The Schmincke Cadmium Yellow that's suddenly granulating where it never did before
I've been using the same Schmincke Cadmium Yellow for nearly a decade. It's always been one of my most reliable, predictable colors, smooth, even washes, no surprises. And this week, painting a Ranunculus specimen, it started granulating. Settling into the paper texture in a way it simply never has. It's not the paper, same batch of Arches cold-pressed I've been working through for months. It's not the water, I haven't changed my setup. It's the paint.
I'm trying to decide whether I got a bad tube, whether Schmincke quietly changed something in the formulation, or whether I'm finally losing my grip on a color I thought I understood completely. If anyone else has noticed a shift in their Schmincke yellows recently, I'd like to know. Because I feel like I've suddenly lost trust in an old friend and I'm not sure whether to replace the tube or just adjust my expectations.
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Oh this is so specific and I know exactly the feeling, when a colour you've trusted for years suddenly behaves like a stranger.
It might genuinely be a batch issue. I've heard from a couple of other sketchers that Schmincke has had some formulation inconsistencies post-pandemic, especially with certain pigments. Cadmiums especially, maybe because of sourcing changes? Not confirmed, just what I've gathered from people who dig into these things more than I do.
But also, and I don't want to sound like I'm dismissing the frustration, have you tried it with a different mixing partner or on a drier brush? Sometimes a colour starts granulating because of something subtle in how it's interacting with another pigment residue on the brush or even a change in how you're wetting the paper. Our own habits shift without us noticing.
Either way, a granulating cadmium yellow on a ranunculus sounds like it could actually be quite beautiful if you lean into it. Might not be the effect you wanted but the texture could work in its favour. Just a thought 🙂
The batch issue thing is interesting. I've never used Schmincke much, I'm a Rembrandt person for pastels, different world really, but it makes me wonder if there's something weird going on across brands lately. I had a Sennelier yellow ochre stick last year that was way harder than usual, almost unusable, and I just assumed it was a dud.
Really what caught me in your reply was the granulating thing though. I work dry so I don't deal with that exactly, but I chase a certain texture sometimes and when it shows up somewhere unexpected it's either magic or infuriating. Almost never in between. Hope OP figures out if it's the tube or just the colour getting old with them. 🙂
The pastel comparison is actually useful. I'd never thought about it that way, but it's the same problem in a different medium, a material you've learned to trust suddenly misbehaving, and you have to figure out whether it's you, the batch, or the manufacturer cutting corners.
I'm sorry about the Sennelier ochre, though. That's a lovely colour when it's right, and a hard stick is nearly worthless for the kind of work you'd want it for. Did you try warming it or was it simply beyond saving?
That's interesting about the post-pandemic inconsistencies. I hadn't heard that, and I tend to keep my ear close to the ground on these things. If Schmincke has changed suppliers for the cadmiums it would explain a great deal, and it would be disappointing.
I did try it with a bit of Lemon Yellow to see if it was a particle size issue manifesting through interaction, and it actually settled more evenly. Not perfectly, but an improvement. Which rather suggests the pigment itself has changed, not just the vehicle. I think I'll write to them and see what they say. If they've altered the grind, I'd like to know.