Description
Writing about and using Wallace Seymour paints has been a real eye opener, there really is no one else making such rare and interesting paints and being made by practicing painters truly shows in the pigment choices and feel of the paint.
Genuine smalt made from blue glass or 'Cobalt glass' has been used as a pigment for a very long time. In fact it was found in works from ancient Egypt from 2700 BC, and is now very hard to find (the raw pigment is pictured above). It was used extensively by Rembrandt and is present on 'The Night Watch' amongst many other great works.
The blue comes from the cobalt element and helps speed drying, this version is sourced from Stoke-on-Trent in England.
In masstone hue it is similar to a mid-ultramarine blue, which stands up well to white and produces almost sky blue tints.
It has a granular feel due to the glass particles, if they are ground too finely they lose their colour.
It also has a depth not present in other blues I suspect provided by the irregular refraction of light from and through the glass.
This is a special and different paint.
Technical Overview
Pigment - Smalt/Cobalt Glass
Opacity - Semi-Transparent
Binder - Linseed Oil
