⚠️The DEADLIEST Color You’ve Never Heard of 💜☠️ (London Purple)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Hey guys! Thank you for tuning in! I hope that you enjoy this video, and I’m sorry about the audio on the last bit! My audio file got corrupted for that bit, so I had to do some last minute emergency editing, lol. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments, and PLEASE remember: don’t do this at home. It’s risky and dangerous, ESPECIALLY if you don’t have the proper materials.
#art #interesting #paint #painting #history #colors #artist #arthistory
the calling poison control because you thought you poisoned yourself but it just ended up being anxiety is SO REAL 😭😭
Better safe than sorry
They’re always nice when I call lol
@@DylanJuzahow often do you call them o_O
For me it was when i spilled liquified black widows on my hand. Long story.
@@JazzyFizzleDrummers o_O
My old painting teacher always said that if he ever found out he had a terminal illness that was incurable, he would eat a very specific blue paint, because it was so beautiful all he's ever wanted to do is put it in his mouth (i dont remember what it is, but it was discontinued sometime in the 80s or 90s and he bought up every tube he could so he could still use it). He always said we were invited to his paint tasting death day party. I haven't gotten an invite yet, so I assume he's still around and kickin' 😊
I’m wondering if it was original cobalt blue! It has arsenic in it. :)
@@bekahart it might be, but I remember it being a lighter, creamier blue. I'm thinking an manganese? But it could definitely have been a cobalt 😂
He’s gonna have a big disappointment when he learns it probably tastes terrible
@@charliemayfilms1550 he knows it will, but he'll die happy
Cobalt Violet has a form with arsenic in it. In fact I was surprised by the revelation that this vid was about an aniline dye (lake?) form.
I hope you don’t throw away the tin because it’s one of the most beautiful packages I’ve ever seen
Don’t worry! It’s staying in my collection for sure! 💜
right?? gorgeous. i know it was before safety labels and stuff but omg
I hope they don't throw away the tin because that's probably gonna be a hell of a pollutant
It should go to the museum of rare pigments if they don't already have it. They probably do, but still, I hope someone will preserve some of it for posterity
The packaging is very Art Nouveau. They probably loved this color
calling poison control only to find out it's anxiety is SO relatable. definitely got a laugh out of imagining the poor poison control person's face when you told them you may have come in contact with london purple, i'm sure they were at least somewhat confused. glad you're okay!
why did poison bottles have such cool designs?? omg
Ikr they are so cool
I would kill for one!
(Badum tss)
Sadly the same reason as floride and leaded fuel, to make enough money before they have to close down. The people working with the substance knows what it does but sometimes ignores science for money. The same reason sugar has bright colours, to make a lasting impression in their bank before you learn the flaws and stop using it.
Whyyyyy do I want a beetlejuice painting with paris green and london purple? Whyyyyyyu
Maybe you can find replicas? Or somehow recreate the look of them? I get the point for the curiosity though.
Now that would be some deadly art
;)
Maybe when you get to the afterlife.
Green and purple is the best colour combination ever
I am so happy your not poisoned. I love the history of paints and the ways we used to make colors. Even the names like Ivory Black (Ivory is not black) intrigued me into looking into paint origins :)
the anxiety is sooo real i was worried just watching you handle it with full protection 😭 thank u for all u do for the art history nerds out there
Dude if it was me I’d have full radioactive protection suit on
So I was right, its a very pretty purple. Its not in your face purple but its subtle and gorgeous.
Also at leat the poison scare was just anxiety, if it was actually the paint it would've ended pretty badly.
the engineering urge to go even further beyond:
"hmm, there has to be an even deadlier color than that. wait right there, I'll go get my radiochemistry manual-"
Like radium compounds, huh
@@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648 the radium paint used in the early 20th century is probably the most deadly one that has actually been used. I do know though, if memory serves some plutonium salts have reasonably vibrant colors. And plutonium, in addition to being both a heavy metal and highly radioactive, also is not present in any way in the natural environment before 1945. That means that our bodies have even fewer ways to deal with it than other highly toxic elements.
And if you mess up mixing it, you destroy your City!
Thank you for sharing! What a lovely color. I feel privileged to be able to see it in paint form, seeing as it’s not well documented.
I find this series absolutely delightful. But! Please only interact with these toxin pigments if you feel capable of doing so safely. I’d much rather you stay happy and healthy than to have another toxic paint video ❤️
I’m wondering how you’d store these toxic pigments and also clean your tools after mixing, I don’t know too much about painting and I’m so curious
i don't think you could just wash them with water like you do gouache or watercolor (i don't use acrylic or other paints so i can't speak on them). like... it'd definitely do something to your sink. maybe you could wash them outside? i think a viable option for storage might be a garage or a closet? but i don't store poisons so i don't know! just some thoughts :]
@@PPBbunno Never wash hazardous waste down a drain! Many recycling centers are equipped to deal with disposal of it from local hospital, universities, research centers, businesses, etc. You can always look for a hazardous waste disposal centre near you! (Know this from working with lithium batteries and lead in high volumes, you shouldn't just throw those in the bin, dispose responsibly)
I work in WW please don't wash anything toxic down the drain.
In a WWTP, the bacteria we use are so sensitive to change.
You will kill the whole system 😭😭and you will not be able to flush your toilets or take showers
@@PPBbunno'i dont store poisons' then SHHH
I assume there is a separate set of paintbrushes for it.
At least it does seem like a color that would be fairly easy to replicate by mixing other colors, and without the, you know, dying.
It was probably a really novel and harder to achieve color at the time though. Probably why mauve and colors like this became meteorically popular back then
Gotta say, that is a drop-dead gorgeous lilac gray. And LOVE the container. Definitely worth a touch of anxiety.
Is there ways to synthetically make it without the arsenic? It somehow seems that the toughest poison out there makes the prettiest colours
I’m working on figuring out a nontoxic substitute for you guys!
@@bekahart omg thank you so much! I'm just super curious is it because it's poisonous that it brings out the prettiest colours or is it because it looks nice 🤣🤣🤣
@@bekahartmaking color sample cards of all these toxic colors for sale (obviously replicating them with non-toxic pigments) would be great. I can think of a variety of users besides artists: authors, describing the color of a dress or wallpaper, historical recreationists commissioning custom dyed fabrics, creating moody, evocative wallpapers and textiles on spoonflower, etc.
@@christajennings3828 I ADORE this idea!
@@bekahart As a designer/printer I would love to use it in William Morris-style wallpapers.
If I was a painter I would be too tempted to use this if I had it. I’m too dumb and it’s too gorgeous
Carbazole violet + perylene green.
So now I am supposed to order these to make a painting of the Joker and BeetleJuice in a Brawl with Spawn and Rogue ;')
Hello! I just stumbled across your videos (thanks to the algorithm). I'm not a painter per se - I come from the miniature wargaming hobby, so I tend to paint lots of tiny little pewter and plastic men (and other... things). In real life, I'm a chemistry professor. While paint pigments aren't my particular specialty, they are in my neighborhood, and definitely of interest. I also wanted to say that I appreciate your emphasis on safety! I wish I was half as effective at conveying that to my lab students... Anyway, thanks, I like what I've seen so far, and I am looking forward to exploring your videos!
please cover your hair also when working with these pigments!!
This is my new favorite channel! I have been checking it out for about a week now. Whenever I watch I learn something, I laugh a little, and I thoroughly enjoy the time spent.
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate that ☺️
The end gave me anxiety 😵💫🫥☠️ glad you're fine
This is like keeping venomous snakes as pets:
Art School Edition
Such a pretty colour but I'm glad acrylics exist now cause you can make that colour exactly without the dying
Love that balancing act between being completely fascinated and absolutely terrified by something. VERY relatable.
Also can we just take a second to marvel at how GORGEOUS the container is?!
That final comment on the poison control. I was at work a few weeks back and there was a HAZMAT spill that got on an employee. Me being trained in responding to the spills and contact, went to into action and did what I had to do. I thought I got it on a part of my hand, turns out it was just my brain going full psychosomatic and making my body think I got exposed. I went into precautionary mode and followed the protocols in the handbook like I did with the employee, but that psychosomatic power is strong.
This is one of my favorite things. I don't remember the name, but there is a color, paint, & dye museum that I'm sure would absolurely love a sample if you had any to spare! (If they don't already have it)
I'd suggest doing some research and reaching out to them!
What a gorgeous pigment! Thank you for sharing a piece of history with us 💜 I'm curious how you decontaminate the equiptment you use with toxic pigments and safely take off protective gear, considering all the dust.
I dont know anything about art history but im a chemistry student and i love art in general, these videos made me appreciate it more. Keep going!
Calls poison control to brag about my ancient poisonous discontinued for centuries purple paint
Is there a modern color this reminds you of? I think it's such a pretty purple but uh, london purple watercolor sounds like a HORRIBLE idea.
Arsenic was used in many colours of dye, not just green. I have an 1880s Massachusetts Health Department book that explains the dangerous past and present (1880s) use of arsenic in dyes, and includes many 2-inch × half-inch samples of arsenically dyed wallpapers and fabrics, in many colours. The most arsenical wallpaper sample is magenta. The most arsenical fabric sample is turkey-red, which would be used to make long underwear.
Wow! What is it called? I would love to look it up!!
So lovely and a really cool process, but we could definitely achieve this color through mixing. If not exact, close enough for the difference to be unnoticeable. Not trying to bash your video at all. I loved it! I just see so many people in the comments saying they’re tempted to try, but we don’t have to guys :) no need to risk poisoning yourself, just learn some color theory and toy around with it.
Cool poisonous stuff🥰🙌🏻☢️
This is such a beautiful color!! I love to paint desaturated in digital, these are the kinds of colors i couldn't live without (digitally) in real life!! So amazing
This is like the exact color I want for my bedroom accent wall
🥰 so love how you stressed the safety part, hands down best channel ever!
Thank you for that demonstration of common sense in a world where idiocy reigns. 🙏
and for the beautiful explanation of the poisonnous sibling to the paris green, I had no idea!
This video motivated me to write an entire essay on london purple, share it with my science class, and now half of my science class watches you, your welcome.
🥺💜ahhh thank you!!
YESS IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THISSS
Oh, but it's such a lovely color, capable of many hues. It's rather sad that it's so deadly, but maybe there's a less harmful copycat around?
Looking at it here (and of course the color may not be true to life on screens), I'd probably start by playing around mixing alizarin crimson, a little Payne's gray, ultramarine, and maybe a hint of an orange or burnt orange? I dunno, without actually trying to replicate it I can't say 100%, but that's what I see in it, and I'm kind of a natural at color mixing? 😅
I am working on making a video of how to color-match it with regular oil paints!! :) it is my goal eventually to be able to release a line of oil paints that are a bunch of nontoxic, exact tone replicas of these toxic paints!
I haven't tested it but I assume carbazole violet + perylene green should do the trick.
I repair guitars for a living, and a lot of less expensive instruments from the late 1800's and early 1900's used an arsenic based dye to "ebonize" fruit woods for their fingerboards. Anything involving sanding of them will make you feel pretty ill, and at this point I just refuse to do anything but replace them. The arsenic also would react with the metal screws in some fingerboards and cause the wood to loose all structure - you look at them cross eyed, and they fall apart.
The tin looks rad! It might look super nice if you cast a in a solid epoxy cube.
WoW, the packaging was so beautiful, and so dangerous! (nervous laughter ensues). Thanks for sharing!
The packaging is very Art Nouveau. Lovely
Note to self: I have toxic taste in colors.
I just found your channel today and I’ve been binge watching
All it took for me to get diagnosed with anxiety was telling a shrink I considered worrying a hobby.
Take a deep breath, it will be okay.
And if not you’ll have plenty of company, so it’s not so bad. 💖
Lovely color. Any chance of using it to dye a clothing item?
It is a lovely color but prolonged exposure can cause all sorts of problems eventually culminating in death.
Thank you so much for this video! I've been kind of obsessed with the science of colour for the last 50 years and I had never heard of London Purple before. I know Pantone have shot themselves in the head recently but could you give us the Pantone numbers that closest match the shades you made in the video? I could get them from the video but I'm not sure how accurate the colour will be after uploading to youtube.
I didn't know about your channel before just now but I've liked, subscribed and am looking forward to a wonderful evening catching up on your previous videos.
Thanks again.
What a *BEAUTIFUL* Intense color ! like an eggplant. That Can's graphics are Gorgeous too !
Can you make some long form art color history videos? I bet money you would go viral!
Thanks so much, I definitely will! I graduate from my university this April, so I haven’t had as much time as I would like, but I plan on doing that as soon as I graduate ☺️💜💜
It may have been mentioned before on this channel, but I'm curious. How do you deal with the waste, like the contaminated packaging this pigment came in?
I appreciate the PPE demonstration each time.
That is a beautiful shade of, thank you for sharing.
I've gotten anxiety from eating 3 day old leftovers, so the calling poison control is so relatable 😂
I'm obsessed with this shade of purple, it immediately reminds me of the cocktail "arsenic and old lace" (disclaimer: does not contain arsenic, only absinthe and creme de Violette) and I feel like it would go so well with Paris green
I would love to know what modern-day paint colour comes the closest to this London Purple? I love it! Whilst watching the videos, I noticed my bedroom walls are fairly close to the first mix with white. Nice!
It’s so pretty!!!
I love the container art. The color is pleasant, too.
Good for commiting to safety. 10/10 would let you in a bio lab and handle bacteria.
Purple is my favorite color, and I have to say, this deadly purple is a very good purple. XD Thanks for seeing what it looks like on canvas so we don't have to and can't poison ourselves.
Well, your London Purple just got you a new sub. Thank you for sharing🤙🏽
Purple mountain Majesty is one of my favorite colors. And you just made it with that purple
"Ooh what a pretty color! I wonder what it's made with?"
"Oh, arsenic."
London Purple and Lead White..that should create beautiful tones
Purple and green is my favorite color combination 💜💚
I discovered your channel recently, and immediatlly i had a dumb question so i'm very sorry in advanced.
But is it possible to paint with all these toxic pigments? (with safety of course). And a painting done even after some times isn't toxic? (sorry my english is awful).
Idk. Arsenic has certainly made me anxious. Not because I was afraid of arsenic but arsenic phisically, chemically made me anxious. Now, I worked in a copper smeltery at an institute of non ferrous metals and everything was just coated in a 3 inch dark grey yellowish blanket of lead and arsenic.
Long story ahort. The simpthoms were: alergic reaction to anything containing lactose, tomatoes and apparentaly horses, spinning head, tiredness, fast pulse, shortness of breath, inability to focus on anything and bitter, metalic, salty, garlicy, burnt taste of the teeth.
I had to throw out all my clothes and wipe all surfaces that were causing problems with rubing alcohol untill paper towels were completely white. No joke. The amounts that were problematic were invisible. But if they were, your body could absorb it through the skin and it woud get filtered out through your kidneys without many issues.
*”Don’t eat paint.”*
Seems like pretty good general life advice…😂❤
Beautiful. Purple is my favorite color. I would risk my life to use that pigment. Imagine radium green and London purple being used on the same piece.
The irony here is that the arsenic was only there because it was industrial waste filler. The actual colorant was aniline, which could easily be mixed with a non-toxic filler.
in those times people were near immune to arsenic exposure because if you expose yourself to it in low amounts over a long time you grow immunity to it
That's not true. Just because it was in The Princess Bride doesn't mean it's true. Check the words acute and chronic.
Thank you. I hope you stay safe. The colour is a bit muted. What are the best violet/magenta/purple oil colour pigments? I was hoping to get into art but my life is overtaxed already. Was planning on doing historic events. Hard to get good stuff where I am.
Best Wishes. Wow, a big channel.
The best ones are the true cobalt violets from top-quality brands*. They are lightfast and have the best color intensity.
Dioxazine violet is also okay but it's not so lightfast when mixed with white. Manganese violet is not as nice as cobalt but it can also be useful. Quinacridone violet is less lightfast than manganese and cobalt but a little better than dioxazine mixed with white. Ultramarine violet is dull but can be useful. Avoid "opera" and "bright violet" paints. Check them for fugitive pigments like PV1, PV10, and PV39.
Quincridone magenta and quinacridone rose, like dioxazine violet, aren't super lightfast when mixed with white. However, quin magenta and rose are commonly used instead of cobalt violet light because they're cheap.
*Old Holland uses terrible imitation mixtures in its watercolor line. Its oils line uses the real thing.
It's quite sad, it looks like it would be amazing to use, unless you die before your painting is finished
Try carbazole (dioxazine) purple + perylene green.
I thought arsenic was only toxic if orally ingested repeatedly over time or in very high doses that could not happen with casual contact?
any repeated exposure is dangerous- breathing the fumes can be just as toxic, especially with this paint coming in powder form, so the ventilation mask is super important! i think the gloves are a precaution to avoid contaminating the face and other surfaces/objects while working with it? it does also depend on the amount but it might be that the exact amount in this pigment wasn’t known… it’s just best to be extra safe when exposing yourself to carcinogens!
The form of the molecule makes a difference. A less soluble and less reactive molecule, cobalt arsenate, is less scary than one that's highly soluble and reactive. Arsenic is the element, not the entire molecule. In the case of London purple, the molecule is arsenic trioxide - highly reactive and, I think, very soluble.
For instance, mercuric sulfide is traditional vermilion and it's very insoluble. That means that if it's pure (not adulterated with read lead) most of it will pass right through the body if ingested. By contrast, dimethyl mercury is so dangerous that a few drops on a glove killed a researcher. Elemental mercury is also a lot less dangerous than dimethyl mercury. Insolubility of some molecules is how barium sulfate, which contains the toxic heavy metal barium, can be drunk in large quantity as a liquid contrast agent in medicine without killing people.
God- it’s so pretty- WHY ARE THE PRETTIEST COLORS ALWAYS SO DEADLY-
Thing is, this color is really just aniline. Aniline is toxic but it can be replicated with a mixture using carbazole (dioxazine) as the base purple colorant. Something to darken and neutralize it a bit, like perylene green (PBk 31) or dark chromium oxide (PG 17) would enable one to match the less intense coloration of this mixture. Commercial dioxazine paints tend to use colorless filler (and sometimes white) to lighten the pigment (and save money) but if one skips the filler it should be possible to get a very deep masstone.
If I had a nickel for every time the color purple was associated with death...
Back on my day, arsenic purple was just a condition everyone got at one point in life! Kids these days can't take anything
It seems that the purple color is from aniline dye and the arsenic actually is nothing more than filler. The reason it's there has nothing to do with the color and is instead because the "pigment" was industrial waste. A much less toxic but performatively identical alternative could be made from aniline and some weak white fillers. Of course, it could also be imitated with more lightfastness by using a more lightfast violet, like carbazole, as the base colorant.
Do you mix the powder in a fume hood or outside?
❤❤❤thanks for sharing
Hey, better anxiety than death 😂👍
Why are my favorite shade of purple and green arsenic based?!
Well, true emerald green, when fresh, is more brilliant than any other green and the human eye is most sensitive to green. This explains why it was so beloved by painters like Cezanne. (Its toxicity is also why painters like Cezanne suffered and died.)
By contrast, this purple is actually degraded analine dye with a whitish industrial waste filler than just happens to be arsenical.
what do you do with the swatches after you make them if its so deadly?
With arsenic supposedly being the 10th MOST ABUNDANT element in the earth's crust, no wonder it was used so much in paints! 🤦🏻♂️😸😸
To really test it, try it with lead white
I was randomly scrolling an ADR list of chemicals and thier respective number plate when I came across 60 1621 "London Purple" with a max ammount of meerely half a kilo.
Wasnt expecting it to be just paint XD
On an unrelated note, there are ADR Plates for hay and animal hair.
A Brush With Death-Ka
Thank for sharing , I love seeing paints and pigments , deadly and rare even more so 😅
the colour is so pretty tho 😩
it's a beautiful purple!
What do you do with all these toxic materials when you're done with them? Do you save them? Do you have to appropriately dispose of them? Do you use these paints?
Sorry if this has been asked but do any of the many arsenic colours have modern day equivalents?
There are a couple Scheele’s green and Paris green imitations! However, none for London purple. Working on figuring out that one myself for you guys! :)
To imitate this chemical mixture (as London purple is aniline dye + filler): dioxazine violet mixed with perylene green. I suppose dark chromium oxide green could also work instead of the perylene.
As far as your other question: All of them can be successfully imitated, although true emerald green (when fresh) is more brilliant than the phthalo mixes and it's also less opaque. Zinc white can be used in the mix for less opacity but it causes extreme brittleness in oils.
The end❤❤❤ I would have been freaking the whole time too❤❤❤
The lightest shade is about what I was going for when I had my house painted.
Wait until @frannces finds this paint 💀😊
What's the cleanup process after you're done?
Is there any way to get those exact colors WITHOUT the arsenic? 😅 or MAKE those colors without the arsenic? 😅 not gonna lie, I fell in love with those colors now.
I wonder how much of these toxic pigments I was exposed to in my paints back in the 50's and 60's. I remember the lead colors were common. I know I was breathing in a lot of cadmium when I used an airbrush in the 70's.
Airbrushing with heavy metals is bad. However, most toxic pigments do not become airbone on their own. Arsenic pigments are an exception. The only one of those that might not offgass is the violet one (cobalt arsenate).
Well since arsenic was used in embalming for many years, I guess after it kill the bugs, it also embalmed them?
do you use Pris green hair dye
Poisoned with anxiety 💅✨
I love how some people think you ✨over do✨ safety. IF I HAD ARSENIC PAINT ID BE IN A RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROTECTION SUIT☢☣
I suggest to cover your hair with some adequate protection.