IONIC Light Lavender

A pale lavender for the highest lights

Light Lavender is a strongly lightened violet with a large proportion of white pigment. In practice that means two things. It covers far better than the rich violet shades, and on a model it works as light rather than as color. In the chart it follows on from a darker lavender tone and forms a pair with it, a base and a highlight.

Typical use

Painters of fantasy figures use it to draw the edges on violet cloaks and on elven armor. On historical subjects it suits faded floral patterns, porcelain and glazed ceramics. It serves particularly well when lightening white fabrics toward the cool side. White brightened with more white looks chalky, whereas over lavender it looks natural and a fold keeps its shape.

Recommended procedure

Because of the high proportion of white, the shade dries out quickly around the edges on the palette, so take smaller amounts more often. For drybrushing it is ideal, because the grain of the white pigment catches well on the edges of a casting. The binder is acrylic and water-thinnable, and for glazes as well as for spraying a product from the same family can be used. Mix the contents before loading the brush; the heavier white pigment settles to the bottom faster than the other components.

Where else you will see it

It serves well for the lights on cool skin, for mother-of-pearl and for the insides of shells in water scenes. Modelers of aircraft add it to white so that a fuselage does not burn out into a blank area in a photograph. Even a small amount mixed into gray shifts the shade toward the cool side, which is useful for surfaces under a clear sky.