Building a fingerprint database for modern art materials: PIXE analysis of commercial painting and drawing media

We have examined by PIXE (and by RBS in parallel) about 180 samples of commercial painting and drawing media including pencils, pastels, waxes, inks, paints and paper. Given the high PIXE sensitivity we produced X-ray spectra at low collected charges and currents, operating in good conservation conditions. For drawing media containing inorganic components or a unique marker element, we have defined colouring agent fingerprints which correspond, when applicable, to the composition declared by the manufacturer. For thin layers, the ratios of areal densities of elements are close to those expected given the declared composition, which is promising from the perspective of compiling the database. The quantitative PIXE and RBS analysis of part of the set of samples is provided.