In order to answer the question of why a particular pigment was used, you might need to consult a variety of types of sources in a few different disciplines.
See the "Home" tab for a list of database when looking for secondary historical sources. You will find a list of databases chock full of journal articles, book reviews, books, essays, and more!
You might find these useful for specific types of art or a more comprehensive search on a topic.
Publication Dates: 1800-1899
Contains brief information about articles, art notes, stories, poems, and advertisements found in 42 art journals published in the U.S. during the 19th century.
Publication Dates: 1886-Present
Contains summaries of articles, books, and working papers on all aspects of economics.
Primary sources are first-hand accounts, that serve as original evidence documenting a period, event, people, idea or work.
While an obvious primary source would be your chosen artwork, or an artwork made by your chosen artistic process, other examples of primary sources include books or news articles written about your chosen artist in their liftetime, or material written about your art process during a historically significant time in the history of the material.
Books or articles written about historical artists during their lifetime can be considered primary sources.
You can find primary source books and articles in:
Publication Dates: 1800-1899
Contains brief information about articles, art notes, stories, poems, and advertisements found in 42 art journals published in the U.S. during the 19th century.
News articles written about historical artists during their lifetime can be considered primary sources.
You can find primary source news articles in:
