Description

The cultivation of the plant known as woad has a very long history throughout many parts of the world. Why? Because when processed it produces a blue colour and natural blue pigments/dyes are very hard to find hence the use of rare minerals like Lapis Lazuli.

It became so popular and valuable in the 1500's that the government had to restrict its cultivation as too many people were planting it instead of grain.

You can see a picture of the plant flowering above, woad was also apparently used by the warrior queen Boudicca as war paint, I guess nowadays the demand for war paint has lessened somewhat.

Fortunes were made from this plant, many significant works of art contain woad and until the chemical revolution of the late 1800's it was universally in high demand. It was still grown commercially in England until the early 1930's.

I can't find anyone else who is still making this into oil paint, so for that reason alone it is pretty special. Certainly of interest to restorers and artists engaged with historical pigments, or indeed painters who want to use non-toxic natural materials, between woad, weld and madder you can have the primaries - all plant based.

The hue in masstone is a dark, inky blue with a very slight green undertone. With white added, the tints produce beautiful cool purplish blues, really delightful, almost sky blues. It has reasonably strong tinting power.

Pip Seymour - "Woad from Marche, Italy. Once a year our colleague in Italy makes vats of Woad from his own crop - it’s more gentle and subtle than indigo - slightly blue-grey in tone. Colours from nature."

Technical Overview

Pigment - PB1, Woad

Opacity - Semi-Opaque

Binder - Linseed Oil

Munsell - Hue 5 PB - Value 3 - Chroma 4