Primary Color Blends before and after elimination of Zinc Yellow and Cobalt Blue.
Polyform is “bursting with excitement” as they announce their new Premo Clay Colors for 2011. Artists are grieving; two primary colors, essential for color blending and teaching color theory will be eliminated from Polyform’s touted palette of “artist colors”. Premo’s Zinc Yellow and Cobalt Blue, essential for most of the primary blends shown here will no longer be available. We will be left with those shown below. Tell Polyform what you think about this. Email them directly at info@polyformproducts.com , post a message on their Facebook Wall, or join the Facebook discussion on this topic.
Are you in a guild? Let your guild members know. You are welcome to link to this post.
Thank you for the perfect “oh so graphic” visual testimony to the loss and potential demise of the rainbow that once was PREMO. I have close to 15,000 PREMO custom-blended color samples, a labor of love made over many years since almost the beginning of PREMO in the mid 90’s. I would guess that a similar percentage of mine would also be lost.
The changes that Polyform is making to their current color line-up affects us all as artists, whether you use their brand of clay or not.
Among the colors they are eliminating are two primaries- Cobalt Blue and Zinc Yellow. When Promat was replaced with the Premo line in 1996, polyform worked with Marie Segal to have a color line that included both cool and warm primaries, akin to the mixing systems painters have been using for centuries.
Many of us remember when we couldn’t get juried into a gallery or a craft show because we were using plastic. The acceptance of the medium via galleries, shows, collectors, books and museum collections has grown exponentially in the past twenty five years.
So far, the acceptance of polymer into academic art programs- beyond Kindergarten, has met with little success. Not having a clay line that includes traditional pigment primaries(Cadmium red, fuchsia,Ultramarine blue, Cobalt blue, Turquoise, Zinc yellow and cadmium yellow) serious jeopardizes that possibility.
Polyform promises to post recipes for the discontinued colors on their web site…it will be interesting to see just how one can mix zinc yellow from “sunshine” yellow and cobalt blue from denim!!!
After spending the past fifteen years designing and teaching color workshops – including thousands of hours making samples- writing a book with Maggie Maggio – Polymer Clay Color Inspirations, making a DVD “Confident Color” … – to say I am upset about the new color line is an understatement.
Below is the message I have emailed to Premo:
PLEASE KEEP Premo’s Zinc Yellow and Cobalt Blue. I have only been working with poly clay in 2010. but I already have experience of how impossible it is to get certain colors with Cad Yellow and Turquoise or Ultramarine Blue. The most graphic presentation I have seen was done by my teacher, Carol Simmons. We have worked as teams of clay users to create our color sticks so we could calculate how to mix particular colors. As you can see at Carol’s website, http://clsdesigns.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/polyform-say-it-isnt-so/, you will reduce us from 15 possible shade combinations to only 7. This is a sever reduction in color choice. Wonderful color choices will be lost. PLEASE SAVE OUR COLORS!!!
Thank you,
Laura R. Owen
Laura,
Thank you for speaking up.
Carol
Thank you for the visual aid. As a visual learner, that made it glaringly real for me the impact this will have on my skinner blends. 🙁
Thanks, Tonja, for posting this on Facebook. And thanks Carol, for posting this on your site.
I can’t believe they are discontinuing cobalt blue and zinc yellow. With polymer clay having more acceptance over the years, I don’t understand why they would get rid of some of the primaries and replace them with cutesy named colors…did I read correctly that there will be “sunshine yellow” and “denim blue”?? I will be sure to spread the word and speak up about this. It’s such a shame, especially after doing color studies with books such as “Polymer Clay Color Inspirations.”
I do want to thank those clay artists who work with companies to manufacture clays that they know polymer clay ARTISTS want. Your efforts are very much appreciated.
Hi Carol,
Couldn’t agree more! I love Premo, but can’t understand what they’re trying to do to us!!! Hope all’s well with you! Hugs…
You too, Ann!
Please don’t do this, I love your clay but It does make it difficult to stay loyal when there are so many other brands to choose from with already so many more colors. I Have even forgone trying other newer clays because I was so satisfied.
One of the obvious outcomes of this disastrous decision is that the possibilities for variation in individual artists’ palettes are reduced– yeah, let’s all produce work in the exact same colors! Clearly, the company hasn’t thought this through. They probably ran some computer program and when those colors hadn’t sold as much as others, they were destined to be eliminated! That’s what happens when you consult accountants instead of artists!
That’s a great point, Christine and this is the first time I’ve seen it made. I hop you’ll write the company as well.
Thanks Carol for giving us this information. I’m very upset by this incomprehensible decision, we need cobalt blue, zinc yellow, copper and sea green. Cobalt blue and zinc yellow are essential for color mixing. Your example palette without them looks really poor… I hope the company will reconsider the decision and continue the colors.
Margit and Jainnie,
Thank you for sharing your views on this topic. The more people who speak up, the better chance we have of getting this decision reversed. I hope you’ll communicate directly with the company as well, through one of the links in this post.
Thanks Carol for the visual information! You would hope that they would have learned to listen to the artists for a change. We can only hope that they don’t continue to ignore the artist or it will continue to cost them- again. We will alert the masses!
I have also written to Polyform in protest of this decision. Getting rid of green or purple wouldn’t phase me because I can make them. You can not make a primary like cobalt or zinc yellow. They are the building blocks for so many colors. I don’t want to have to switch brands but I may have to if I cannot get the primary colors I need.
I just read that Cobalt and Zinc Yellow will not be discontinued! Now if only they’d keep Copper – I’ve become addicted to it.
Copper ….oh no….I am almost out. Must get an order quickly.
Copper is a great! color. I love it too. FYI, you can make Copper by mixing Gold with Alizerine Crimson. Try a skinner blend with those two colors. I think you will like it.
Thanks for the suggestion, I will.
I wrote directly to them. Your art is stunning and I cannot imagine getting those colors with so many being taken out of our ability to purchase ALL of the colors. Adding additional pearls and translucents would be fun. I hope they listen to all of us.
Thank you!
Beverly and Glo,
I’ve heard the new copper will be the color of a new penny and can be mixed with red to look like the old copper.
Carol
One picture= a thousand words (or two essential pigment primaries).
Thank you.
Thanks for bringing up this issue. Glad that Polymat listend and are keeping the Zinc Y. and Cobalt but wish they’d keep the Copper, too, and the Sea Green. Two wonderful colours! I’m only hobbiest but even I can see how imperative those primaries are. I’m sure this was strictly a marketing decision (forget the lawyers, kill all the marketers! cf. Shakespeare), as Christine writes above.
I am copying this message I wrote as I think word needs to get around about this. The publicing of the news is so conviently in Xmas time that I am afraid people will miss this if we do not intentionally spread the word.
I stumbled into polymer clay express blog
http://pce-artway.blogspot.com/2010/12/clay-news.html
where there is a text “Great News!!!
We will be carrying Zinc Yellow and Cobalt Blue Premo throughout 2011!! We are one of three companies that will be doing so. ”
so when polyform promised that they will continue those colours they actually, IMO, lied. There is no promis about continuing then further and also this this does not help my situation a bit as I am selling clay for my customers in Finland and not buying it retale for my own use. I am dissapointed and this truly ruins my xmas 🙁
This is what I posted to polyforms facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Polyform-Products/106551216055451
“I just readed from polymer clay express that actually, on contrary to your promise, you are NOT going to make the cobolt blue and zinc yellow available to all customers as we here in europe that are selling the clay are not going to buy your clay from retalers.
I am dissapointed on your desicion and I think you lied when you tried to convince the audience that you are “keeping” the zinc yellow and cobolt blue. “
I agree with you. See today’s post. -Carol
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What is the current situation w the premo primary colors? I will soon run out of my stash. What have people resorted to? Sorry if this has been asked/answered a million times. I live in rural, forested southern Illinois, and my web connection has been out for 9 months! Will appreciate an update.
The distributors listed in this post http://carolsimmonsdesigns.com/2011/premo-zinc-yellow-and-cobalt-blue-a-new-perspective-on-polyform/ are still stocking cobalt blue and zinc yellow.