Van Dyck Brown: Its Historical past and Function in Color Mixing

Van Dyck Brown, also called Cassel Earth, is a deep, clear brown pigment that was first used within the sixteenth century. This text explores the historical past of the pigment, why it got here to be related to the artist Anthony van Dyck, and the way it may be utilized in color mixing with each conventional and fashionable artificial pigments.

Roberson Van Dyck Brown Dry Pigment – obtainable in 130g pot

Van Dyck Brown: Its Historical past and Function in Color Mixing

What’s Van Dyck Brown?

Van Dyck Brown has traditionally been often called Cassel Earth. Most earth-derived pigments, like Umbers and Ochres, are inorganic (composed of naturally occuring metal-oxide compounds), however Cassel Earth is uncommon as a result of it’s made up of each natural and inorganic supplies. It principally incorporates decomposed natural vegetable matter within the type of lignite or peat, accompanied by a small quantity of inorganic manganese-oxide.

Real Van Dyck Brown oil paint (handmade) composed of Cassel Earth

The pigment’s composition is restricted to an space close to Kassel, Germany, though websites close to Cologne have been one other historic supply of the pigment (sometimes called Cologne Earth). Cassel Earth is a clear, extraordinarily darkish brown that has been used as a pigment since no less than the sixteenth century, and it was within the palettes of artists reminiscent of Rembrandt, Rubens and, most famously, Van Dyck.

Queen Henrietta Maria, 1636
Anthony van Dyck
Oil on canvas, 105.7 × 84.5 cm | 41.6 x 33.25 in
Metropolitan Museum of Artwork

Born in 1599, Anthony van Dyck (additionally anglicised as Vandyke) was a Flemish painter greatest recognized for his portraits of European royalty and aristocracy. Trying on the pigment evaluation of his work, plainly he used Cassel Earth most frequently in mixtures with Carbon Black, Lead White, and different earth pigments in shadows and in underpainting layers. Rembrandt additionally used the pigment in an analogous means. Van Dyck additionally used clear glazes of pure Cassel Earth to create wealthy, advanced shadows, and combined it with yellow pigments for darkish foliage.

Virgin and Youngster with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1630
Anthony van Dyck
Oil on canvas, 109.2 x 90.8 cm | 43 x 35.7 in
Metropolitan Museum of Artwork

Anthony van Dyck would by no means have used his identify in affiliation with Cassel Earth pigment. The time period ‘Van Dyck Brown’ was first recorded within the 1830s, nearly 200 years after his dying, and Winsor & Newton had been utilizing the identify of their color charts earlier than the flip of the twentieth century. The affiliation is undoubtedly due partly to Van Dyck’s use of wealthy, advanced browns within the backgrounds of his portraits (see the portrait of Henrietta Maria above). One other rationalization of the color identify is Van Dyck’s huge cultural legacy, particularly in Britain. His relaxed, elegant fashion of portraiture was an enormous affect on 18th and Nineteenth-century British painters, and sitters would even put on so-called ‘Van Dyck attire’. The identify Van Dyck held important cultural weight, so it’s unsurprising that paint makers selected to connect it to a color they had been advertising and marketing.

Van Dyck Brown At this time

The real Van Dyck Brown pigment made with Cassel Earth dries extraordinarily slowly in oil binders, and it was typically combined with Ochre and Umber pigments to hurry the drying and stop the paint movie from wrinkling. The pigment additionally has poor permanence and lightfastness; it’s delicate to each acidic and alkaline binders and might fade to gray when uncovered to gentle. At this time, there are few ranges that also provide real Van Dyck Brown (categorised within the pigment index as NBr8).

A. Gallo Real Van Dyck Brown watercolour (NBr8) – obtainable in half pans

Due to its permanence points, the overwhelming majority of Van Dyck Brown paints at the moment are made with different pigments, normally a mix of black and brown earths which might be both synthetic or natural in origin. Listed here are some examples of contemporary Van Dyck Brown paints and the pigments they comprise. Observe how the spelling of Van Dyck varies between ranges!

Michael Harding Vandyke Brown Oil Paint
Pigment: PBr8

PBr8 is manganic hydroxide, a compound that happens naturally in earths within the type of the mineral manganite however is normally made synthetically. It has glorious lightfastness and is a quick drier.

M. Graham Van Dyke Brown Artist Oil
Pigments: PBr7, PBk9

A combination of calcined (burnt) pure brown earth and Ivory Black. Utilizing the calcined (burnt) model of the earth pigment offers the shade a heat, crimson undertone.

M. Graham Artists’ Oil Paint Van Dyke Brown (Cassell Earth) – obtainable in 37 ml tube

Jackson’s Van Dyck Brown Hue Artist Acrylic
Pigments: PBk11, PR101

This contemporary model of Van Dyck Brown is made utilizing crimson and black artificial iron oxide pigments. The crimson iron oxide provides a heat dimension.

Trying on the above comparability, it’s attention-grabbing that the real Van Dyck Brown is cooler and extra gray than the fashionable alternate options.

Color Mixing with Van Dyck Brown

As a place to begin for exploring color mixing with Van Dyck Brown, I used pigment evaluation of Anthony van Dyck’s work. The evaluation was carried out by the Nationwide Gallery, London, throughout a number of Van Dyck work of their assortment, so it offers a superb overview of the artist’s method and use of Cassel Earth. I used these examples to assemble color mixtures utilizing a contemporary model of the color.

Evaluation exhibits that he used glazes of real Van Dyck Brown (Cassel Earth) with Crimson and Yellow Ochre for the golden shadows between folds of material. In numerous proportions, the glazes can vary from a wealthy, red-brown to earthy golden greens. These mixtures would work fantastically in a portrait palette.

Van Dyck regularly combined Van Dyck Brown with Lead White as an underpainting color (the fast-drying nature of Lead White lessens real Van Dyck Brown’s poor drying properties). He additionally used this combination in folds of white material. At this time, Lead White has been largely changed by fashionable white pigments, so Titanium White has been used within the following mixtures.

One other mixture utilized by Van Dyck was Cassel Earth with Vermilion and White. He used this for heat shadows and in flesh tones. The outcomes are earthy, with muted shades of terracotta pinks. Right here I used real Vermilion, a mercury-sulphide pigment which is not broadly used, however Cadmium Crimson Mild could be a superb substitute.

In foliage, Van Dyck combined Cassel Earth with Yellow Lake and Carbon Black for darkish greens. Seventeenth-century Yellow Lake pigments had very poor lightfastness, so I’ve used a contemporary clear yellow made with pigment PY74. These mixtures may present some inspiration for panorama painters on the lookout for natural-looking greens.

The mix of Van Dyck Brown and Yellow Lake made me need to strive it with different yellow pigments. Black and yellow is an exquisite mixture for making enigmatic greens which might be fully totally different from these made with blue and yellow, and Van Dyck Brown’s darkness signifies that it will probably stand in for black in these mixtures.

The entire mixtures above are paying homage to Seventeenth-century portray – muted reds, golden browns, and earthy greens – however how does Van Dyck Brown mix with extra fashionable pigments?

Van Dyck Brown instantly brings down the chroma and deepens the worth of even essentially the most vibrant and high-tinting pigments. With Cerulean and Ultramarine Blue, it makes some deep and shadowy navy blues, earlier than turning into a near-black. The mixtures with Quinacridone Magenta are notably attention-grabbing, the place it produces some purple maroons. With Clear Oxide Crimson it doesn’t make a lot distinction to the hue (it’s already a red-brown), however it successfully and seamlessly deepens its worth. Equally, with Azo Orange it makes some darkish terracottas.

Whereas the historic Cassel Earth pigment was fraught with permanence points, the legacy of Van Dyck Brown continues with the various everlasting fashionable recreations obtainable right this moment. It’s able to producing darkish shades that seem black, however it has a fancy, heat high quality that gives a sure vivacity. In mixtures, it darkens and desaturates with out making the color boring, making it an excellent different to pure black pigments.