"What's in a Name?" – the nomenclature of pigment and color

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Shakespeare certainly wasn’t thinking about artists’ pigments when he wrote this. Let me start by establishing that a pigment is a single substance with a consistent chemical composition, whereas a paint may include one (or many) pigments mixed with an adhesive binder that cures into a paint film. Where the convolution of pigment nomenclature closes doors to immediate clarity, it opens other doors to a deeper understanding.

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