Color Pigment (Chemistry)

Color pigment is traditionally used in day to day objects to art and craft materials.  Pigments are used for coloring various products such as- paint, ink, plastic, fabric, cosmetics, food and other materials. Most pigments that are used in manufacturing and the visual arts are dry colors, in fine powder form. The natural powder color organic or inorganic needs to be added with some form of binding glue. The glue has to be relatively neutral or colorless so that it does not change the hue of the color. Color pigment has a strong consumer market around the world which, “The global demand on pigments was roughly US$ 20.5 billion in 2009, around 1.5-2% up from the previous year. It is predicted to increase in a stable growth rate in the coming years. The worldwide sales will increase to US$ 24.5 billion in 2015, and reach US$ 27.5 billion in 2018.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigment on 20 Feb 2012)

Pigments and reflective media

Till now we discussed about the application of light-color in art and design. The application of light is a modern phenomenon compare to our exposure to color as in consumer products and in our daily life has created enormous influence in various ways. Since the beginning of mankind human beings are fascinated by color pigments. The applications of pigments have gone through enormous experiments and changes. We have tried to understand pigments scientifically and technically. Pigments are chemicals that selectively absorb and reflect different spectra of light. When a surface is painted with a pigment, light hitting the surface is reflected, minus some wavelengths. This subtraction of wavelengths produces the appearance of different colors. Most paints are a blend of several chemical pigments; with intend to produce a reflection of a given color.