Muzyka’s Musings

C&EN’s What’s That Stuff? column always has interesting articles.  Or maybe it’s that, as a chemist, I like knowing about the chemicals found in materials that I use every day.  Their article on Oil Paints was enlightening for me, particularly since I have several relatives who are artists.  It sounds like the artists of previous generations were also chemists, mixing their own paints by combining pigments with the oils to suspend them.  Then they changed the texture of the paint by adding soaps or waxes.  Some pigments (phthalocyanine blue and green) are less soluble in oil, so the paints can be thinner and more difficult to use.  Luckily for artists of today, paint factories can add materials to stabilize the paints using those difficult pigments.  All this thinking about painting reminds me of a young chemist I know who wants to go into art restoration.  It sounds like a fascinating field.