hope these results are of interest to you, and I hope to be able to get better images soon.
