Yes, the instructor is talking about pigments, whether you’re working with oil, tempera, or water color, it's the pigment that gives the paint its color. A pigment can either be mixed with another material or applied over its surface in a thin layer when a pigment is mixed or ground in a liquid vehicle to form paint, it does not dissolve, but remain suspended in the liquid. A paint pigment should be a smooth, finely divided powder. It should withstand the action of sunlight without changing color. A pigment should not exert a harmful chemical reaction upon the medium or upon other color pigments. It is mixed with. Generally, pigments are classified according to their origin, either natural or synthetic. Natural. Inorganic pigments, also known as mineral pigments, include the native Earth's, such as ochre, yellow, iron oxide, and raw umber, brown iron oxide. Natural organic pigments come from vegetable and animal sources. Some examples are indigo from the indigo plant, anterior perforated the imperial purple, the romans prepared from a shell fish native to the Mediterranean. Today, many pigments are synthetic varieties of traditional inorganic and organic pigments. Synthetic organic pigments provide colors of unmatched intensity and tinting strength. The synthetic counterparts of yellow and red earths are more brilliant, and if well prepared, are superior in all other respects to the native products in organic synthetic colors made with the aid of strong heat are generally the most permanent for all uses. In contrast, pigments from natural sources are less permanent than the average synthetic color.