The first colors date back to the cavemen who used earth pigments to decorate walls inside of their cave. Using the Earth's pigment colors such as yellow earth, red earth, and white chalk, cavemen would draw spiritual meanings on the interior of caves. In addition to the three earth colors, cavemen also used carbon black. To make carbon black, they had to burn animal fat and collect the black soot after the fat was burned. Only these four colors were needed to create the delicate and insightful drawings we still see today. .
As some scientists were competing to make pigments that were cheaper than those made directly from stone, other scientists were attempting to make organic pigments. William Henry Perkin was the first scientists to chemically make organic pigments. Victoria Finlay explains that as Henry was "attempting to synthesize quinine when he unexpectedly produced a purplish dye from oxidizing impure aniline with potassium bichromate" (13). The first organic color was called mauvine. Women used Mauvine as a fashionable dress color due to the fact that it was the new popular color on the market. This discovery of organic pigments led to a greater range of pigments, such as coal tar, alizarin crimson, and rose madder. Organic and inorganic were not the only oil pigments that existed. Scientist also discovered synthetic organic pigments that included quinacridone colors.
Artists such as the van Eyck brothers did not have these further improvements of art, yet are recognized with the invention of oil paints in the early fifteenth century. To transition from egg tempera to oil paints, artists would use egg tempera as a base coat and add light coats of oil on top in the beginning stages. In later stages, some artists completely transitioned from egg tempera to oil paints due to the advantages oil paints provided them. Jan van Eyck was the first to use the technique of using both mediums, such as egg tempera and oils in the same art piece for his portraits.