Description
Stil de Grain, a historic paint rarely found today, at least in its genuine form. The pigment is made from unripe buckthorn berries (pictured above).
In the 17th Century it was strangely known as 'pinke' which is strange because it is yellow.
Rembrandt, Vermeer and Rubens all used this paint which clearly shows its value as a paint. It is brown/yellow in masstone, when used more thinly, it has an organic yellow hue and its inherent transparency makes these yellow hues quite luminous, which may explain its use in glazing by the masters named above.
It stands up reasonably well when mixed with white and produces gentle yellow tints, which appear to me to have just walked straight out of a Rembrandt painting - Stil de Grain has been found in the Rembrandt pictured above.
From artisanal crop cultivation using organic methods, no chemicals. The colour is expressed in small batches using traditional methods.
Technical Overview
Stable/lightfast, liable to fade when strongly mixed with white, equivalent to ASTM II
Pigment - NY 13 / Stil de Grain
Opacity - Transparent
Drying Time - Slow
Binder - Linseed Oil