Identification of Colourants and Varnishes in a 14th Century Decorated Wood-Carved Door of the Dionysiou Monastery in Mount Athos

A decorated and carved wooden door of the late Byzantine period (14th Century), which belongs to the Dionysiou Monastery in Mount Athos, Greece, constitutes an important relic of valuable technological information due to its construction technology and history. Seventeen (17) samples detached from the door are studied using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), and micro-Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. The following materials are identified in the cross sections of the door samples using micro-Raman spectroscopy: orpiment, lead white, red lead, red ochre, cinnabar, carbon black, gypsum, anhydrite, and calcite, and an organic colourant of the indigoid family. SEM-EDX studies supported to the aforementioned Raman results. Interestingly, a combination of inorganic and organic colourants was detected. The main goals of this particular study were to: (a) reveal the colour palette and materials, (b) identify the type of varnish and its condition, and (c) contribute to future restoration processes and aid conservators in selecting compatible restoration materials.

Baryshok. Enriching colour range of ceramic shapes on clay-based materials of low quality

Introduction. This article discusses the possibility of expanding the colour palette of a ceramic shard. Due to the shortage of high-quality clay raw materials for the manufacture of plastic molded facing bricks, the problem of manufacturing ceramic wall materials by semi-dry pressing from low-quality clay rocks is urgent.Materials and methods. The main raw material was non-caking clay raw material with a low content of clay and a high content of silt particles. Some corrective additives were used to expand the colour palette of ceramic bricks. In the article, the authors used both standard methods for determining the physical and mechanical properties and modern methods for studying the phase composition of materials.Results. The possibility of enriching the colour range of a ceramic shard based on non-sintered clay raw materials has been experimentally confirmed, provided that the mixture contains flux additives. When receiving products with a clarified shard, light-colored flutes should be used.Conclusion. The possibility of enriching the colour range of a ceramic cap by adding white-burning clay, introducing bleaching and chromophore additives and technogenic products has been established. Due to the differences in the chemical composition of clay raw materials from individual deposits, an individual approach to each of them is required.

Bachelor's photo project “Think in colour”

The author’s message for this Bachelor’s photo project was to analyse the colour palette by researching and systematising the colour spectrum by creating a photo project. This photo project consists of two parts, which differ in the expressive imaging method; the background idea unites them. The main thing was to show the interaction of colours, texture, and the image’s plane. The use­ of paint and different background compositions gave a sense of depth to space. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that a complete spectral analysis is carried out for the first time, compared with the works of classics, analysis of the place in the history of each event associated with a particular colour.

Cobalt or cerulean? Interpreting colour trends for the Canadian fashion industry

The Canadian apparel industry faces many difficult decisions during product development, and selecting a colour palette for an upcoming season can be a significant challenge. With no specific Canadian colour forecasting services available, Canadian trend directors must rely on European and American forecasts for their colour trends. This study on colour trends and preferences demonstrated how colours that are forecast for the United States and Europe are adapted for Canada and the diverse target markets within it. Six case studies based on interviews with trend directors from Canadian retailers explore the methods used to develop seasonal colour palettes. These case studies reveal each retailer’s customers’ attitudes towards colour trends and colour preferences, and then compare them to the rest of the retail market. The results will allow Canadian fashion professionals—and those working in small markets anywhere—to better understand how to develop seasonal palettes for their customers, thereby increasing sales and profit.

Cobalt or cerulean? Interpreting colour trends for the Canadian fashion industry

The Canadian apparel industry faces many difficult decisions during product development, and selecting a colour palette for an upcoming season can be a significant challenge. With no specific Canadian colour forecasting services available, Canadian trend directors must rely on European and American forecasts for their colour trends. This study on colour trends and preferences demonstrated how colours that are forecast for the United States and Europe are adapted for Canada and the diverse target markets within it. Six case studies based on interviews with trend directors from Canadian retailers explore the methods used to develop seasonal colour palettes. These case studies reveal each retailer’s customers’ attitudes towards colour trends and colour preferences, and then compare them to the rest of the retail market. The results will allow Canadian fashion professionals—and those working in small markets anywhere—to better understand how to develop seasonal palettes for their customers, thereby increasing sales and profit.

Cobalt or cerulean? interpreting colour trends for the Canadian fashion industry

The Canadian apparel industry faces many difficult decisions during product development, and selecting a colour palette for an upcoming season can be a significant challenge. With no specific Canadian colour forecasting services available, Canadian trend directors must rely on European and American forecasts for their colour trends. This study on colour trends and preferences demonstrated how colours that are forecast for the United States and Europe are adapted for Canada and the diverse target markets within it. Six case studies based on interviews with trend directors from Canadian retailers explore the methods used to develop seasonal colour palettes. These case studies reveal each retailer’s customers’ attitudes towards colour trends and colour preferences, and then compare them to the rest of the retail market. The results will allow Canadian fashion professionals—and those working in small markets anywhere—to better understand how to develop seasonal palettes for their customers, thereby increasing sales and profit.

Cobalt or cerulean? interpreting colour trends for the Canadian fashion industry

The Canadian apparel industry faces many difficult decisions during product development, and selecting a colour palette for an upcoming season can be a significant challenge. With no specific Canadian colour forecasting services available, Canadian trend directors must rely on European and American forecasts for their colour trends. This study on colour trends and preferences demonstrated how colours that are forecast for the United States and Europe are adapted for Canada and the diverse target markets within it. Six case studies based on interviews with trend directors from Canadian retailers explore the methods used to develop seasonal colour palettes. These case studies reveal each retailer’s customers’ attitudes towards colour trends and colour preferences, and then compare them to the rest of the retail market. The results will allow Canadian fashion professionals—and those working in small markets anywhere—to better understand how to develop seasonal palettes for their customers, thereby increasing sales and profit.

Exploring Liu Kang’s Paris Practice (1929–1932): Insight into Painting Materials and Technique

This paper presents the results of an extensive study of 14 paintings by the pioneering Singapore artist Liu Kang (1911–2004). The paintings are from the National Gallery Singapore and Liu family collections. The aim of the study is to elucidate the painting technique and materials from the artist’s early oeuvre, Paris, spanning the period from 1929 to 1932. The artworks were studied with a wide array of non- and micro-invasive analytical techniques, supplemented with the historical information derived from the Liu family archives and contemporary colourmen catalogues. The results showed that the artist was able to create compositions with a limited colour palette and had a preferential use of commercially available ultramarine, viridian, chrome yellow, iron oxides, organic reds, lead white, and bone black bound in oil that was highlighted. This study identified other minor pigments that appeared as hue modifications or were used sporadically, such as cobalt blue, Prussian blue, emerald green, cadmium yellow, cobalt yellow, and zinc white. With regard to the painting technique, the artist explored different styles and demonstrated a continuous development of his brushwork and was undoubtedly influenced by Modernists’ artworks. This comprehensive technical study of Liu Kang’s paintings from the Paris phase may assist art historians and conservators in the evaluation of the artist’s early career and aid conservation diagnostics and treatment of his artworks. Furthermore, the identified painting materials can be compared with those used by other artists active in Paris during the same period.

Two-step machine learning enables optimized nanoparticle synthesis

In materials science, the discovery of recipes that yield nanomaterials with defined optical properties is costly and time-consuming. In this study, we present a two-step framework for a machine learning-driven high-throughput microfluidic platform to rapidly produce silver nanoparticles with the desired absorbance spectrum. Combining a Gaussian process-based Bayesian optimization (BO) with a deep neural network (DNN), the algorithmic framework is able to converge towards the target spectrum after sampling 120 conditions. Once the dataset is large enough to train the DNN with sufficient accuracy in the region of the target spectrum, the DNN is used to predict the colour palette accessible with the reaction synthesis. While remaining interpretable by humans, the proposed framework efficiently optimizes the nanomaterial synthesis and can extract fundamental knowledge of the relationship between chemical composition and optical properties, such as the role of each reactant on the shape and amplitude of the absorbance spectrum.