Transparency of Pigments

Pigment Transparency

Not all pigments are alike.  Knowing which ones are opaque and which ones are transparent will help greatly with an artist’s technique.  Plein air painters may lean towards opaque, portrait artists may use more transparents. These are just generalities, because the other ingredients such as oil, calcium carbonate, etc have an effect on the paint.  Even titanium white can be made less opaque. 

 

TRANSPARENT	SEMI-TRANSPARENT	OPAQUE
Quinacridones Alizarin Crimson Rubine Red Prussian Blue Synthetic Earths Phthalo Green & Blue Sap Green Green Earth Synth Indian Yellow	Yellow Ochre Zinc White Ultramarine Blue Burnt Sienna Burnt Umber Raw Sienna Raw Umber Hansa Yellow	Titanium White! English Red Cadmium Red Cadmium Yellow Naples Yellow Chromium Green Cerulean Blue Mars Black