We fit into the deep furrow that the Italian tradition of masters of paints has traced.
We straddle the past and the future, offering today's artists and restorers paints prepared with the same care as the artisans of the past and with the expertise that modern science offers us. The ancient pigment is our inspiration, in its strong reference to the bond with the Earth and with the three kingdoms of Nature, which has always been the source from which men have drawn the materials to paint.
We believe that the recovery of awareness of the origin of the materials used can bring the artist back to his role as a medium between Earth and Sky, between Nature and Spirito, between World and Humanity. It is for these reasons that we select the best pigments from the three kingdoms of Nature, with a predilection for the mineral, the oldest kingdom, and also the one that guarantees incomparable lightfastness. We select and purifythe best earths that human civilizations have used for millennia and we seek outthe most advanced and high-performance mineral and organic pigments of recent decades. For lovers of tradition, we ourselves prepare the historical lakes of vegetal and animal origin to be put in our colours, whose no longer common characteristics bring us back to past centuries.
Almost all of our watercolor paints are formulated with single pigment.
Each watercolor can therefore fully express the characteristics of the pigment that constitutes it: this is why we perceive life and character in our colours. We have developed a mixture of vegetable gums, of which the main one is gum arabic, in line with the recipes of the masters: this is our binder, in whose simplicity lies the certainty of absence of interactions between the components. A humectant and plasticizer such as glycerin guarantees ease of collection and elasticity of the applied paint. Our watercolors are the intimate union of these components, achieved through grinding, and the pleasure in applying and using them is the concrete result of our work.
We make our expertise and knowledge in the world of historical color available for the commissioned preparation of traditional paints for professional and artistic use.
Carlo Ferrara
Chemical Engineer
Founder of Nila Colori
