Upon doing a Google search, I was surprised to find that Van Dyck Brown refers to a photographic process. I always assumed that it was a marketing thing from an old time paint/pigment manufacturer…not sure WHY I thought that.
(Insert Van Dyck Parks pun here…)
Just got some Van Dyck Crystals from Garrett Wade…and I’m confused. The pre-printed manufacturer’s label says 250g. One Garrett Wade label says 250ml (yes…ml), and another (the barcode label) says 500g. I’m willing to trust the manufacturer’s label…but I’m hoping someone can confirm the actual quantity for me.
…and I’ll blow-in a call to Garrett-Wade just for good measure…no pun intended.
It recommends dissolving 100g in 1L hot water. I was never good at dimensional analysis. Consequently, thanks to chemistry class, freshman year were the three best years of my life in college. Is this about a half a bag in one quart of water?
I need a nearly pure brown arts & crafts color without the red or green or yellow/gold that’s typically found in many arts and crafts pieces, and I’m hoping this achieves that effect. I’m also anxious to see how it looks with a wash of Watco Dark Walnut.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide on the concentration!
tony b.
Replies
Is this about a half a bag in one quart of water?
That is probably close enough. You could put in in a measuring cup to get the "half" pretty close.
A nickle (5 cents) weighs 5 grams. Make a ballance beam (strip of wood on a knife edge) and measure your materials. Unless you do this every day, then get a mailing scale.
Gretchen...a half bag mixed in water in a 32 oz. Mason jar gave me a pleasing color that I could use as a benchmark. I'm happy with the color and the variations in the color that I was able to produce.
Booch...great tip! Thanks!
tony b.
I'm not sure what brought you around to the photgraphic reference, but Van Dyke brown is a transparant, organic pigmented paint going back to the 16th or 17th century. There should be plenty on this doing a google search but I would guess the color name comes from one of the Dutch masters.
Don
Hi Don!
I found the references to the pigments in my search but found no explanation for the "Van Dyke" name. Your explanation is plausible.
The photographic process was cited on a couple of web pages. The end result of this photographic process is a print with a brown tint. The process and the prints are referred to as Van Dyke browns. Here's one of the web pages...
http://cator.hsc.edu/~mollusk/ChemArt/photo/brown.html
As I said in my original post, before I had done the search I thought the name was a trade name from a paint manufacturer. Then I was convinced that Van Dyke was connected to the photographic process, hence the name "Van Dyke Brown" as it relates to the color of the photograph. And it's not unreasonable to believe this all descended from the guy who first reproduced this color by mashing organic matter with mortar and pestal hundreds of years ago and its true history has long since been forgotten!
Its not crucial. But a devotion to historical accuracy isn't all bad.
tony b.
My primary occupation is decorative plastering and plaster restorations. Van Dyke brown is a very common color that is spec'd for fresco restorations and clad painting. I agree historical accuracy is not the worst thing to strive for, but here I was more surprised by the color itself predating photography by more then a few years. In it's day, the color's transparancy was the colors "hoot." In todays world of acrylics, it's a characteristic that is strived for to be avoided by the manufacturers(the transparancy that is). Like water colors, its hard to avoid. You know, if you study this, it's amazing what colors can be had from your own yard and it's what was done years ago. There's a guy in New Mexico, web site is: The Magic Brush, or something like that who puts a lot of time and effort into this. Just FYI stuff.
Don
Edited 9/25/2002 10:06:32 AM ET by Don C.
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