Zinc Ferrite Yellow

Description

Zinc Ferrite Yellow (PY119) is a handmade single-pigment Zinc Iron Yellow, a mixed-oxide ceramic pigment based on zinc and iron oxides. It produces a warm, earthy yellow that sits between yellow ochre and raw sienna, with a subtle amber–gold undertone and a gently subdued masstone. Compared to high-chroma organic yellows, this color is calmer and more mineral; compared to traditional earth yellows, it is slightly clearer and more consistent, offering a natural, stone-like yellow with excellent reliability.

In use, Zinc Ferrite Yellow gives a controlled, versatile yellow ideal for sunlit stone, architecture, dried grasses, earth, foliage highlights, portraits, and atmospheric landscape work. It has low to moderate tinting strength with a semi-opaque to semi-transparent character, making it excellent for quiet tints, glazing over earth reds and browns, and gently warming mixtures without overwhelming them. It mixes beautifully with blues and green-leaning colors for soft, natural greens, with reds and earths for a wide range of ochres, siennas, and honeyed browns, and with neutrals and blacks for subtle, golden grays that stay clear rather than muddy.

This mixed-oxide pigment is chemically inert, heat-resistant, and highly resistant to acids and alkalis, which makes it suitable across a wide range of binders and mediums. In artist’s colors it offers a dependable, low-chroma yellow earth that can function as a primary warm yellow-brown on the palette, a subtle alternative to stronger ochres, or a key mixer for palettes that favor nuance, atmosphere, and mineral character.

History

Zinc–iron mixed-oxide pigments like Zinc Ferrite Yellow (PY119) were developed in the 20th century for the coatings and ceramics industries as highly durable, weather-resistant colors. By co-precipitating or calcining zinc and iron compounds together, chemists produced stable yellow–brown tones with excellent lightfastness and chemical resistance, intended for use in industrial primers, architectural finishes, and ceramic applications.

These pigments were prized for their combination of earthlike hue, controlled chroma, and technical reliability—qualities that made them attractive as modern analogs or complements to natural yellow earths. As paintmakers and artists began seeking more permanent, consistent alternatives to variable natural ores, Zinc Iron Yellow found its way into artist ranges as a transparent-to-semi-opaque yellow earth with a distinct mineral identity. Today PY119 is appreciated by painters who want a warm, natural yellow suitable for subtle glazing, landscape, and figurative work, with the added confidence of modern mixed-oxide permanence.

Health and Safety

Precautions:

Keep out of reach of children and pets.

Do not consume.

Not for cosmetic or food usage.

Do not spray apply.

For further health information contact a poison control center.

Use care when handling dry pigments and avoid dust formation.

Use particular caution with fibrous, fine, or toxic pigments.

Do not eat, drink, or smoke near dry pigments.

Avoid breathing in pigment dust and use a NIOSH-certified dust respirator with sufficient rating for dry pigment.

Wash hands immediately after use or handling.

If dust is likely, always wear protective clothing to keep out of eyes, lungs, off skin, and out of any contact as well as keep area ventilated.

This product may contain chemicals known by the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm.

Warnings and bottle information are abbreviated.

Pigment Information

Pigment Type: Synthetic (Inorganic) zinc–iron mixed-oxide yellow (zinc ferrite)

Suitable Mediums: Watercolor, Oil, Tempera, Acrylic, Lime / Fresco, Ceramic and cement applications

Lightfastness: Best

Opacity: Semi-opaque to semi-transparent

Other Names: Zinc Ferrite Yellow, Zinc Iron Yellow, Zinc Iron Oxide Yellow (PY119)

Color Index Code: PY119