Davy’s Gray (Slate Gray)

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Henry Davy was an English watercolour artist and a pupil of John Sell Cotman. It was Henry Davy who suggested to Winsor & Newton that they produce a watercolour paint made from a particular type of slate. The company eventually introduced such a colour, although several decades passed between Davy’s proposal and its documented appearance. Davy’s Grey appears in a Winsor & Newton catalogue from around 1895–1896. It is described as a new colour made from a special variety of slate and suggested by Henry Davy.

Winsor & Newton was the manufacturer that introduced the colour under the name Davy’s Grey. Today, several other manufacturers also produce similar colours. Many call theirs Davy’s Grey, but other names are used as well. Slate Gray, Ardoise Gray and Green Slate are a few examples.

Most manufacturers selling a colour called Davy’s Grey do not use any slate pigment at all. Instead, they mix different pigments in an attempt to imitate the appearance of natural slate. It is mainly the larger manufacturers that leave slate out of their slate grey colours. These include Royal Talens Van Gogh and Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Holbein, ShinHan, Old Holland and Mijello.

There are more than 25 different watercolour paints called Davy’s Grey, and the vast majority are mixtures that contain no slate pigment.

Natural slate pigment has a slightly beige hue and is usually very pale. The mixed colours often have a greenish undertone, although brownish and bluish versions can also be found. Many of them appear considerably more colourful than the light, muted tones associated with natural slate pigment.

Watercolour paints containing slate pigment

According to the available pigment information, the following colours consist solely of slate pigment:

• A. Gallo: Slate Gray, PBk19
• Golden QoR: Ardoise Gray, PBk19
• Kremer: Slate Gray, Gray-Green, PBk19
• Ottosson: Ardois Grey, PBk19
• Schmincke: Green Slate, PBk19

Some manufacturers combine slate pigment with other pigments but still include slate in their paints:

• Utrecht: Davey’s Gray, PBk7 + PBk19
• Roman Szmal: Davy’s Grey, PBk32 + PBk19
• Winsor & Newton: Mineral Grey, PB29 + PBk19 + PW5
• Winsor & Newton: Davy’s Gray, PG17 + PBk6 + PBk19 + PW5

It is worth noting that none of the manufacturers I have found use the name Davy’s Gray for a paint consisting solely of slate pigment. The paints bearing that name are mixtures: some contain slate pigment, but most do not. There is also no reliable information about whether Winsor & Newton’s original paint contained any pigments other than slate.

Since Davy’s Gray was first introduced by Winsor & Newton, and their version is one of the better-known ones, it is the one I will describe below. Other versions have different properties.

Properties of Winsor & Newton’s Davy’s Gray

Winsor & Newton’s Davy’s Gray is a paint with low tinting strength. It has a slightly greenish hue, which can at least partly be attributed to the addition of chromium oxide green (PG17).

The paint is easy to lift from the paper. It can also produce backruns, probably because it contains lamp black. The other ingredients in the paint do not readily produce these patterns.

It is semi-opaque. The paint contains four pigments, several of which may contribute to its opacity. It is fairly opaque, with three of its four pigments being opaque. Davy’s Gray granulates slightly.

Davy’s Gray can be useful when you want to create a sense of depth in landscapes. It can work well for atmospheric perspective, for example, when painting misty, pale mountains or distant forests. It can also be useful for subtle transitions in a rainy, grey sky.

However, I would be cautious about using this paint for shadows or large, uniform grey areas. It can have a somewhat chalky character that does not suit all such applications. This is probably due to the addition of the white pigment lithopone.

I would also be cautious about mixing it with other colours. Since the paint already contains four different pigments, adding more can result in muddy, dull mixtures. Winsor & Newton’s Davy’s Gray is a paint that should be used as it is, or not at all.

Colour Index pigments (W&N): PG17 + PBk6 + PBk19 + PW5
Lightfastness (W&N): Excellent
Transparency (W&N): Semi-opaque
Staining (W&N): Non-staining
Granulation (W&N): Low
Colour (W&N): Light grey with a slight greenish undertone