Pigments...

Where 'pigments' are concerned (this is what gives the paint the color)
there is no difference between oil, watercolor or acrylic; the companies who make these paints will use many of the same pigments.

In the last 50 years, acrylic paint became very popular and is sold in tubes as well as bottles, some are created for the Fine Art market and others for the Crafting industry.  In both these markets there are paints that meet different needs of those who paint with them. Regardless of the paint, the pigments are the same. The pigment is the 'colored' particle in the paint and its what gives the paint it overall color.

Historically, all colored pigments were made from certain types of natural minerals, rock, different types of soil fround on the earth, clays, plant and root materials, in fact artists from the beginning of time have used just about all materials including common 'carbon soot' to extract some type of staining property to use as materials to paint with. These raw materials were ground up into fine powders and then mixed with oils, fats, gums, water or egg whites to get them to stick to the surface and eventually cure for permanence. Some worked, some didn't. Today, many pigments are manufactured synthetically as some of the traditional pigments used by many are highly expensive to obtain and some are very toxic and unsafe for the artist to use on a continuous basis.

Rose Quartz and Mica

Products used to create special effects in paint were and still are made from natural minerals and resources found in the earth. Here we see photos of 'Rose Quartz' on the left and 'Mica' on the right. Artists used the properties of both of these natural elements to add certain qualities to the paint they mixed. Quartz was ground up and added to create certain optical properties and Mica is still widely used. Today Mica is added to some paints to create a pearl-like effect. See the examples below in the three colors, Gold, Silver and Pearl in the Traditions paint line.

Traditions Mica Paints - Gold, Pearl and Silver

Here the examples of paint puddles show the 'sheen' or iridescence that is created when added to the paint. In the Traditions line there are three Mica paints, Gold, Silver and Pearl. These three paints can be added to any other paints in the Traditions Paint line to create iridescent effects used for painting many subjects such as creating the special effects on birds feathers, add a touch of whimsy to holiday subjects or to create faux finishes. The possibilities are endless.

Title: Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments Author:Guineau Delamare, Ber Francois ISBN:0810928728 General Topic: pigments	Title: Color: A Natural History of the Palette Author:Victoria Finlay ISBN: 0812971426 General Topic: pigments

• The following painting lessons teach the artist how to work with the Traditions Mica Pigments. Brushmixing gives the artist an advantage and added freedom. These lessons are e-packets and can be downloaded immediately.

$9.95

$9.95

Puzzle clue: 60th.,17th., 65th. = T

What to look for when selecting pigments...

Light fastness - Will the pigment fade or how will it react to light? Light fastness is rated on a scale of 1 down to 4, one means permanent, four means they will begin to fade more quickly. For example in the JansenArt Traditions Line that I work with, which is an acrylic 'Artist grade' paint, all pigments used to create this paint line are rated number #1 with only one pigment, Dioxazine Purple PV23 being a #2. That means they all have a very high permanent quality. No fugitive pigments are used.

Are the pigments safe? - Are there any toxic pigments used in the paint; such as those, which are, lead based, cadmium, chromium or cobalt? - For example - In the JansenArt Traditions line - only safe pigments are used. Paints that bear the 'AP' seal of the Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc. (ACMI) are certified non-toxic. Any paint that is non-toxic has to meet the ASTM D-4236 standard.  JansenArt Traditions is one of these acrylic 'Artist grade' paints that are non-toxic.  However some companies can receive an ASTM D-4236 label if they put on the label that the paint inside is toxic or harmful.

What is the vehicle? - For example, linseed oil is used in many oil paints and an acrylic dispersion in others. With the JansenArt Traditions paints the vehicle is an acrylic resin, which dries clear - this is an important feature when artists are looking for true color clarity and durability.  Vehicles can be controlled or altered by a paints Media.  In the case of Traditions this media is a chemical called Propylene Glycol, which can be used to control the drying time of the paint.
                       
Viscosity – How thick is the paint? - Is it liquid, medium or high viscosity?  The Jansen Art Traditions paint is’ medium viscosity' paint.  It is thick and creamy which lends itself to many fine art techniques as well as those commonly used in decorative painting today.

What about the purity of the pigments? For many artists the use of pure pigment is very necessary for successful mixing - In the Jansen Art Traditions line - there are 50 colors- however 26 of them are 'pure' pigments, there are 3 micas used to create the metallic's, and the other 21 are mixes of the pure pigments used to create additional colors for the artists convenience.

What about opacity for good coverage as well as transparency for layering and dimensional techniques? Many artists will require their paint to perform in both these capacities. When the artist knows what pigments are used to manufacture the co lour, that knowledge will provide greater success when selecting one co lour over the other.  It is important to recognize that some pigments are opaque and others transparent by the nature of the pigment.  Knowing the effects will greatly enhance the artist’s work.

Building a rich understanding of your paint box...

The idea of us teaching through the major mixing points of pure pigments used in the Traditions line and why we like one pigment over another is presented here in hope that you will take your Traditions paints and experiment with them, one color family at a time.  Slowly, we are attempting to help you build a richer understanding of the individual pigments in the Traditions line, when you reach for a particular color you will know what to expect and you will do so with added confidence. This will make your mixing experience far more rewarding.

Spend time with the individual pigments in your paint box, learning to read their properties. In the photo above, one can see how the artist works with the three primary hues; Naphthol Red, Ultramarine Blue and Hansa Yellow, adding the earth pigments to each, to read the results. This way, the artist learns how to predict the tonal quality and the bias of each earth pigment when used in a mix. Unless the artist spends time working with their pigments getting to know them, each time they go to mix the results might be full of unwanted surprises! It's like trying to cook with unknown or unfamiliar ingredients!

Artist quality paints have to meet certain standards... 

Artist grade paints are usually highly pigmented and often preferred by fine artists and professionals. Lightfast rating will be found on Artist Quality Pigments, this will be discussed further in this article.  Another of the standard requirements for Artist Quality paint is that the Chemical Index Name of the pigment be listed on the container.  This tells the artist what the actual 'pigments' are in the paint and if it is a pure co lour (single pigment) or a mixture (two or more pigments) For example – Dioxazine Purple PV23 the letter ‘P’ stands for pigment and the letter ‘V’ stands for Violet – this is Pigment Violet 23.

On the market today are many brands of acrylic paint; ranging from studio to craft grade as well as ‘artist grade’ paint and all can be bought in tubes, pots or plastic bottles of some kind. 
Understanding which is which and when to use them is the key. This doesn't mean that one paint is better than the other; it only means that each paint serves a purpose, and selecting the right one for the job is easier for the artist if they understand how the paint will perform.

First, where 'pigments' are concerned (this is what gives the paint the co lour)
there is no difference between oil, watercolor or acrylic; the companies who make these paints will use many of the same pigments. The difference comes from the workability, quality and the permanence of the pigments and the amount of pigment used to make the paint. There are some things to look for when selecting 'Artist grade' paint, one is to look for the Chemical Index name listed on the label.  The Chemical Index Number is seldom used on labels, this is generally provided by the company in literature. 

In Artist grade paint the Chemical Index Name must be listed, so this tells the artist which actual pigment was used to create the co lour. An artist who wishes to learn more about co lour theory and mixing needs to understand the properties of the pigments they mix with.  It's like learning to cook, and not knowing the difference between salt and sugar.  Both may look and feel the same, yet perform very differently and have very distinguishable results. Pigments are much the same in this respect. 

Traditional painting techniques of old, used paints that were made from pure
pigments, this single feature facilitated easier mixing techniques as well as enabling the artist to create effects that required transparency and luminosity for added dimension. In teaching art, it has always been easier to teach mixing for co lour theory when using a paint that has been designed for that purpose.

In the last 50 years, acrylic paint became very popular and it too was sold in tubes as well as bottles, some were created for the Fine Art market and others for the Crafting industry.  In both these markets there are paints that meet different needs of those who paint with them. 
Many conscientious artists today also wish to understand the properties of the
pigments they work with, not only for artistic merit but also for health reasons. Here are some considerations artists will think about when selecting paint for a particular job.  Always consider the use and the techniques that will be implemented.

Undertones or bias - Let's try to understand this, for this article we will use Ultramarine Blue as an example to explain this point.

Ultramarine Blue PB29 -
Blue is a key co lour on our palette – we know this, but why this blue?
There must be a good reason why this particular blue plays such a major role so let’s explore why? In order for us to understand this we must talk a little about another attribute of pigments called ‘undertone’ or ‘bias’

Pigment undertone or bias is an attribute or sort of hidden personality that becomes even more evident when pigments are mixed with other pigments; this is what we mean when we talk about the bias or undertone of colors leaning either towards each other or away from each other, like mixing Ultramarine Blue PB29 + Red Violet PV19 – the bias of both pigments lean towards each other or towards the violet end of the spectrum, so the resulting violet will be clean and pretty.
Ultramarine Blue PB29 known as a ‘red’ blue has a bias that leans to the violet end of the spectrum. Compare this now with the mix Ultramarine Blue PB29 + Indian Yellow PY139 for the dull toned green that I explained in my last installment of this topic. You will see that the bias of these pigments leaned away from each other resulting in a toned dull green. The bias of blue leaned towards violet and the bias of yellow leaned to orange. Here are two very different results, both equally successful due to understanding the pigments bias.  

Pigment undertones don’t always reveal themselves when you look at the mass tone  (that’s the co lour of the paint puddle when it comes right out of the bottle) when you look at the puddles sitting side by side on your palette they just look like dark puddles of paint, they don’t tell you very much do they? For the artist just starting out with pure pigments and learning to mix, it can be very frightening, so it’s a good exercise to experiment with each pigment to discover the undertone or bias. Knowing about the undertone is one of the secrets – like getting inside someone’s head; you have to get inside the paint co lour to understand how it will perform for you.  When we pre-screen our colors for the hidden undertones it lets us make educated choices when we go to mix.

Mixing with the Earth Colors

To reveal the undertone of a color... 
Flash or spread very thinly across your wax palette with a palette knife, this will cause the pigment particles to spread apart and the color bias will show more easily – this is best when you compare colors side by side, you'll see that they can have either different or similar undertones.  Look at Phthalo Blue PB15:3 and Ultramarine Blue PB29 – the undertones are quite different. When you do this exercise compare to the spectrum on a color wheel and try to relate the colour undertone or bias to a particular area of the color spectrum. Can you see the bias now? Does a red lean a little to a red violet? Does a blue lean a little to a green?

Why did some pigments became popular?

'Lapis lazuli' which today we have replaced with PB29 

Ultramarine Blue with a violet bias was the blue that artists considered the most important 'counter balance' to the earth pigments which had yellow/orange undertones. This was certainly BECAUSE the other blue pigments which were available, with the exception ‘Smalt’ had either a yellow undertone or could easily shift towards green.
This ‘red’ blue i.e. Ultramarine Blue offered the artist the ability to open up and expand a very limited palette or range of earth colors Imagine not having any blue at all to work with?  Imagine how restrictive it would be for some artists, imagine that for many it would be almost impossible! From an economic stand point, the average poorer class artists couldn't paint with blue at all because they just couldn’t afford to, hence their palettes were mostly earthy ‘brown’

Rembrandt, "The Jewish Bride" 1665 & Vermeer, "The Kitchen Maid" 1656

Take a look at the two famous Dutch Master's works above, Rembrandt's on the left and Vermeer's on the right. In contrast to each other Rembrandt by choice painted with a very limited palette of darker earth colours while Johannes Vermeer known as ‘the painter of light’ is one artist from the same period who relished the value of using blue as a contrasting hue - why?...... to create the wondrous effects of light in a different manner.

Each artist will use color in a different manner, we see here that Rembrandt chose to use analogous colors, (neighboring colors on the color wheel) these colors rest harmoniously next to each other. Vermeer on the other hand works with complementary colors (colors that sit opposite to each other on the color wheel) these complements, when placed next to each other intensify or may even seem to contradict each other enhancing the effect he was after.

Vermeer saw that by using blue he was able to establish the temperature contrast necessary to create the natural play of light against shadow! In other words he saw that this particular blue’s bias enabled him to create balance in painting different intensities and nuances of daylight. He used blue in varying degrees in almost all his paintings. Which blue? – of course he favored Ultramarine Blue made from…….. You guessed it, Lapis lazuli which today we have replaced with ………PB29 

Why were some pigments so important to the artist?

If we take a look at some old pigments which were available to artists, especially to many of the Old Masters, we realize that a large percentage of art was predominantly painted with readily available pigments coming from ‘earth colours’ these were mostly warm browns from oxides, if we think about the colours of the earth, blue is not one that you think of first is it? The only blue with a blue violet bias was available from the very precious resource Lapis Lazuli or the lesser and more available pigment called ‘Smalt’ which was essentially made from a combination of cobalt oxide added to molten glass and then ground into a fine powder. Indigo blue was readily available but it had a strong greenish bias and was very problematic. Many of the other blue pigments were either highly fugitive, affected by the yellowing of oils or gave the artists quite a lot of trouble to manage.

Ultramarine Blue PB29 was and is still important because it is a blue with a very unique personality. History suggests that the 'impressionistic art movement' may not have occurred without this blue. Today amongst all the other optional blue pigments that are available, though considered a weaker tinting strength than most, is still widely used and very popular due to its stability and non-harmful effects on consumers and the environment.

Title:A Perfect Red : Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire Author: Amy Butler Greenfield ISBN: 0060522755	Title:Blue: The History of a Color. Author:Michel Pastoureau ISBN: 0691090505 General Topic: pigments	Title:Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World Author:Simon Garfield ISBN: 0393020053

Ultramarine Blue 

Originally called - ultramarinum meaning 'from beyond the sea'

'Ultramarinum' ... from beyond the sea

This blue pigment has been referred to as the ‘classic’ pigment – probably because of its rich and clean depth of hue.

Pigments are an interesting study – we are now quite comfortable with the word ‘pigment’ and are using it more as part of our language as Artists. As we become familiar with the role that each pigment can play on our palette it is also a good idea to know their history.  We know that ‘pigments’ are the components that are put into paint to give it the actual color that we recognize as either the blue, red, yellow or the green family. David said, “Kind of nice to show a pilot how a plane works if you want him to fly it!  Best to show an artist how the pigments work if you want them to create new techniques.” Well that’s what the goal of Traditions Education is all about.  So............. let’s explore the pigment Ultramarine Blue and see why it is still one of the most popular blues around and has been for hundreds of years. What is it about this traditional color that is so appealing to us artists? First, let’s look at the history and a little of the symbolic meaning of this pigment and then we will explore its use on our palette and canvas.

Lapis Lazuli means ‘blue-rock’

 

Ultramarine Blue was first created from a powdered rock. Lapis lazuli which means ‘blue-rock’ this is the name of a rock from the earth’s crust which is made up of several minerals, one of which is a very expensive mineral called lazurite. Because of the beautiful deep blue, almost blue violet crystals of lazurite, it was a very rare and highly sought after ‘prize’ for thousands of years. In fact it is believed it was first mined over six thousand years ago and is still mined today for jewelry making in a mountainous region of Afghanistan called the Kokcha. Today it can actually be found in Colorado, USA and some areas of Canada and elsewhere around the world, but only in small amounts.

This rock was initially used by the Egyptians and some ancient countries in the Middle East for ornamentation and for jewelry. The stone, carved into sculptures, jewelry and many ornamental items was found around 3000 BC at ancient Egyptian burial sites, showing how much the Egyptians valued this precious gem for its beauty and color. At one time the rare and precious mineral was ground into a powder and used as cosmetic eye shadow by Egyptian women, even the jewelry of the boy king Tutankhamen was made of gold and Lapis lazuli. This powdered form of Lapis lazuli eventually made its way to Venice and then into the rest of Europe and through the art world where the highly sought after powdered form was used to create Ultramarine blue pigment for painting.

Ultramarine blue is known as an ancient 'true blue' as far back as 2500 B.C. Its reputation as being the worlds most expensive pigment dates to its use in the art world during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.  During the fourteenth and fifteenth century, Ultramarine Blue was seen as one of the purest of pigments, it was light fast (it did not fade) and the rich bright blue color was comparable to none other. The Europeans imported it from an ancient country know then as Badakshan which is now known as Afghanistan. Initially the pigment was used by the Italian artists in Venice and eventually made its way to other parts of Europe. It was very difficult to come by and the preparation and extraction of this color was extremely labor-intensive so this difficult process drove the cost sky high.

Giovanni Bellini, Madonna 1465, Italian Renaissance

During the Renaissance period, it has been said that it was actually more valuable than gold, hard to believe that isn't’t it? but this is what history tells us. Imagine us painting with a pigment today that cost more than gold! During that era, because of the high price of this pigment artists used the pigment as a way to show their contemporaries that they were really true professionals, if they could afford to paint with this rare and expensive pigment, then surely their work was worth considering. Hmmm? – I guess then, it would be fair to say they really wanted to be taken seriously!  The ‘patrons’ who commissioned their works, these are the ‘buyers’ who ordered custom work also saw the use of this very valuable blue pigment as an important status symbol, so what was initially reserved to be used in only iconic and religious paintings, to enhance the robes of the great saints, the clothingl of the Virgin Mary and Heavenly authority soon became a status symbol amongst the wealthy art collectors of the time.

We can only imagine three wealthy ‘patrons’ standing around bragging to each other,” Ah yes, I just commissioned a work to hang in my parlor.... the clothing of the figure will be painted in Ultramarine blue” and the reply, “wonderful, yes but my commission will use Ultramarine as the dominant hue on both the figures!”  And the third, “Quite interesting concept, but…… the subject of MY commissioned still life is a blue bowl of blueberries on a blue tablecloth cloth set against a blue wall!! All done in Ultramarine blue!” …………Fast forward to…modern times, ‘My yacht is bigger than yours!!’

However, during that period in the art world, many artists used egg tempera as it was the popular painting medium before the popularity of oil painting over shadowed it. When Ultramarine blue was used with egg tempera it was an extremely bright blue, but in order to use it as a pigment in oil, the application of the pigment soon became troublesome for artists as they experimented with this new application. When used with tempera it retained it brilliance, but when used with oils, it could become spoiled by the yellowing of the oil.

During this period, many of the ‘schools of art’ – these were really a shared ‘philosophy’ of methodology between a group of artists, were exploring layering techniques, which depended on tonal under paintings. These processes often relied on the application of one thinly glazed color over another to achieve variances of colors. So instead of actually ‘mixing’ two pigments together, they were applied separately, one over the other to create greater depth. In the Dutch works, Ultramarine blue, being so expensive to use, was usually thinly glazed over a light under painting, often white (layering techniques) this method showed off the brilliance of the blue. Soon artists began to glaze over Ultramarine blue with white, or glaze over Ultramarine with Ochre for different tonal effects which really kind of defeated the whole purpose of using such an expensive pigment in the first place, they were just covering it.  Then by the end of the 17th century, Ultramarine blue was being ‘mixed’ with white for different applications, and the high cost of this blue pigment was getting to be even more of an issue, so substitutions were being seriously looked at. ………..I remember reading somewhere about the amount or number of clouds that were typically painted in the skies of landscapes – could this be the reason why? The artist just couldn’t afford to use too much blue pigment so instead they just went crazy with cloud filled skies? More white less blue? Maybe we can speculate that cost impacted style and composition in these subtle ways? – I have often wondered about this and I guess that if this blue pigment was hard to come by, it had to be used very sparingly. So by then artists began the search for a replacement blue, but because Ultramarine was the only deep blue hue that offered the necessary component to add true balance to the artist’s palette it was important to find a replacement that was almost identical, one that would balance the cool and warm colors.

If one looks at the pigment wheel today, go to page 52 of the ATG, (Traditions Artist's Technical guide book) one can still see that there is a hole between the Blues and the Red Violets, there is really not a huge choice that is not fugitive, and is as effective as Ultramarine Blue PB29.  It is the deep blue that all of us artists need to expand the scope and complete the range of ‘mixing’ that we need for balance and variety.

So the search began in earnest and in the 19th century chemists were busy looking for ways to reinvent or recreate this important pigment.  They tried many things, even sampling the blue residual deposits from the inside of lime kilns. Money was even offered by the Society d’Encouragement in France as an incentive for a quick solution to create such a synthetic pigment. Alas, success. In 1828 the synthetic version of Ultramarine was discovered by Jean-Baptiste Guimet and could be produced at a very affordable cost, the problem was solved.

The use of pure Ultramarine pigment, originally extracted and ground from the most beautiful Lapis lazuli was no longer practical nor affordable. At that time Lapis lazuli sold for almost five thousand francs per pound, which, considering inflation would have been about eighty one thousand francs today, so we can see it would hardly have been accessible to the average artist. At the time the substitute for Ultramarine blue then became known as French Ultramarine, it was extremely close but did not hold the exact depth of blue.  Today Ultramarine Blue PB29 is still a synthetic and is a safe non toxic blue pigment used in the Traditions line. PB29 is a wonderful choice as it is the synthetic replication of the original pigment of Lapis Lazuli.

Whats in a name?

Since we love history and Traditions, it might be fun to find out more about some of the popular pigment names we hear and use everyday. Although the 'original roots' of some early pigments were toxic, a reminder that Traditions paints are all made with safe non toxic pigments today.

Lets start with Caeruleum Blue - which was a traditional name used to describe many different blue pigments. The word Caeruleum comes from the Latin word meaning the Heavens or the Sky. It was a pigment originally made from cobalt oxide which when it is fired by heat turns a deep blue color. This did not become popular until the 1800's and was made more popular by George Rowney (Rowney paints from England) Now this color is known as Cerulean Blue.

Indian Yellow is an important transparent member of our 'Traditions' palette. Have you ever wondered where the name came from? Originally made from the urine of cows fed on turmeric or mango leaves and water, this pigment was popular in the late 1700's. It was first called 'puree of India'.  In India cows were and are still considered sacred and it was discovered that the cows used to produce this very bright yellow urine were often mal-nourished and unhealthy and the practise was eventually stopped. The trade of Indian Yellow pigment between India and England slowed and eventually stopped due to the new animal rights laws.

Carbon Black gets its name from the carbonizing of organic matter such as oil, wood, vegatables and natural gas. A process was developed where natural gas was burned and the resulting 'soot' or by-product was collected on the inside of revolving metal drums held over the sooty smoke from the flames. The carbon deposits were then scraped off and collected and made into the pigments needed for the creation of this black hue. This soot resulted in a fine powder that made the pigment wonderful for watercolor artists.

Are we REALLY working with pure pigments?

Pure color, pure pigments and original pigments. Lets see if we can shed some light on this...When we refer to pure color or pure pigment we are not necessarily referring to the original pigment.
Pigments are made from products that came from either organic (plant or animal) or inorganic (metals and minerals) compounds. Many pigments today are synthetically manufactured and these versions are reproduced with the same purity as the original pigments used by some of the Old Masters. In many cases greatly improved upon. In many cases their historic names were preserved and are still used.

There are many advantages to some of the synthetics... cost, safety, stability, lightfast rating, performance and of course availability. Many of the original pigments were often very difficult to come by, the earth colors were widely available, oxides were found on all the continents, but they were sometimes impure and known to vary in composition. Many of the others were rare, difficult to process, some highly toxic, unstable and fugitive (would fade). Not to mention the cost and in some cases was prohibitive. Ultramarine Blue (Lapis lazuli) was almost on par with the price of gold!! When pigments could be consistently and widely manufactured, this changed the art world as you can well imagine. Some original and rear pigments are still made for art conservation, however I am not sure in what quantities they are available. 
Today many companies around the world specialize in the manufacture of pigments. This is a guarded and often secretive process as each manufacturer strives to compete for quality and market position. Manufacturers make pigments or dyes that are widely used in the making of everything from plastics, to cosmetics and toiletries, fabrics and of course paints for artists. The pigments that are used in artist's paints are distinguished from industrial grade pigments.  I believe that which is destined for the art world must have the least amount of impurities (less than a fraction of a percent). I am not sure of the exact standard that is required.
One point is VERY IMPORTANT to understand and must be made, pigments are expensive. In the world of art there is a need for different grades of paint to serve different markets. In other words, a need for inexpensive colors and a need for artist grade color (which is more expensive). Traditions paint is an artist grade color. Paint manufacturers create different paints to meet the needs of both markets. How do they do this? The addition of inexpensive filler products such as chalk, clay or barite can be added to 'cut' the pigments and keep costs down.
So when we say pure we are saying that in artist grade paint, the pigment used to make the color is one pure color (for eg. PB-29 is a pure Ultramarine Blue pigment). It is a synthetic. Is the color Ultramarine Blue PB 29 made with one pure pigment? Yes. The color ultramarine blue is made with one pure pigment which is PB 29 and not a mix of two or more other pigments. Is Ultramarine Blue PB 29 made from the original Lapis Lazuli - No.  It has been manufactured synthetically and successfully since the year 1828.

Lapis Lazuli means ‘blue-rock’

Lets look at Traditions Pine Green.  Is this a pure color - NO. It is a mix of PBr7 RS Raw Sienna + PB15:3 Phthalo Blue + PY 83 Diarylide Yellow  (Are each of these three colors used in the mixing of Pine Green pure pigments when used by themselves - Yes) Is Pine Green a pure pigment - NO. It is a mix. Any color that is made with two or more pigments is not considered a pure pigment.
I think we can get hung up on some words. In this case, regarding the word pure and pigments, it refers to the use of a single artist grade pigment (singular).eg. PB 29
Here's another thought, In all the reading that I have done about pigments, some may think because the Old Masters used to grind or prepare their own pigments, (or have some apprentice do this for them) some how their pigments may have been more pure than what we use today. In truth, in search of better pigments and a wider palette the Old Masters also used many chemical compounds, like copper arsenate, sulphur, lead, and mercury, to produce certain colors.

Art historians and scholars tell us the reason their paintings withstood the test of time is the fact that they understood how to apply and use each of these pigments in isolation, in many cases applying them in very thin layers sandwiched between protective layers of varnishes. And still some of these pigments faded, changed and degraded.
 
So to answer the question ... are we using pure pigments? If you are using any of the 26 pure colors in the Traditions line... Yes they are considered artist grade pure pigments. (not mixed).