Description
Chrysocolla is a natural mineral of great beauty (see photo of a raw piece above), it appears as a swirling mass of turquoise and teal, blues and greens. I don't know of anybody else making oil paint out of this mineral, it is in Wallace Seymour's bespoke range.
Chrysocolla amongst many other elements contains copper which gives the darkened verdigris colour you can see in the swatch. The paint in texture has a grittiness, the pigment particles are visible and you can feel them under a palette knife, the paint is not loose though and stands up well.
The masstone is a very, very slightly dulled turquoise, which brightens as it is spread out and used more thinly. Exhibiting quite a surprising opaqueness, the tints display a slightly blue undertone although it has a relatively weak tinting power. The hue is along the lines of a natural, less powerful, earthy Viridian.
Wall paintings in Siena cathedral from the 13th Century have been found to contain Chrysocolla and ancient Egyptian artefacts so it is pretty lightfast!
A very unusual paint and overall it feels like you are using something pretty special almost like crushed gemstones which is basically what it is. The hand-painted swatch on the tube, is pretty different to the actual colour of the paint.
Technical Overview
Pigment - Chrysocolla Genuine
Opacity - Opaque
Binder - Linseed Oil
Munsell - Hue 10 GY - Value 7 - Chroma 8
