Algae Black Pigment

At Langridge, we have always believed that making artists’ materials is about more than simply putting pigment into a binder. It is about understanding the materials we work with, exploring their possibilities, and continually looking for ways to improve the paints we make and the experience artists have when using them.
Our interest in materials extends well beyond the traditional world of artists’ pigments. We are equally interested in the chemistry of binding media, the origins of our raw materials, and the development of new technologies that might expand the possibilities available to artists. Sometimes this means finding a better way to use an established material. Sometimes it means looking somewhere entirely different.

A few years ago, we began investigating more sustainable materials, particularly pigments that might offer new colour possibilities or provide an alternative to some of the materials traditionally used in artists’ paints.
One of the most intriguing discoveries was a black pigment derived not from petroleum, but from algae.
Developed by the American company Living Ink Technologies, it immediately caught our attention.
Not because it was simply another black pigment, but because it represented something rather different: an opportunity to reconsider where one of the most fundamental colours in an artist’s palette actually comes from.

Living Ink Technologies: Turning waste into colour
Living Ink Technologies was founded by Scott Fulbright and Steve Albers, who first met while studying algae in the Molecular Biology PhD Program at Colorado State University.
Their shared interest in environmental stewardship and the potential of biology to transform the way we make materials became the foundation of the company.
Their thinking was straightforward, but ambitious. Could biological processes be used to create useful materials while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels?
Algae offered a particularly interesting starting point.
These remarkable aquatic organisms grow using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. They can capture substantial quantities of atmospheric carbon as they grow, and they are already cultivated for a variety of commercial applications, including nutritional supplements.
However, the production of these products also generates leftover algae biomass. Rather than allowing this material to become waste, Living Ink developed a proprietary process to transform it into useful colourants.
The result is ALGAE BLACK™: a bio-based black pigment made from renewable algae biomass that would otherwise be discarded.
Through their process, Living Ink converts this residual biological material into black pigment particles, creating a new use for a resource that has already served its original purpose.
In doing so, the company is not simply producing a different kind of black pigment. It is demonstrating how waste materials can become valuable resources, and how biological processes might help us move away from the conventional dependence on petroleum-derived materials.
The carbon captured by the algae during growth is retained in the resulting pigment in a stable, inert form. Living Ink reports that this carbon remains locked within the pigment for hundreds of years.
It is an interesting example of a circular approach to materials: using renewable biological resources, recovering value from waste, and creating a useful product from something that would otherwise be discarded.

Rethinking the black pigment
Carbon black is one of the most widely used black pigments in the world. It is found in everything from printing inks and coatings to plastics, rubber and artists’ paints.
Traditionally, carbon black is manufactured from fossil-fuel feedstocks through industrial processes that consume energy and release carbon dioxide. Although carbon black has long been valued for its strong colouring power and versatility, its conventional method of production carries an environmental cost.
Algae Black offers a different approach.
Instead of relying on petroleum-derived feedstocks, Living Ink uses renewable algae biomass recovered from the production of nutritional supplements. The resulting pigment provides a bio-based alternative to conventional carbon black, allowing manufacturers to begin replacing fossil-fuel-derived colourants without necessarily having to rethink their entire product.
Living Ink describes Algae Black as a “drop-in” replacement for conventional carbon black in suitable applications. In practical terms, this means that the pigment can be incorporated into existing material systems, subject to the formulation and performance requirements of the particular product.
For us at Langridge, this was the important part.
We were not interested in introducing a pigment simply because it had an environmental story. It had to be a pigment that could be made into a proper artists’ paint.
It had to work.

A carbon-negative pigment
One of the most remarkable aspects of Algae Black is its carbon footprint.
Living Ink reports that its Algae Black pigment achieves a 200% reduction in carbon emissions compared with conventional carbon black, based on its assessment of the pigment production process.
This figure relates to the pigment itself, not to a finished artists’ paint.
The distinction is important. The algae captures carbon as it grows, and the resulting pigment retains some of that carbon. When the carbon retained in the pigment exceeds the greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing it, the pigment can be described as carbon-negative.
In other words, the pigment can have a net carbon benefit rather than simply producing fewer emissions than a conventional alternative.
There are several elements to this approach:
• Renewable feedstock: Algae biomass is used as the raw material for the pigment, rather than petroleum-derived feedstocks.
• Waste recovery: Residual algae from nutritional supplement production is diverted from landfill, where decomposing organic material can generate greenhouse gases.
• Carbon retention: Carbon captured during algae growth is retained in a stable form within the pigment.
• Reduced fossil-fuel dependence: The pigment provides an alternative to conventional carbon black for suitable applications.

The algae used by Living Ink is farm-grown in the United States, the pigment made from 100% renewable algae waste feedstock.
This pigment is also PAH-free. This is relevant because certain conventional carbon black materials can contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, depending on their production and processing.
Of course, a pigment’s environmental credentials are only one part of the story. The material still has to perform, and its properties must be suitable for the application in which it is used.
That is where our work at Langridge begins.

From a promising pigment to a Langridge Professional Fluid Acrylic
When we first began investigating Algae Black, our question was not simply whether it could colour a paint black.
There are plenty of ways to make black paint.
The real question was whether this new pigment could be incorporated into a high-performance acrylic paint that met the standards we expect of our Professional Fluid Acrylic range.
We wanted to understand how it behaved in the paint, how it dispersed, and how it could be incorporated into a stable, usable formulation.
We also wanted to make sure that the final paint was something artists would choose to use because it performed as a paint, not simply because it was made with a more sustainable pigment.
This is an important distinction for us.
At Langridge, we do not believe that artists should have to compromise on the quality of their materials in order to make more considered choices about the materials they use.
The introduction of Algae Black into our Professional Fluid Acrylic range is a practical expression of that belief.
We are introducing Algae Black as a singular colour in its own right, rather than simply using it as an undisclosed replacement for an existing black.
That allows us to acknowledge the material, explain where it comes from, and give artists the opportunity to explore it for themselves.
It also allows us to be precise about what we are claiming.

Introducing Langridge Professional Fluid Acrylic — Algae Black
Our new Algae Black Professional Fluid Acrylic is coloured with Living Ink Technologies’ carbon-negative, algae-derived black pigment.
It brings together a new generation of bio-based pigment technology with Langridge’s approach to making professional artists’ acrylic paints.
The result is a black acrylic paint that gives artists an opportunity to work with a pigment made from renewable biological waste, rather than relying entirely on conventional petroleum-derived carbon black.
For artists, the attraction is not just the origin of the pigment. It is the possibility of incorporating a different kind of material into everyday studio practice.
Black is one of the most frequently used colours in an artist’s palette. It is used for mixing, underpainting, drawing, tonal studies, colour adjustment and as a colour in its own right.
Introducing an alternative black pigment therefore provides a meaningful opportunity to begin incorporating new materials into the studio without having to change the way we paint.
And that is precisely the sort of development we find interesting.
Not a dramatic reinvention of painting, but a considered change to one of the materials we use every day.

A note about the carbon-negative claim
We want to be particularly clear about one point.
It is the Algae Black pigment that is described as carbon-negative. The finished Langridge Algae Black Fluid Acrylic paint is not being claimed to be 200% carbon-negative.
The finished paint contains other materials, including acrylic binder and the ingredients required to produce a stable, usable artists’ paint. These materials also have environmental impacts, and the carbon footprint of the complete paint is not the same as that of the pigment alone.
The 200% reduction figure refers to Living Ink’s reported comparison of Algae Black pigment with conventional carbon black. It should not be interpreted as a carbon-footprint measurement for the finished Langridge paint.
We are not suggesting that the introduction of one pigment suddenly makes artists’ paint environmentally impact-free. Nor are we claiming that changing one ingredient solves the broader environmental challenges associated with manufacturing artists’ materials.
That would be an unreasonable claim.
What we are doing is taking a practical step towards reducing our reliance on fossil-fuel-derived colourants by introducing an alternative that offers genuine potential.
One pigment. One colour. One step at a time.

Why this matters to Langridge
The history of artists’ materials is full of examples of new technologies changing the way artists work.
Pigments that were once rare or difficult to obtain became widely available. New binding media created different ways of applying colour. Advances in manufacturing made materials more consistent and accessible.
We see the development of bio-based pigments as part of that continuing story.
The challenge is to find materials that offer something genuinely useful, and then do the work required to make them suitable for artists.
Living Ink Technologies has developed an intriguing way to turn algae waste into a useful black pigment. We see an opportunity to bring that technology into the world of professional artists’ paints.
It is a small but significant step in exploring what the next generation of artists’ materials might look like.
And, as always, the final decision belongs to the artist. We invite you to try Algae Black, work with it, and discover where it might find a place in your own practice.
At Langridge, we will continue to explore new materials, new technologies and new ways of making artists’ paints.
Because making better artists’ materials is not only about what goes into the paint.
It is also about understanding where those materials come from, how they are made, and what we might do differently.

A new black, made from a different source.
One step towards a more considered future for artists’ materials.