A nongranulating, transparent black. MaimeriBlu, a single-pigment only line, uses this as their ‘Neutral Tint’ (most brands have a mixed neutral tint). Rembrandt calls it Spinel Grey.
Stats
Pigment Description: Manganese Ferrite Black Spinel
Lightfastness: Likely Excellent (I) per ArtisCreation.
Toxicity: Nontoxic (A) per ArtisCreation.
Observations
Hue: A totally neutral, inky black.
Gradient: Smooth gradient to a pale gray.
Opacity: Totally transparent, which is rare for a black!
Lifting/Staining: I wanted to note that this pigment is totally lifting. I assumed it would be staining and I was wrong. For example, I painted clear water over dry silhouettes painted in this black… and they all smeared!
Lightfastness
No effect at all from six months of sun!
Comparison to Other Brands
MaimeriBlu – Neutral Tint
MaimeirBlu is the only other brand besides Rembrandt that I am aware of that carries PBk26. I haven’t noticed a difference between the two. This is one of my favorite MMB colors. In other brands, the color called Neutral Tint is usually a mixed transparent dark color made from black, phthalo blue, and a quinacridone red of some kind, but MMB is an all single-pigment brand.
My Review of Spinel Grey
I was using this as the black in my palette for awhile, but I came to realize that it had pretty limited use cases. I think this is not necessarily a fault of this black but my attitude about any black. I use black for:
- Flat black detail on birds/animals.
- Foreground silhouettes.
For #1, any black or mixed black will do, and for #2, an opaque black is better. I switched to using black gouache for silhouettes.
Some people like to mix black or neutral tint into mixes to make darks, and a transparent might be a good idea here, but I don’t like this as much as complementary color mixes.
On my palette? No.
Favorite version? Both MaimeriBlu and Rembrandt were good.