Description
As far as I know - Supreme Paint is the only place in the world you can currently buy this pigment in oil.
YlnMn blue is the first new blue to be discovered in a very long time - lightfast, non-toxic, vibrant - it even has its own Wikipedia page!
Background
The discovery of the pigment, like many great discoveries was an act of serendipity, a professor of chemistry, Mas Subramanian (photo above) and his students were trying to create new alloys for use in the production of micro-electronics. One day in 2009, graduate student Andrew Smith opened his kiln after firing a new chemical formula overnight at 2000°F.
What he found inside the kiln, blue his mind (apologies for the pun) the compound had turned a brilliant, powerful blue - utterly unlike anything he had expected.
Professor Subramanian's team knew they were onto something special with this fortuitous discovery, he is quoted as saying at the time “Luck favours the alert mind”.
Following years of rigorous testing and further experiments, YInMn Blue pigment was officially released for production in 2016 and was still only licensed for use in paint in the US in 2020. It is sometimes known as Mas Blue after the professor.
The name is formed from the elements which comprise the chemical matrix, these being Yttrium (Y), Indium (in), Manganese (Mn) and Oxygen, apart from Oxygen these are very rare and expensive minerals.
As a pigment, YlnMn blue is super stable, very lightfast (it reflects nearly all UV light) and non-toxic however it takes a long time to find and process these rare minerals, they then have to be synthesized in an exact manner at 2000°F and the yield is relatively low, so the market price is very high.
The Paint
So onto to the paint itself, it has been described as sitting somewhere between ultramarine and cobalt blue.
In masstone, straight from the tube, the paint is a perfect mid-temperature, mid tonal value blue with a lot of 'pop' - the reflection of all the UV wavelengths is clearly visible is the high chroma of the colour (apparently it has the highest optical reflectance of any blue). Almost a primary blue.
Spread thinly, the pigment particles are just tangible under the palette knife but not obtrusive, I can get the white ground to show through a little, however the pigment is clearly opaque.
It has an average tint strength, with soft sky blue tints appearing when white is added. This paint would make an incredible mixing blue to have on the palette.
I would love to play around with it in various combinations, particularly with yellows and reds and see what secondaries I could make, I can picture very clean greens and deep purples.
Very, very special.
Technical Overview
Single Pigment - YlnMn - Yttrium, Indium & Manganese - PB86
Vehicle - Cold Pressed Walnut Oil
Opacity - Semi-Opaque
Tint Power - Medium
YlnMn Blue Oil Paint
