English Red

12,00

English red. Pigment number PR102, single pigment half-pan watercolor. Fits in all palettes designed for half-pans.

English red is a natural clay earth pigment which is a mixture of ferric oxide, clay and sand.

 

In stock

Description

English red. Pigment number PR102, single pigment half-pan watercolor. Fits in all palettes designed for half-pans.

English red is a natural clay earth pigment which is a mixture of ferric oxide, clay and sand.

The first recorded use of English red as a color name in English was in the 1700s (exact year uncertain). In the Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot in 1765, alternate names for Indian red included “what one also calls, however improperly, English Red.” Indian red is a pigment, a variety of ocher, which gets its color from ferric oxide, produced in India.

The name English Red comes from English uniforms. During the English Civil War, you hear of specific regiments being called the “Bluecoats” or “Whitecoats” or whatever, because all the soldiers of that regiment were given the same color of uniform by their commander. In 1645 Parliament decided that the only way to beat King Charles was to thoroughly reorganize their armed forces on a national basis, with proper training and equipment and a professional command structure. This force was the New Model Army, and it went on to win the Civil War.

Part of the reforms that created the New Model Army was to give all the soldiers the same uniform, rather than every regiment being different. These uniforms were supplied and paid for by Parliament, acquired from several different private contractors. As always, the government bought from the lowest bidder – and it so happened that a dye called ‘Venetian red’ was the cheapest on the market in those days. So the army of Parliament was dressed in red coats because that was the lowest-cost option. After the Civil Wars were over, the restored monarchy carried on supplying red uniforms for the same reason – they were cheaper. After a while, though, what began as a mere matter of practicality became a proud tradition. British soldiers won battles all over the world and conquered an Empire wearing red uniforms, so the red coat was associated with British military glory.

Our English Red pigment is smooth clay pigment – applies evenly and softly.

Semi-opaque dark orange-red pigment. Mixes nicely with other natural and human-made pigments. For best performance add a few drops of water some minutes before starting to work with it. It will reactivate the pigment and will be more fluid.

All our watercolors are handmade from pigment or pigment mixes, binders, and essential oils as conservative. Binder is made by ourselves from gum arabic, natural honey, and water. Our watercolors have a flowery scent, with lemongrass as top note and sandalwood in the base note.

 


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