Zinc Yellow / Zinc Potassium Chromate, Lemon Yellow (Genuine Historical Pigment)

PY36

Alternate Names

Zinc Chrome Yellow

Zinc Chromate

Ultramarine Yellow

Citron Yellow

Pigment Description

Zinc chromate (may also have some chemical variations- see Artiscreation for more). This color is a dull yellow with a note of green leaning. It is rarely used in artists paint and is currently not used at all. We include it here as some vintage tubes may turn up. According to Colour Lex, "…it is not very lightfast and can change its colour to gray-green… research shows that it can also change its colour to dirty brown…"

Field calls this color Citron Yellow in distinction from Lemon Yellow, which can be confusing. When he wrote in the 19th century he called a chromate of zinc PY36 Citron Yellow, which he described as a "bright, pale, lemon-like yellow," and used the name Lemon Yellow for Barium Chromate PY32.

This color may actually be highly toxic and likely contains an extremely dangerous compound called hexavalent chromium. The Artist's Guide to Health and Safety has information about the hazards of pigments containing Barium and also pigments containing Chrome.

Resources

PY36 pigment data from David G. Myers, The Color of Art Pigment Database, Artiscreation.com

Bomford, David, et. al,. Impressionism. London: The National Gallery, in association with Yale University Press, 1990. Internet Archive, Web. Accessed June 2025. https://archive.org/details/impressionism0000unse_z3w3

Church, A. H. The Chemistry of Paints and Painting. London : Seeley Service, 1915. Internet Archive, Web. Accessed June 2025. https://archive.org/details/chemistryofpaint00churuoft

Field, George. Field's Chromatography : a treatise on colours and pigments for the use of artists. London : Winsor and Newton, 1885. Internet Archive, Web. Accessed June 2025. https://archive.org/details/Fieldquotschrom00Fiel

Gettens, Rutherford J.. Painting materials : a short encyclopaedia. New York : Dover Publications, 1966. Internet Archive, Web. Accessed June 2025. https://archive.org/details/paintingmaterial0000gett

Feller, Robert L, ed.. Artists' pigments : a handbook of their history and characteristics. Washington, DC : National Gallery of Art, 1986. Internet Archive, Web. Accessed June 2025. https://archive.org/details/artistspigmentsh0000unse

Koleske, J. V. Paint and coating testing manual : fourteenth edition of the Gardner-Sward handbook. Philadelphia, PA : ASTM, 1995. Internet Archive, Web. Accessed June 2025. https://archive.org/details/paintcoatingtest0000unse

Information about PY36 from Bruce MacEvoy, Handprint Guide to Watercolors, General information about this class of pigments from Handprint

Lipscher, Juraj (Accessed June 2025). Zinc Yellow https://colourlex.com/project/zinc-yellow/. ColourLex.

Mayer, Ralph. The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, 5th ed. New York, NY, Penguin Group, 1991. https://amzn.to/44OzBN9

CAMEO Materials Database: Conservation & Art Materials Encyclopedia Online, Museum of Fine Arts Boston. (Accessed June 2025). Zinc Yellow https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Zinc_yellow, . Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Stats

Lightfastness

Poor

Though the lightfastness may be listed as higher, this color does degrade. See Colour Lex for details on long-term degradation. The chromate of zinc described by Field was also said to loose its color with exposure to light, "even when stored in a book."

Transparency

Semi-Transparent

Toxicity

Extremely toxic

This pigment is toxic and may contain hexavalent chromium, which is extremely toxic. Artiscreation gives this a "B", meaning "Hazard if carelessly handled, ingested in large amounts or over long periods of time; Do not ingest; Avoid dust & spray." The Artist's Guide to Health and Safety has information about the hazards of pigments containing Barium and also pigments containing Chrome.

Tinting

Low

Dry Time

Fast

Oil Content

Moderately low

Low by volume. Mayer assigns this to the low category for oil volume with a 72, which is on the upper end of the low cateogry.

Dry Pigments listing PY36

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