YInMn Blue

YinMn (yttrium, indium and manganese) is a blue pigment discovered in 2009 by Professor Mas Subramanian and his graduate student, Andrew E. Smith at Oregon State University. It is non-toxic and does not fade.

For more information:

https://chemistry.oregonstate.edu/content/story-yinmn-blue
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/yinmn-blue-comes-market-1921665

YInMn blue does not fade, is non-toxic and has high opacity. It was approved in 2017 for industrial applications as it reflects heat and has commercial applications. It was finally approved last year for use in artists' materials.

It is expensive. Kremer Pigments offers a YInMn watercolor pan for $68.80; $69 for 10g of pure pigment. 

I recently purchased a sample of YinMn blue in watercolor. I applied it to hot press watercolor paper using hatched strokes, building up to achieve a strong blue. I tested Sennelier ultramarine deep, Sennelier ultramarine light, Sennelier cobalt, Daniel Smith Lapis and of course YinMn blue.

YInMn dissolves well with water and there is no granulation. To my eye, it leans towards purple, and I found I could mix a reasonably comparable color using Sennelier ultramarine blue with Sennelier ultramarine violet. This might vary depending on the brand of paint.

AMI 2020 Online Salon

My submission to the Association of Medical Illustrators 2020 Online Salon: Fine Art Gallery. 

https://meetings.ami.org/2020/project/riatta/

Three Dogs

Three Dogs. Watercolor, acrylic on 140 lb hot press watercolor paper.
6 x 4.5 inches. ©2020, K. Ackoff.

This piece was inspired by images from medieval bestiaries (a compendium of beasts, popular in the Middle Ages). Of course, I put my own twist on it. 

The yellowish center rectangle frame are painted with acrylic gold paint, underpainted with yellow ochre. The rest of the illustration is in watercolor, using what I refer to as "moist brush" technique – a cross between traditional watercolor and dry brush. The image below shows the illustration in progress, with a raking light that shows the gold more clearly.

Three Dogs, in progress. ©2020, K. Ackoff.

The background was worked in many layers of blue... mixing cerulean, ultramarine and genuine lapis lazuli. While medieval illustrations often use patterned backgrounds, I wanted to use a different approach. So, I included two constellations – Canis Major (dog, left) and Lepus (rabbit, right). I included Lepus because I needed something visually and because dogs like to chase rabbits.