Only a small number of art pigments come from animals, but they include some famous names. The main four are bone black, also sold as ivory black (pigment code PBk9), which is made from charred animal bones; carmine, a red extracted from cochineal insects; sepia, which was historically made from cuttlefish ink; and Indian yellow, which historical accounts link to the urine of cows fed mango leaves, though historians debate the details. Every one of them has a modern substitute made without animals.
This page is the reference list for the whole vegan art hub: what each pigment is, where you might meet it, and what to look for instead. Keep in mind that most modern pigments are minerals or synthetics with no animal connection at all, so the list of pigments to watch is short. At VanArtHub we have not audited every artist's palette, so if a specific work matters to you, ask us and we will put the materials question to the artist before you buy.
Key takeaways
- Most modern pigments are mineral or synthetic. Only a few common ones are animal-derived, and they are easy to learn.
- Bone black and ivory black are the same pigment, PBk9, made from charred animal bones. Golden Artist Colors states that its bone black pigment is made from carbonized cattle bones.
- Carmine is extracted from the dried bodies of female cochineal insects, and sepia was historically made from the ink of the cuttlefish.
- Each animal pigment has a close non-animal substitute: carbon black (PBk7) or Mars black (PBk11) for bone black, and synthetic alizarin or quinacridone reds for carmine-type reds.
- Pigment index codes such as PBk9 appear on paint labels and maker websites, and they are the fastest way to check what a colour contains.
How to read a pigment code
Pigment codes come from the Colour Index, an international naming system shared by paint makers. The letters tell you the colour family: PBk means Pigment Black, PR means Pigment Red, PY means Pigment Yellow, PB means Pigment Blue. The number identifies the exact pigment. So PBk9 is Pigment Black 9, which is bone black, in every brand that uses it, and PBk7 is carbon black, a different pigment with no animal source.
Most serious paint makers print these codes on the tube or list them on their websites. That makes the codes far more useful than colour names, which are marketing and can mean different things from brand to brand. If you learn one code from this page, learn PBk9.
Bone black and ivory black (PBk9)
Bone black is made by charring animal bones until mostly carbon remains. Ivory black is the same pigment under an older name; modern ivory black is bone black, not ivory. Golden Artist Colors states that its bone black pigment is made from carbonized cattle bones.
The important detail is that PBk9 turns up in more places than colours named black. Golden lists Bone Black, Jenkins Green, several Neutral Grays, Prussian Blue Hue, and Terre Verte Hue among its products that contain this pigment. A green or a gray can carry bone black inside a mixture, which is exactly why checking codes beats checking names.
The vegan alternatives are carbon black (PBk7) and Mars black (PBk11). Both are made without animal material. By Golden's own account in its Just Paint journal, they run slightly cooler in tone than bone black, a difference most viewers would never notice in a finished painting.
Carmine and cochineal
Carmine is a red dye extracted from the dried bodies of female cochineal scale insects. In art materials it appears in some traditional watercolour and oil ranges, usually under names like carmine, natural carmine, or cochineal. It has a long history as a deep, cool red, and it is one of the few insect-derived colours still made today.
If you want that colour without the insects, synthetic alizarin and the quinacridone reds cover the same deep, cool red territory. Both are standard modern pigments offered by most large makers, so the swap is simple.
Sepia
Sepia was historically made from the ink of the cuttlefish. The colour name survives on many modern paints and drawing inks, but the name alone does not tell you what is inside. A modern sepia may be a mixture of synthetic and earth pigments, or it may follow an older recipe. The pigment codes on the label settle the question.
For an animal-free sepia, look for modern sepia mixes built from synthetic or earth pigments, and check the listed pigments rather than trusting the historic name.
Indian yellow, a debated story
Indian yellow is the strangest entry on this list. Historical accounts say the pigment was made from the urine of cows that were fed mango leaves. Historians still debate how accurate those accounts are, so treat this as a debated story rather than a settled fact. Either way, the historical pigment is not what you buy now. Modern paints sold as Indian yellow are usually labelled as a hue, meaning a mixture of modern pigments made to match the old colour. Check the codes to confirm what a specific tube contains.
The reference table
| Pigment |
Origin |
Where it appears |
Vegan alternative |
| Bone black / ivory black (PBk9) |
Charred animal bones |
Black paints, and mixed colours such as some grays, greens, and hues |
Carbon black (PBk7) or Mars black (PBk11) |
| Carmine |
Dried cochineal insects |
Some traditional watercolour and oil ranges, under names like carmine or cochineal |
Synthetic alizarin or quinacridone reds |
| Sepia |
Cuttlefish ink, historically |
Historic inks and washes; the name survives on modern colours |
Modern sepia mixes from synthetic and earth pigments |
| Indian yellow |
Historical accounts point to cow urine; the details are debated |
Historic painting; modern versions are usually hue mixtures |
Modern Indian yellow hues made from synthetic pigments |
Pigments are only half the story
A paint is pigment plus binder, and in most media the binder raises more animal questions than the pigment does. Traditional gesso and canvas sizing use rabbit-skin glue, many fine papers are sized with gelatin, and many traditional watercolours use ox gall, which is bile from cattle, as a wetting agent. Those topics have their own pages: see vegan canvas and gesso for the support side, art paper and sizing for works on paper, and plant-based pigments and inks for the colour families that never had an animal source.
Labels deserve a careful eye here too. A brand can print "natural" or "historic" on a colour without telling you what is inside it, much the way home goods are sold with vague green wording. Our sustainable hub covers that pattern in greenwashing in the art world.
Common questions
Is ivory black made from real ivory?
No. The name is historical. Modern ivory black is bone black, pigment PBk9, made from charred animal bones, and it is not vegan.
Are all black pigments animal-derived?
No. Carbon black (PBk7) and Mars black (PBk11) contain no animal material. Only bone black (PBk9) is made from bones, so check the code rather than the colour name.
What does PBk9 mean on a paint label?
It is a Colour Index code meaning Pigment Black 9, which is bone black. The letters give the colour family and the number identifies the exact pigment, so the code means the same thing in every brand.
Is carmine still used in artist paints?
Yes. Some traditional ranges still offer carmine made from cochineal insects, usually under names like carmine or natural carmine. Check the maker's pigment information if you want to avoid it.
How do I check whether a finished painting used these pigments?
You usually cannot tell by looking, so ask the artist or the gallery which paint ranges were used, then check those ranges against the maker's pigment information.
Learning four pigments and three codes covers almost every animal-derived colour you are likely to meet. When you are ready to move from single pigments to whole paints and media, start at the vegan art hub, or browse original oil paintings and ink works and ask us about the materials behind any piece that catches your eye.
