More questions about watercolor paints
October 4, 2026
På SvenskaThis is the second little quiz about watercolor paint. The questions are quite difficult (they should be on a site like this). A passing score is 6 out of 10 questions answered correctly.
#1. Why are glycerin, honey or sugar syrup added to watercolor paints?
It is a humectant/plasticizer, without a sugar solution of some kind, watercolor pans would become hard as pieces of glass and tubes would be impossible to use.
#2. Before synthetic Ultramarine was invented, there was another pigment called Ultramarine Blue, what was it?
Lapis lazuli extremely exclusive. More expensive than gold during the Renaissance. Used almost exclusively for sacred motifs, such as the Virgin Mary’s mantle.
#3. Which historical red pigment has poor lightfastness and is extracted from dried female scale insects.
Carmine is the correct answer.
Madder is from a plant
Mayan red is a classic red dye from the Mayan Empire that is now synthetic.
Red Jasper is a mineral. It has been used since ancient times for jewelry, seals, and amulets because of its strong, earthy red hue.
#4. Madder lake is a plant dye that is red and has poor lightfastness. What is the synthetic equivalent called?
The correct answer is alizarin crimson, a synthetic variant of the same dye found in natural madder.
#5. Cerulean blue is a popular watercolor paint, which company introduced the paint to the market?
Andreas Höpfner (or Hopfner) in 1805, introduced commercially by G. Rowney & Co. in England in 1860 under the name “coeruleum”.
#6. Ox gall (bile) or its synthetic equivalent is used in watercolor paint, what function does it have?
Used in watercolor paint as a wetting agent to lower the surface tension of the water. Mainly for better flow and spreading but also so that the paint “grips” the paper better, especially on difficult-to-control paper. Now usually synthetic.
#7. What was the first synthetic pigment?
Answer: Egyptian blue
Invented in ancient Egypt (copper, sand and limestone heated). Considered the world’s first artificial/synthetic pigment, manufactured as early as 2500 BC. Disappeared from use during the Middle Ages.
Cadmium yellow: 1840
Lead white in 400 BC
Vermilion in 100 AD
#8. Which company was the first to offer watercolor paints in metal tubes?
Answer: Winsor & Newton. The paint tube was invented for oil paint in 1846 by John Goffe Rand. The first watercolor tube came about 1850.
#9. A granulating paint gives a grainy paint surface, what is the reason?
Granulation occurs naturally when the pigment grains are coarse and/or heavy. Some pigments granulate, others do not.
#10. Which three of these six colors are opaque?
Select all that apply: - Markera alla som gäller:
Chromium Oxide Green, Lamp Black and Cadmium Yellow are all very opaque, the others are transparent.
