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Top Pigment

Nickel Antimony Titanium Yellow Rutile

PY53

Alternate Names

Nickel Titanate Yellow

Nickel Titanium Yellow

Nickel Titanium Oxide 

Pigment Description

A mysterious yellow which can range from pale yellow to greenish yellow. This is one of our favorite lemon yellows (we have several but the others are more toxic- so this one is a better alternative). PY53 is one of the unsung heroes of the paintbox and is far underrated. It is extremely useful for making lower chroma colors. Nickel Antimony Titanium Yellow Rutile or Nickel Titanate, sometimes called Nickel Titanium Yellow is starts out as a pale yellow without adding white. It is pretty opaque, and well suited to direct painting methods.

It does have some toxicity and is rated B, so please do be mindful and careful as you would with any other similarly-rated pigment.

Listed as a "B" for toxicity, we advise treating all pigments with great caution, and this one is no exception. Monona Rossol's work has a section on health problems from nickel and antimony pigments in the Artist's Guide to Health and Safety. Her most recent research can be found through her site.

This color excels in creating low-chroma mixes. In masstone it's an enchanting light yellow with a faint green in the overall color impression.

It's not a replacement for Lead Tin Yellow, but it is a color that keeps us coming back. It's a hard-to-describe pale yellow color with secret-superpowers in mixing."

Resources

PY53 pigment data from David G. Myers, The Color of Art Pigment Database, Artiscreation.com

Spurgeon, Tad. Living Craft: A Painter's Process. Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, PA: Zoetrope, 2018. Newer version available here: https://www.thomaskitts.com/page/36804/tad-spurgeons-living-craft

Information about PY53 from Bruce MacEvoy, Handprint Guide to Watercolors, General information about this class of pigments from Handprint,

Alfa Chemistry (n.d. Accessed June 2025). Nickel Antimony Titanium Yellow (PY53) https://materials.alfachemic.com/major-products/nickel-antimony-titanium-yellow-py53.html. Alfa Chemistry,

Rossol, Monona. The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide. New York, NY : Allworth Press, 2001. The book is rather dated, updated information is available from her website.

Stats

Lightfastness

Excellent

This color performed exceptionally well in Golden’s Lightfastness Testing in oils. In Flake white (linseed) and pure zinc, instead of the usual ASTM I - excellent it was ASTM II - very good, and in all other mixing whites tested it was ASTM I - Excellent. It is listed as BWS 8. Bruce MacEvoy relates an interesting insight that after six weeks of sunlight exposure, PY53 in watercolor actually became a bit more opaque.

Transparency

Opaque to Semi-Opaque

Toxicity

Hazard, Use more caution

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." Monona Rossol's work has a section on health problems from nickel and antimony pigments in the Artist's Guide to Health and Safety. Her most recent research can be found through her site. Treat all pigments and paints with studio safety protocols.

Tinting

Medium

Some report strong tinting strength and others report weak strength. We’ve noticed this color can hold its own in mixtures but its starting place is a duller paler yellow to begin with.

Dry Time

Sources vary but 2-7 days seems common. May contain driers since some sources list a very slow dry time.

Varies. Some list 2-7 days.

Oil Content

Low

Low by volume. By weight, 16-18 g/100g of oil

Particle Size

Usually Very Fine but may vary

Chemical Name

Nickel Antimony Titanium Yellow Rutile, Oxides of nickel antimony and titanium

NiOSb₂O₃TiO₂, (Ti,Ni,Sb)O₂

Dry Pigments listing PY53

DISCLAIMER: Please note that we are not experts in health and safety and we are not toxicologists, please consult the proper experts. We are not liable for any issues that may arise from the use of our website or its contents. The information contained in this site is provided without warranty or guarantee of any kind. We do not necessarily endorse any other website that are linked from our site. For any important pigment specs, please reference the manufacturer details. If you discover errors or omissions, please reach out through our contact form. Thank you.

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