Naples Yellow

Sandy Barnes · 04-07-2002, 08:58 AM

Karen Wells wrote in a post on Glazing "to paint light into wet glaze use something that aproximates Naples yellow" Not an exact quote, I can't find the original post. My apologies Karin.

The closest I can seem to match is Cad Yellow light and Cad red light with white. Is there a different formula that I have not hit on? Is there a reason not to use Naples yellow directly? Any info is appreciated.

Cynthia Daniel · 04-07-2002, 09:08 AM

Is this the post to which you refer?

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...id=440#post440

If so, I found it by using "search messages" and searching on naples AND yellow and posts by Karin Wells.

Sandy Barnes · 04-08-2002, 07:00 AM

It is. Thanks, Cynthia.

Karin Wells · 04-09-2002, 09:58 AM

I have never found a brand of "Naples Yellow" that is the exact shade I like and is dense enough so that it doesn't paint like pudding.

I mix my own. The formula is Titanium white (or any white you like except pure zinc) + "Winsor Newton Yellow Ochre Pale..." (this brand only and "Yellow Ochre Pale" is NOY the same as "Yellow Ochre"!).

Because I mix my own, I can adjust the amount of yellow I add...i.e., less for the sunlit areas on a white cloth vs. adding more yellow for the sunlit areas on green grass.

I tend to use my homemade "naples yellow" as my UNIVERSAL COLOR OF LIGHT. It's good stuff and deserves this big title

Sandy Barnes · 04-10-2002, 07:05 AM

Thanks Karin. Adding it to my palette....

Steven Sweeney · 04-10-2002, 08:57 AM

Apart from whether you can mix up a "Naples Yellow" hue through admixture of other pigments, you probably should work on doing so, in any event, if you're at all susceptible or sensitive to toxic materials. Only a couple of years ago I bought a tube of Naples Yellow and was told by the art store clerk that I wouldn't be able to get that much longer, as it was being outlawed. Apparently that didn't happen, after all, as it's pretty readily available still. But depending on the manufacturer, Naples Yellow is a metal based (lead, antimony), quite nasty substance, if you happen to be a life form. I admit that I still have it on my palette, simply out of habit, but my life-form status was subject to debate before I started painting. Still, I should probably find a substitute. I don't know what's in Yellow Ochre, but it seems like regular dirt, right? The kind of stuff we used to eat when we were kids? If you're reading this, it must not have been too harmful. If I hear or find out differently, I'll retract and amend. Virgil Elliott would be the definitive source on such matters.

Marta Prime · 04-10-2002, 09:14 PM

I'm starting to use more and more Gamblin Paint. I do follow the non-toxic Gospel as much as possible these days. Here is what they say about their Naples Yellow Hue from their web site.

Naples Yellow Hue: Robert Gamblin has made an exact match of lead antimoniate color because Gamblin Artists do not make colors that contain lead. Known as a ceramic glazing color since the time of the Assyrians, it appears rarely in oil paintings before the 18th century. "Naples Yellow" has come to mean a pale opaque earthy yellow color more than a chemical composition.

Pigment: Zinc oxide, concentrated cadmium sulfide, natural hydrated iron oxide (PW 4, PY 37, PY 43)
Vehicle: Alkali refined linseed oil
Lightfastness I Series 2
OPAQUE
MSDS

I haven't actually tried this one, but I probably will have to check it out.

Steven Sweeney · 04-10-2002, 09:28 PM

I actually started using Gamblin's Flake White Replacement for the same reason. For what it's worth, Gamblin paints are receiving extremely high marks, from highly accomplished professionals, in some other technical painting forums. Their commitment to safe yet effective paints, mediums, and solvents has created a lot of interest and excitement.

Sandy Barnes · 04-15-2002, 07:35 AM

How does one know if he/she is susceptible or sensitive to toxic materials? Is it something revealed in a blood test or are there symptoms?

04-19-2002, 01:21 AM

Gamblin's Naples Yellow Hue is, as far as I am concerned, way off the mark. Not at all like a true Naples Yellow, it's more like Yellow Ochre meets the Mustard Monster.

Yech. I've really tried several times to get excited over Gamblin Products, but when Mr. Gamblin tries something like this, to pawn this grimy yellow color off as true Naples Yellow, and then, to add insult to injury, to tell us what Naples Yellow is (as if we have no color experience or eye), when he says, "... has come to mean a pale opaque earthy yellow color more than a chemical composition. .

It just makes me less than enthused about Gamblin products. Someone should send Mr. Gamblin a tube of Old Holland or Windor & Newton Naples Yellow so that he can see what the color is, and has looked like for hundreds of years.

Best,
Todd