Spinel Black - 40ml

Well I didn't know what to expect with this paint, it is an oil paint made from rare black Spinels which are one of the hardest gemstones in the Spinel family. The Spinel consists of hard, vitreous magnesium aluminium oxide or magnesium aluminate.

It’s said that the name ‘Spinel’ comes from the Latin, ‘spina’ meaning thorn – this refers to the sharp crystal formations it’s made up of.

So to the paint, it's wonderful! In masstone unsurprisingly it is an intense, dense, black. It is classed as semi-opaque, however it is so rich it is hard to bring out any transparency. It feels very smooth and paints out beautifully, quite long.

When white is added it reveals a very cool nature, tints with a delightful blue edge. This would work very well in a limited 'Zorn' type palette as a blue, indeed to my eye it is bluer in tints than a 'blue-black'.

The darker tints have the depth of a natural Indigo, this is really a very deep paint. It has really good tinting power and provides a very wide range of tints. A recommended cool, black.

Technical Overview

Pigment - PBk26

Binder - Linseed Oil

Opacity - Semi-Opaque

Drying Time - Fast