HISTORY AND ORIGIN

Where did it all start? Viridian comes from the Latin viridis meaning green, vigorous, blooming. The original true viridian (PG18) was a synthetic pigment first created in the 19th century from hydrated chromium oxide. French chemists Pannetier and Binet discovered its potential as a color in 1838 and went on to market it as Pannetier’s Green. The new pigment was uber expensive – prohibitively. So when in 1859 a new cheaper manufacturing method was patented by Guignet of Paris, it quickly grew in use and popularity.

Viridian was widely used by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. It was on the palettes of 20th century masters including Van Gogh, Kandinsky and Klee. Examples include Georgia O’Keeffe’s ‘Pool in the Woods, Lake George’ (1922), Édouard Manet’s ‘The Balcony’ (1868-69) and Claude Monet’s ‘Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare’ (1877).

VIRIDIAN HUE VS. VIRIDIAN

The original viridian was made with pigment PG18. However, PG18 now has concerns arounds its toxicity. Liquitex always strives to bring you safer alternatives, so our chemists created a match made with PG7. What color is viridian hue? It is a springtime green with a bluish tinge. It sits between green and teal on the color wheel. It has quite a dark value when used straight from the tube/bottle.

TRANSPARENT VIRIDIAN HUE IN PRACTICE

Mix Transparent Viridian Hue with yellows/oranges/reds for a useful range of natural greens – ideal for landscapes and botanicals. Use it as a tint with white to get a great range of sky blues. Use it for glazing, where its transparency makes for luminous results with a surprisingly blue aspect. Transparent Viridian Hue has excellent lightfastness and is a Series 2 color.

Find it in our Professional Soft Body and Heavy Body Acrylic ranges.