PBk9 Ivory / Bone Black
Bone char.
66 tubes from 21 of 24 paint lines contain PBk9. 18 are made from PBk9 alone, which is the closest match when you're switching brands.
- Toxicity
- No toxic metal Not one of the toxic-metal pigments. As with any paint, keep it out of your mouth and don't sand or spray it.
- Drying
- Slow
- Opacity
- Single-pigment tubes are mostly opaque.
About PBk9
History
Bone and ivory black are made by charring bone (ivory, historically). Bone blacks have been used since antiquity and were a staple of the old masters' palettes.
In mixes
A warm-to-neutral black that gives cool, bluish greys with white. With yellow it makes olive greens, a traditional way to get greens without a green pigment. Its slow, soft film is best kept out of lower layers.
Drying speed is typical for linseed oil; tubes ground in safflower or poppy oil, or with driers added, will differ. These are general notes on the pigment, not on any one brand.
Purest PBk9, by brand
The best single-pigment PBk9 tube from each line, ranked: artists' grade first, then lightfastness, then how firmly the pigment listing is confirmed. Ties are listed alphabetically.
- Art Spectrum Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Semi-transparent
- Blockx Ivory BlackSeries 2 · LF I · Semi-opaque
- Cobra Ivory BlackLF I · Opaque
- Gamblin Ivory BlackLF I
- Grumbacher Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I
- M. Graham Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Opaque
- Michael Harding Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Transparent
- Old Holland Ivory Black ExtraSeries A · LF I
- W&N Artisan Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Opaque
- W&N Artists' Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Semi-opaque
- W&N Griffin Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Opaque
- Williamsburg Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Semi-opaque
- Maimeri Puro Ivory BlackLF not rated
- Vasari Ivory BlackLF not rated · Transparent
- Art Creation Ivory BlackLF I · Opaque · student grade
- Van Gogh Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Opaque · student grade
- W&N Winton Ivory BlackSeries 1 · LF I · Opaque · student grade
- Georgian Ivory BlackLF not rated · student grade
Not sold here by: Schmincke Mussini, Lukas 1862, Langridge.
Made from PBk9 alone
PBk9 with white added
Mixtures that contain PBk9
Brands: Art Spectrum, Blockx, Cobra, Da Vinci, Gamblin, Georgian, Grumbacher, Holbein, M. Graham, Michael Harding, Maimeri Puro, Old Holland, Rembrandt, Art Creation, Vasari, Van Gogh, Williamsburg, W&N Winton, W&N Artists', W&N Artisan, W&N Griffin.