I’ve recently started painting with Holbein Watercolors and when I was creating swatches for the colors I bought and considering some future purchase, I noticed that a) the print is TINY on the tubes, and b) there are no pigment codes listed on any of the color charts online. So… quite a bit of searching ensued and I found a document on a Japanese website (Holbein paints are made in Japan, afterall) that had all of the information I wanted. I screen-shotted everything, combined the files, saved it as a PDF and converted the text to be readable (searchable). And now I am willing to share that work with you, dear reader. So you don’t have to look so hard for information that should be more readily available.
This will allow you to take sometimes interesting names like Davy’s Grey and know that it is made of PBr7 PBk6 and PW6. Doesn’t that feel better?
Click on the following link to download a PDF for searchable access to this file: WCPigmentInfo_Searchable. <- Click on that. Don’t right click on the picture below – you’ll just get a low resolution version. You want the PDF.
And I’m off to finish swatching my colors. More on that setup, later!
SL
I love this so hard – I’m such a pigment nerd.
Can I just say “THANK YOU!” This is phenomenal.
I have a lot of old tubes of Holbein colors I wanted to find pigment codes for, and it has been such an ordeal to find them all.
This is a great resource.
Hi, I am confused by Holbein. I have Bright Violet and Bright Rose for an example. What is BV11:1 and AB83 these are not pigment names as I understand it, shouldn’t it be something like PV11:1 and PV83? I also have here BV7 and BV15. I don’t know where these come from or what they really mean. Also can you tell me if the order of the pigments means that the first number is what there is MORE OF in the tube? I am wanting to understand more and haven’t found this info yet. I don’t want to tell anyone else anything before I know it myself. Thanks! I appreciate the help
THANK YOU so very much, Sally. This is exactly the information I’ve been looking for — like you mentioned, there’s no pigment information in the (English) color charts online. This was such a lifesaver, and I know how much time it would have taken you. I really appreciate your generosity in sharing! Thanks again!
Thank you so much! This is so incredibly generous of you and appreciated.