MERCK

Terracotta Weyden Woman with Iriodin Bronze

Effect pigments

Print and Plastic Applications

Iridescent pigments for plastics, printing inks and coatings, additives with functional properties as well as weather stabilized variations.

'Fashion trends may come and go, but MERCK effect pigments always stay in style'

Ambassadress with Colorstream F10-51 Lava Red

MERCK effect pigments (when mixed with silkscreen medium) give an iridescent quality to silkscreen work when printed onto an opaque dark colour – black, terracotta, dark blue have been most successful so far – and the application of these pigments when printed as a final overlay onto digital printed imagery add a metallic sheen and contrasting background shade to my original digital work.

Weyden Woman with Iriodin 303 Royal Gold

This shiny addition is working particularly well with the prints of Elizabeth 1^st and also more National Gallery examples including my interpretation of ‘Portrait of a Lady’ by Rogier van der Weyden and my version of  ‘The Ambassadors by Holbein entitled ‘Ambassadress’.

The richness and lustre of these pigments added as a background overlay and an enhancement to repeat patterns within a textile form heightens the prints' depiction of wealth and regality; not only celebrating what is female and magnificent but also creating an alternative to the original print and painted portrait combination.

Ghent Altarpiece example

Michael Russek printing on plexiglass

My intention is to continue to experiment with more traditional female portraits (examples include, a section of the Ghent Altarpiece, Jan van Eyck, Holbein’s ‘Lady with Squirrel’, Madame Moitessier by Ingres, Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Raphael). Therefore, I intend to print these digital images onto a variety of media, adding selected areas of shimmering opalescence and gauging which areas of opaque tones (with additional glitter) will be most effective - initially I've been using digital prints on a range of papers but will develop this work by printing onto fabric and thin acrylic sheets or perspex (see work of Michael Russek, Marilene Oliver). It will be interesting to see how vivid the colours will remain on different surfaces and if the pigment retains its 'luminescent' qualities.

Marilene Oliver 3D layered print on acrylic

From the literature obtained from Julie Shaw (MERCK accounts manager for effect pigment and functional materials) this product is designed to adhere to most printable surfaces, is lightfast and allows for flexibility and 'bend' of the material. 
This experimentation is a direct response from the MERCK Workshop Demonstration and Lecture by Carsten Brabaender at UWE October 2016. I have used sample pigments sent directly from MERCK by Julie Shaw.

Here is the email sent advertising the MERCK workshop giving a taste of the lecture: if you thought you knew everything about CMYK printing, then this workshop will take you into new areas of special effect printing. It is not often that a commercial print process comes along that is immediately hailed as print-sensational. Associated until now as a commercial packaging process and for special effect printing, this is a rare opportunity to gain insights into this new decorative and innovative print process. During the 1-day workshop, Carsten Brabaender from MERCK Germany will be describing the basic theory of colour separation for RGB pearl effect printing, and will then give a practical screenprinting workshop.