SINGLE PIGMENT PAINTS

They do matter!

The Power of Single Pigments

At Enkaustikos, we are constantly experimenting with new pigments. It is of utmost importance to make sure that the pigments we use are suitable for the encaustic process. Our first priority is to make sure the pigment is safe to heat up on an encaustic palette. 

Some color pigments, like Hansa Yellow, are just not heat stable so our research was very important in our color development. In addition to health concerns, we always strive to provide artists with the widest range of lightfast colors possible. Our paint line features both traditional and modern pigments with outstanding lightfastness ratings.

We could have easily expanded our color line by just mixing a few existing colors to offer a larger range. However, we feel that artists can easily mix their own colors if given the best single pigment paints to begin with. Enkaustikos currently mills 72 single pigment paints - a much more robust selection than any other company. You might ask; why is a single pigment paint so important? The main reason is that single pigment paints allow artists the greatest opportunity to create the most intense, clean, and luminous color mixes. A good rule to follow when it comes to color mixing is to use the least number of pigments to create your custom mix. The more pigments you use to make a custom mix the more likely you are of making a muddy and dull paint. If you want to "gray down" a paint color, your best option is to mix compliment single pigment paints together. In this way, your grays will be rich and radiant. Using single pigment colors are the key to producing the best mixes.

There is nothing wrong with using mixed paints. In fact, we offer many composite paints which are paints that are mixed with multiple pigments. These paints are commonly referred to as convenience colors. We offer paints mixed with modern, non toxic pigments to match classic colors like Naples Yellow. Genuine Naples Yellow is popular with oil painters but it is very toxic because it is made with lead. Of course, we would never want lead paint on our heated palette so we offer a mixed alternative for you. Our Naples Yellow Hue is a good example of a composite paint made from mixing three pigments together. Another reason why Enkaustikos mills composite paints is to provide you with consistency every time. Our labels note which pigments are used in the making of each Hot Cakes and Hot Cakes Refill. Please utilize our label information to create the cleanest, brightest, mixes possible.