We’ve redesigned the label of Rublev Colours Artist Oils to provide even more information for artists. Many artists have requested that the color be printed on the label making it easier for them to identify the color inside. We’ve printed the color at the top and identified it on the front in five languages (French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish) besides English. Since the color is printed on the label, it is, of course, only an approximation of the actual color inside.
Natural Pigments has always followed the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard Specification for Artists’ Oil, Resin-Oil, and Alkyd Paints (ASTM D4302), which establishes, among other things, requirements for labeling of artists’ oil paints. The label continues to feature the ASTM lightfastness rating for the pigment of the color, if one exists in the standard. When no lightfastness rating is specified in the standard, then a permanence rating based on our tests and the pigment manufacturer’s tests are provided in a letter rating system. See the article on Permanence and Compatibility to learn more about this rating system.
Transparency: Complete Content Disclosure
Transparency and our responsibility to our artists is our motivation to disclose the contents of Rublev Colours Artists Oils. In keeping with the labeling criteria of ASTM D4302, we clearly identify the pigment by its Colour Index name and generic name on the label. The primary drying oil used in the formulation is also identified, such as linseed oil or walnut oil.
Additives are not used in any Rublev Colours Artists Oils but for the one exception of the color Vermilion. Reluctantly we recently had to include an additive with this color due to its inability to stabilize over time, so as to ensure pigment and oil stability and to avoid the potential loss of this expensive color. Natural Pigments is the first and only company to clearly identify additives in oil paint if and when they are used in Rublev Colours Artists Oils. This is not a requirement of ASTM D4302, but is provided as part of our goal to be transparent.
Expanded Health and Safety Data
New on this label is the Health Canada labeling requirements for mercury and lead containing pigments.
The new label also features up-to-date Globally Harmonized System (GHS) safety data, including pictograms required by the standard. The GHS includes criteria for the classification of health, physical and environmental hazards, as well as specifying what information should be included on labels of hazardous chemicals as well as safety data sheets.
We continue to print the item code and lot number of the color to identify the batch from which this color was made.
The new labels will begin to appear on all new tubes manufactured from April 2016, but may take six months or more before all tubes have the new labels.
