Cassel Earth, NB8, bituminous earth.
A pigment I have long been contemplating on using although I have only used imitations of this pigment(premixes to replicate it),I have read a few things on this pigment and know that it is not stable at all and that there have been quite a few paintings from history that have suffered from its usage but also that it was used successfully in some.However there are paint manufacturers who produce this pigment.Should this be avoided or is there a way to safely handle this pigment?
R.
Thanks for the info!
Cassel earth is rated 0 in terms of permanence. The tarry bituminous component never really dries and will remain sensitive to solvents. Mixed with other pigments it can result in huge open alligator cracks. Using it as a final glaze would avoid this but then you have the solvent sensitivity issue. The color of cassel earth can be easily approximated using stable pigments (it is more difficult to emulate the perfect transparence of pure bitumen but it is even more problematic than cassel earth). Why flirt with disaster?
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