Luminescent pigments can absorb light in bright areas and glow in the dark, and have been used in watch dials since the early 19th century.

In the past, although these pigments contained radium and some other components that were harmful to the human body, now they have been replaced with safer and more stable substances.

In this article, I would like to introduce some of the new pigments that PIGMENT TOKYO has started to carry, along with paint samples.

The first two pigments are Luminescence Blue and Luminescence Green, released by KUSAKABE.

This pigment has a slightly cream color tone while under the light.

Moreover, it has different characteristics from other conventional luminescent pigments.

Firstly, it glows brightly. Although some of you may think all the photoluminescent pigments glow yellow-green in a dark room, the Luminescence Blue has a blue glow while the Luminescence Green has green glows.

Other than that, the luminescence can last for 8 hours under only 15 minutes of exposure to fluorescent light.

However, it glows brightly only for the first few hours, then it starts fading and glows softly for the remaining several hours.

The light source can be sunlight, fluorescent light or LED.

Another bonus point for these luminescent pigments is their scientific stability.

They can be used to create different kinds of paints and can also be mixed with water-based mediums.

Moreover, they are made of environmentally friendly materials, which means that they do not contain any substances that are harmful to the human body.

Besides these two luminescent pigments, we have also started carrying three other types.

These luminescent pigments are different from the ones I mentioned above because they already come in colors.

Due to the pigmentation, the glow is a little more subdued compared to the Luminescence Blue and Green.

Of course, these luminescent pigments also do not contain any harmful substances and are environmentally friendly, so they are safe to use.

Although they have been given special light-resistant treatment, please note that prolonged use outdoors may cause them to turn black due to the combined effects of temperature, humidity and ultraviolet rays.

Therefore, without further ado, let’s make some paints by using these luminescent pigments.

This time, I am going to use acrylic emulsion for the binder.

When mixing mediums with fine pigments like Luminescence, I recommend adding a few drops of Pigment Dispersant for Aqueous Paint to make the mixing easier.

Adding a dispersing agent will help you mix even the finest pigments that usually float in water and it will give a more stable fixation and pigmentation to the paints.

Let's take a look at the Luminescence Orange8O-010 and the Luminescence Pink 8P-010.

【Art Materials Used】

Medium: Acrylic Emulsion

Substrate: Bamboo Washi for Watercolor Art Pad

One of the advantages of hand-made paints is that we can control the amount of medium according to the thickness of paints we want to achieve.

If I take this color sample to a dark area, it will glow like the following picture shows.

【Art Materials Used】

Medium: Acrylic Emulsion

Substrate: Bamboo Washi for Watercolor Art Pad

It is possible to mix luminescent pigments with one another as well as with regular non-luminescent pigments to create your original luminescence paints.

This color is a mixture of Luminescent Blue and KUSAKABE’s Sky Blue.

At first glance, this paint looks quite normal but when taken into the dark, it emits a strong blue light like below.

【Art Materials Used】

Medium: Acrylic Emulsion

Substrate: Bamboo Washi for Watercolor Art Pad

Our art materials experts will always be happy to help if you aren’t sure about what painting medium to use.

For those who are curious about what are the options for mediums, click the following link for more.

PIGMENT TOKYO 「VEHICLES, ANIMAL GLUES」

I believe these pigments will bring you a new discovery that is different from ordinary color materials!